Mayor’s comments labelled ignorant

INVERCARGILL Mayor Nobby Clark has echoed controversial views about the relationship between media and the Government during a public meeting.

Mr Clark made the comments during a recent New Zealand Taxpayers Union ‘‘Hands Off Our Homes’’ meeting at the Invercargill’s Workingmen’s Club, where he was a guest speaker.

During the meeting, Mr Clark claimed the Government ‘‘controls the media’’, through the general assessment criteria within its $55 million Public Interest Journalism Fund (PIJF).

‘‘One of the conditions is, you don’t criticise iwi and you don’t raise any journalism that might throw them into a bad light,’’ Mr Clark said.

He claimed that to qualify for funding, the media entity must support and promote Ma¯ori and iwi journalism that is made by, for and about Ma¯ori and prioritise the perspectives, issues, interests and needs of Ma¯ori.

‘‘When we had the vaccine rollout, there was little information to tell us how well iwi picked up the vaccines — in fact they were diabolical — but very little media, because the media was scared of losing their share of their fund, and I’ve had the editors tell me that,’’ Mr Clark said.

University of Otago media, film and communication lecturer Dr Olivier Jutel said Mr Clark’s comments were ignorant, and a government funding agency did not control what a journalist chose to write.

‘‘I would have thought that somebody who’s a local civic leader would really champion the ability of local journalists to be involved and engaged and have oversight in the process.’’

‘‘I don’t know if this is like a [Auckland Mayor] Wayne Brown effect, but there is definitely a kind of a populist demagoguery that’s kind of set into city politics a little bit.’’

Dr Jutel said he ‘‘vigorously defends’’ the PIJF as integral to regional journalism.

‘‘Think about the regions — we’re just getting absolutely smashed.

‘‘The big companies, NZME, they don’t really have huge economic incentives to invest in the kinds of stories that our communities are crying out for.’’

He said the Ma¯ori and iwi criteria for the fund was an important priority as the market often did not have incentive to produce news from marginalised communities.

‘‘[Mr Clark’s comment] is nonsense.

‘‘This is not grounded in reality.

‘‘It’s based in ignorance,’’ Dr Jutel said.

During a public forum at the meeting, Invercargill city councillor Barry Stewart said reforms proposed last Thursday by the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) for safer media and online platforms were ‘‘another example of a communist agenda to censor everything the public can see read or hear’’.

❛ I don’t know if this is like a [Auckland Mayor] Wayne Brown effect, but there is definitely a kind of a populist demagoguery that’s kind of set into city politics a little bit University of Otago lecturer Dr Olivier Jutel