Paul Catmur, managing partner and executive creative director at Barnes, Catmur & Friends Dentsu

Would the Nzme/fairfax merger have made a difference given how much better Google and Facebook are at the online ad game?

It all depends who you ask...

NZME & Fairfax Shareholder: ‘You’re not fooling anyone. This would just be papering over the cracks, a chance for a short-term financial blip as the redundancies and closures roll through. It will take a much more innovative solution to our longterm problems than hiding in a cave with our rival.’

Consumer: ‘I find the standard of journalism (with a few exceptions) across New Zealand papers cannot compete with foreign publications. True, The Guardian, The Daily Mail and The New York Times might not cover the possible drench shortage in Whykickamoocow but I’m not half as concerned about that as you seem to think.’

Client: ‘So with my already fragmenting media options they want to create a monopoly to further limit my choices and allow them to crank up the price? If Google and Facebook offer more effective solutions I suggest you try and better them, rather than crying foul to the Commerce Commission.’

Democrat: ‘There’s a name for people who think that it’s a good idea to consolidate the press into one outlet. It’s a name often used in the same sentence as Donald Trump.’

Taxpayer: ‘If Facebook and Google are scraping off our media dollars and hiding them offshore it’s down to the government to find a way to collect. I look forward to seeing proposals about how to claw this back during the coming election.’

Facebook and Google: ‘NZME and Stuff who?’