The easiest way to kill a media sideshow? Front up
Sunday, 10 May 2026
Stewart Sowman-Lund’s media column, The Sunday Report - dissecting talking points from NZ media, entertainment and pop culture - appears weekly on Sundays on thepost.co.nz and in the Sunday Star-Times.
ANALYSIS: When Christopher Luxon went public with revelations that he himself had launched a confidence vote on his own leadership, he challenged the media to ditch the speculation and start dealing in facts.
“If the media want to keep focusing on speculation and rumour, I am not going to engage,” he told reporters, before swiftly exiting stage left and choosing not to answer any questions.
It’s therefore interesting to learn, as revealed by Q+A host Jack Tame at the tail end of last Sunday’s episode, that the prime minister is still refusing to appear on the political show. If there’s one programme that’s reluctant to deal in, as Luxon puts it, “political sideshows”, it’s Q+A.
Q+A is in many ways a relic of a bygone age - well-researched, long form interviews. The only reason it has a tendency to create ‘gotcha’ moments is because Tame is just so good at leading politicians into traps of their own making. They’re gotchas, but not in the clickbait sense.
Luxon has not appeared on the show since December 2024, subverting a tradition of prime ministers appearing at least once a year.
Read more media stories
Back in March, the Sunday Star-Times requested from TVNZ, under the Official Information Act, a list of all interview requests from Q+A to the prime minister since the end of 2024. TVNZ withheld the information.
However, after a complaint was lodged with the Ombudsman, the broadcaster confirmed that six written requests for a sitdown interview with Luxon had been made over that time period - arguably fewer than you might have expected.
It’s clear now that at least one additional request has been made, with Tame revealing last weekend that the programme had offered the PM his pick of the shows across May and June - “an open invitation, any time or place”.
Still, he wouldn’t accept. “The PM is not available” was the five-word response to Q+A’s producer.
In response to questions from the Star-Times, TVNZ said it had made it “very clear” to the prime minister’s office that there was a standing offer to appear on Q+A.
“We confirm that Q+A has never turned down an interview offer from the Prime Minister or his office,” the statement added.
But it’s not just Q+A that the PM is ducking from. There’s also Whakaata Māori’s Te Ao with Moana, which has not had any sit down time with the prime minister since he took office (Luxon has appeared on the show just once, in 2022, as opposition leader).
A chance encounter between host Moana Maniapoto and Luxon took place at Parliament little over a week ago after she had wrapped an interview with Winston Peters - quite a fiery one, by the way. As it turns out, the quick exchange happened as the PM was heading down to see Peters in his own office for a telling off over bombshell documents released to the Herald.
Admittedly, the PM’s new approach to the media seems to be more ad hoc - he may have given up his weekly slot on Breakfast, but he beamed into ThreeNews live during the week and cropped up on both Morning Report and Newstalk ZB on Thursday morning.
Meanwhile, while deputy prime minister David Seymour has quickly jumped at the chance to take over Luxon’s weekly slot on Breakfast, he’s continuing his long-running blackout from RNZ’s Morning Report.
The Star-Times reported in April last year that Seymour would still not be appearing on the show while deputy prime minister, despite more than 20 requests in the year prior.
Even this week, despite being acting Prime Minister, it was National’s deputy Nicola Willis that filled in for the PM on Morning Report, though Seymour popped up on Newstalk ZB in place of Luxon.
Seymour’s argument had previously been issues with Morning Report’s staff, including that there was a “toxic culture” behind the scenes. But the show has gone through various changes in the years since, both in front of and behind the microphone. It has two new hosts, a new lead producer and has been grappling with its own challenges as it lags behind Newstalk ZB in the ratings. It’s not the same show that it was at the time.
There’s “no change” to the approach from ACT’s side, a spokesperson for Seymour said, adding that there had not yet been a reason to revise the position. RNZ reiterated that Seymour would still be asked to appear. “Mr Seymour is entitled to his views. RNZ will continue to seek comment from ACT Party representatives to provide balance where appropriate.”
Seymour has since intensified his criticism of RNZ more broadly, indicating changes could be made to the network’s leadership and taking aim at the decision to bring John Campbell back to the network.
Politicians aren’t obliged to front the media, but equally so, avoiding particular programmes out of principle starts to look like an exercise in dodging accountability or tough questions, rather than a worthwhile protest. They are speaking to an audience, not just a host, after all. Bagging the media, though nothing new, seems to be a key tenet of some parties’ election year playbooks. Seymour has been sharing unedited media interactions on his socal media for sometime now, in an effort to bypass traditional outlets - based on the number of views, this has been a successful approach.
But instead of banging on about sideshows and soap operas, wouldn’t it be easier to just front up, answer some questions, and - as is increasingly the chosen method - complain about it on social media later. Winston Peters has arguably the most publicly fractious relationship with journalists, but is increasingly one of the more accessible, something he uses to his advantage.
It is an election year after all.
In other news…
The big media news of the week was confirmation the Government plans to abolish the Broadcasting Standards Authority. Though some commentators made this sound like it had already happened, there is still a road ahead. Legislation is needed, and it’s unlikely this will happen before the November election. Should Labour be elected, it’s possible the BSA - at least in some form - could survive. Labour had previously planned a ‘one stop shop’ agency to regulate all forms of media, though that overhaul that was scrapped by the coalition in 2024.
The other question is what happens to the Media Council, the opt-in regulator currently tasked with scrutinising most print media, including the Sunday Star-Times. Broadcasting Minister Paul Goldsmith said he expects the Media Council will become the default regulator, a move already welcomed by TVNZ who said on Wednesday they would support a complaints regimes that was “straightforward for audiences and cost-effective for the industry”. (As it happens, the following day, the BSA upheld three complaints about a 1News item on the shooting of activist Charlie Kirk). But ‘new media’ outlets like The Platform are already rejecting suggestions they sign up.
TVNZ announced its new $44.95 event pass for the upcoming Fifa World Cup - a bargain considering that will give you access to every game in the tournament (select games will also be available free-to-air). But while significantly cheaper than the failed Spark Sport was during the 2019 Rugby World Cup, the ghosts of that platform are still lingering around TVNZ. Spark’s streamer was a tech and PR disaster during large events, and TVNZ’s recent upgrade to its own TVNZ+ service was also plagued with issues for some consumers. These seem largely fixed now, but the proof will be in how it can handle what’s to come.
The so-called ‘breakfast wars’ will heat up again next week, with TVNZ launching its new Business Breakfast at 6am weekdays, hosted by Mei Heron, going up against the HeraldNOW Business show.