Second Public Interest Journalism funding round provides $18 million for 110 journalist roles
Friday, 24 September 2021
The second funding round of NZ On Air’s Public Interest Journalism Fund has provided $18m for 110 journalists roles, mostly for two years.
Successful applicants included RNZ, which will receive up to about $3.55m, NZME with up to almost $3m, Stuff with up to nearly $2.8m, and Māori Television with up to nearly $1.6m.
Stuff Head of News Mark Stevens said the funding would be used to support journalism in two key areas for Stuff; coverage of local affairs and coverage of te Ao Māori, deepening Stuff's already strong commitment in these areas.
NZ On Air head of journalism Raewyn Rasch said funding journalists back into newsrooms particularly at regional and local levels would help redress the drastic reduction in journalist numbers in the past few years and ensure the sector had the workforce to deliver strong public interest journalism.
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The new funding includes an expansion of the pre-existing Local Democracy Reporter scheme, and a new Open Justice – Te Pātiti scheme to fill gaps in court reporting.
Combined with the first funding round, $29m had now been committed to a mix of journalism roles, defined journalism projects, and industry development initiatives, NZ On Air said in a statement.
The 63 applications in the second round had sought close to $47m for 311 roles.
Role-based funding was designed to support the revitalisation of the industry, to address ‘news deserts’ and deficits in coverage of matters of importance to New Zealanders, NZ On Air said. Statistics NZ figures showed that the number of journalists halved between 2006 and 2018.
Funded roles in the second round were spread across the country, and would go some way to address deficits in reporting for specific ethnic communities or issues.
The Government announced the fund – worth $55m over three years – in February, saying it was for projects that media outlets were able to show filled a public interest service and would otherwise be at risk or not produced without this fund's support.
Details of the second round of funding (all for two years unless otherwise stated):
Stuff, 20 x Community and Pou Tiaki roles for Stuff publications, up to $2,789,240
RNZ, 20 x Local Democracy Reporting roles for 26 publications/platforms, up to $3,554,000
NZME, 15 x roles for Open Justice - Te Pātiti scheme for 11 publications, up to $2,995,702
Māori Television, 7 x roles for Māori Television, up to $1,593,000
School Road Publishing, 1 x role for Woman magazine, up to $189,660
SunPix, 2 x roles for TP+, up to $273,600
Times Media, 1 x role for Local Matters, up to $150,148
Crux Publishing, 1 x role for Crux, up to $151,200
The Spinoff, 2 x roles for The Spinoff, up to $427,800
Ashburton Guardian, 1 x role for the Ashburton Guardian, up to $150,000
Central App, 1 x role for Central App, for one year, up to $31,200
North & South, 1 x role for North & South Media, up to $230,000
Newsroom, 4 x roles for Newsroom and 1 x shared role Newsroom and North & South, up to $528,316
Allied Press, 4 x roles for Otago Daily Times and other Allied Press properties, up to $711,797
Valley Media, 1 x role for The Valley Profile, up to $127,096
The Gisborne Herald, 1 x role for The Gisborne Herald, up to $183,240
Metro Media Group, 1 x part-time role for Metro Magazine, up to $47,600
Mana Trust, 4 x roles for E-Tangata, up to $650,000
Kiwi Media Publishing, 4 x roles for The Indian Weekender, up to $705,000
National Pacific Radio Trust, 4 x roles for Pacific Media Network, for one year, up to $275,000
Television New Zealand, 2 x roles for TVNZ News, for one year, up to $206,000
Te Reo Irirangi O Te Hiku O Te Ika, 1 x role for Te Reo Irirangi O Te Hiku O Te Ika, up to $176,200
Very Nice Productions, 1 x role for Local Focus, for one year, up to $105,000
UMA Broadcasting, 6.5 x roles for Radio Waatea, for one year, up to $774,000
Discovery New Zealand, 3 x roles for Newshub, up to $695,560