Boardroom putsch at NZME ‘last thing media needs’ — Labour

Thursday, 6 March 2025

A boardroom takeover of media firm NZME by a Canadian billionaire is the “last thing we need in the media”, Labour Party media spokesperson Willie Jackson says.

Canadian billionaire James Grenon is attempting to turf out and replace NZME’s board of directors.

NZME, which owns the New Zealand Herald and about half the country’s commercial radio stations, advised investors it had received notice from Grenon that he would bring a resolution at its annual meeting on April 29.

Grenon is proposing to “remove all of the current directors of NZME” and replace them with himself, three other new nominees and one director from NZME’s current board.

Read More: Who is James Grenon?

“The way we are going, there will be nothing resembling anything ‘New Zealand’ in the media,” Jackson said.

“The public deserve to have a ‘fourth estate’ that serves in the public interest, to tell New Zealand stories, that reflect our culture, history and people, not leave it to foreign billionaires who will do the exact opposite.”

Sinead Boucher, chief executive of rival media business Stuff, whose mastheads include The Post, said it would be alarming if NZME’s would-be directors were seeking editorial influence.

Grenon owns just under 10% of NZME.

But NZME said Grenon had told the company he had received indications of support from shareholders who owned 37% of the company.

NZME said it was not in a position to confirm that claim.

Troy Bowker, a businessman who owns a 3% stake in NZME and who has been a vocal opponent of a comprehensive capital gains tax, said he would be backing Grenon’s proposal.

Grenon moved to New Zealand with his partner in 2012 and lives in Takapuna. He declined to comment to The Post.

RNZ has reported he has been linked to “alternative news sites”, including The Centrist, in which he served as a director until 2023.

Business Desk, an NZME-owned publication, had described The Centrist and its sister site NZ News Essentials as among sites that sprang up targeting “disaffected groups on the political fringes”, it noted.

Media and Communications Minister Paul Goldsmith said he was “happy to take some advice” on the development, but NZME was a “private company” and ultimately it was up to its shareholders to determine how it operated.

Jackson accused him of moving too slowly to provide support to the media.

“This is all on Goldsmith and his lack of action,” he said.

“Under his watch, news organisations are closing, journalists are losing their jobs and now billionaires are buying up media companies to promote their own … views.”

Boucher said she didn’t know any more about Grenon than had been reported.

“While wealthy people owning news media organisations is nothing new, we have seen in recent months an escalation of billionaire buyers of major news brands asserting their political beliefs and influence directly into newsrooms in the US,” she said.

“Our job in media is about holding power accountable and the public needs confidence that journalists can do that fearlessly — this is intrinsic to journalistic integrity,” she said.

Boucher said that principle was enshrined in the Stuff Group Charter which states it will “fiercely protect our editorial independence from commercial interests, including our own, and any political influence”.

“What NZME shareholders do next month is their business. However, it would be alarming if these developments were to secure some kind of editorial influence,” she said.

“This risk was the reason we established the charter following our management buy-out almost five years ago, so that any owner — myself and any future shareholder or partner — would be expected to abide by it.”