Does Melissa Lee have a plan to help media?

The media minister's stubborn unwillingness to share any details of what she proposes has drawn both criticism and ridicule.

Mōrena, and welcome to The Bulletin for Friday, April 12.

In today’s edition: Heavy rain and winds batter much of the country; Government to reverse Labour’s tenancy law changes; Bill to repeal Easter alcohol restrictions to move forward. But first, it’s been another horrible week for those in the news media – unless you work at the Herald.

Media and communications minister Melissa Lee. (Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

A tough day to be media minister

As teams at TVNZ and Newshub absorb the shock of this week’s devastating news, demands are getting louder that media minister Melissa Lee makes clear how she plans to help. Lee has repeatedly confirmed she is planning to take a paper to Cabinet on the topic but is refusing to give any details of what the paper contains. As has been stated many times across the course of The Spinoff’s timely series on the crisis within media, much of the industry is hoping Lee will get behind the Fair News Digital Bargaining Bill which would force digital platforms like Google and Meta to pay for the use of NZ news content. Lee previously said she opposes the bill in its current form but has been sounding more positive about its prospects this week. As detailed by Stewart Sowman-Lund in his excellent recap of Lee’s miserable run of post-Newshub interviews, Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking scoffed at her suggestion that the bill is a realistic solution, and industry veteran Bill Ralston told the host she has “no idea of what she’s doing” – words echoed later in the day by her predecessor, Labour’s Willie Jackson. The government “have just totally given up and said, 'Bad luck.’,” said Jackson. “You've got a stupid minister who doesn't know what she's doing."  

NZME success a rare bright spot for media industry

While job losses within the Newshub and TVNZ newsrooms have understandably dominated the headlines, this week saw a number of other notable media stories. On Thursday, TVNZ confirmed to Stuff that the future of Shortland Street is under review with a spokesperson saying its “commercial viability” would have to be considered. Earlier in the week the conspiracy theory-friendly station Reality Check Radio went off air (Herald, paywalled), prompting star host Peter Williams to release a video calling for donations to help it continue. For more on RCR, I recommend Duncan Greive’s story from March 2023, shortly before the station’s launch, which has the excellent headline ‘There’s now Voices for Freedom online radio for people who find The Platform too woke’. Bucking the pessimistic trend, NZ Herald owner NZME released its latest results, and lo, they were good. NZME’s digital business is doing so well it can now fully fund its journalism, said CE Michael Boggs, who attributed much of NZME’s success to the performance of its property portal OneRoof.

The Kordia question

Mike Hosking also spoke to journalist Patrick Gower about the Newshub closure. While headline writers focused on Gower’s anger at the “keyboard warriors” who claim the media is getting what it deserves for going “woke”, I was struck by his claim that high Kordia fees were at least partly to blame for the current crisis. “Paying these Kordia fees… television companies paying fees to another government organisation for something that we don’t really need anymore is just plain nuts,” he said. A state-owned enterprise, Kordia is the major provider of television and radio broadcast facilities in NZ. While it doesn’t publicise the transmission fees it receives, the 2021 Commerce Commission broadcasting transmission services market review estimated that “Kordia receives at least $34.1 million annually” from broadcasters. Former TV3 head of news Mark Jennings is among those who argue the government should waive the transmission fees that Kordia charges in order to help support the struggling media industry.  

What about magazines?

All this week we’ve been publishing media insiders’ responses to two key questions: “What's the biggest issue in your corner of the media industry right now?” and “What do you think is the best idea you've heard (or thought of) to provide a durable long-term fix?” Today the series ends with responses from the leaders of Stuff and a number of key independent news and magazine publishers. While the public focus this week has been on broadcast media, NZ Geographic publisher James Frankham says the future of magazine publishing looks similarly grim. It’s unlikely that magazines and smaller publishers will be able to strike deals under the Fair News Digital Bargaining Bill, says Frankham. A better idea would be a levy on tech platforms that goes into an independent fund “with negotiated payout criteria that is fair for all news media”, he says. “The government already levies all manner of goods to protect local industries – why not a levy to protect democracy?”

Menstruation through four generations

We’ve come a long way when it comes to attitudes to periods in Aotearoa. The Spinoff spoke with four people from across the generations about the period care they had on offer when they were young – including a "belt with safety pins and towels."

Read about period care from the 1950s to now on The Spinoff, in partnership with TOM Organic.

Government to reverse Labour’s tenancy law changes

Landlords will again have the right to issue “no-cause” terminations to tenants under a government bill to be introduced next month. The bill will reverse many of the changes to rental laws brought in by the last government, reports Stuff’s Susan Edmunds. Other changes to the current law include landlords only having to give 42 days’ notice when they want to move into a property themselves, have a family member or employee move in (down from 63 days), or when the property is being sold (currently 90 days). The bill also contains a change in the tenant’s favour: they’ll only have to give 21 days’ notice when ending a periodic tenancy, down from the 28 days it is currently. Housing minister Chris Bishop says the changes will help raise the number of rental properties in the market. “We’ve heard from many landlords that, without the backstop of 90-day ‘no cause’ terminations, they were unwilling to take a chance on a tenant who may, for example, not have perfect references or a steady 9-5 job.” The law change is expected to take effect early next year.

Heavy rain and winds batter much of the country

Northland, Auckland, Great Barrier Island, the Coromandel Peninsula, Waikato and the Bay of Plenty are the regions in the firing line this morning, as the wild weather moves north. All are under a severe thunderstorm watch until 2pm and may see localised downpours of between 25 and 40mm/h, reports Stuff. Last night much of western Auckland suffered power cuts caused by downed power lines and Air New Zealand reported 46 flights had been cancelled throughout the day. Heavy rain has also prompted warnings in the west and south of the South Island, especially in Westland which saw rainfall of 39mm/h at one point yesterday. Residents of 70 homes in Spring Creek, near Blenheim, have been told to leave their homes by 9am today as heavy rain in the upper Wairau catchment is expected to raise the Wairau River level significantly.

Spinoff members can now comment on a selection of stories. It’s just one of the benefits of being a Spinoff supporter.

This morning you can:

• Help rank Wellington’s best and worst tourism ads

• Let us know what you think of redundant public sector workers being told to “just go get a frontline job”

• Comment on the future of NZ media, as seen by the leaders of Stuff and a number of key independent news publishers

Log in, let us know what you think, and as always, we’d be grateful if you’d consider becoming a Spinoff supporter if you’re not already.

Click and Collect

• Act MP Cameron Luxton’s bill to repeal alcohol restrictions on Good Friday and Easter Sunday will move forward after being drawn from Parliament's 'Biscuit Tin' ballot.

• A message to journalists worried about declining trust in media: show your working, says Henry Cooke in his latest, much-shared Substack post.

• Whaikaha, the cash-strapped ministry for disabled people, spent more than $10 million on consultants and contractors in the last financial year, Newshub reports.

• OJ Simpson has died aged 76.

• If you’ve ever found yourself wondering why you can’t swipe away from TikToks about cleaning, tidying and restocking, this deep dive into the rise and rise of organisational influencers is for you.

Feeling clever? Click here to play 1Q, Aotearoa’s newest, shortest daily quiz.

Right now on The Spinoff

Joel MacManus ranks the best and worst of Wellington's tourism ads. Public servant Kristin Kelly explains why no, she can't just get a frontline job. Stewart Sowman-Lund considers the five most baffling moments from Melissa Lee's post-Newshub closure interviews. Shanti Mathias explains the controversial refugee bill that the National Party has flip-flopped over. Hera Lindsay Bird advises a reader who has set up their two closest friends and lived to regret it.

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