Minister’s ‘working pretty hard’ on media sector issues
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon insists his Broadcasting Minister, Melissa Lee, is “working pretty hard” on media sector issues, as both the industry and Government grapple with the imminent closure of Newshub.
Luxon said Cabinet had a “wide-ranging” conversation about the media sector at its meeting yesterday, but has not outlined any specific policy being considered to respond to financial distress in the industry.
Lee was widely criticised as appearing ambivalent about Newshub’s demise last week, as the Government maintained the closure of one of the country’s two TV news broadcasters did not amount to a shrinking of media plurality.
The minister has not made herself available for interviews in the past week, with one exception, and did not respond to a direct request from Stuff yesterday.
Luxon said Lee presented to Cabinet about the challenges facing the media environment and future policy considerations, including the Fair News Digital Bargaining bill currently before a Parliamentary select committee.
"These are long-term systemic challenges in this sector, as there are equally challenges in many other sectors across New Zealand.”
So far the Government has confirmed it would scrutinise the performance of Newshub competitors and would look at state-owned broadcaster TVNZ, which announced a $16.8 million half-year loss on Friday, to see if its commercial operations had distorted the market.
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour, partly responsible for TVNZ among other state-owned enterprises (SOEs), said in an interview with Stuff that “everyone” was trying to identify a business model for media that worked.
But, as well as considering questions of competition in a market in which large technology companies such as Google and Facebook dominated, Seymour said the media companies also needed to “have a look at themselves”.
“Frankly, the performance of some people who’ve been given that trust, particularly in the recent election, is part of the problem that no-one is to blame, but themselves.
“It's partly fragmentation and competition. But there is also well documented reduction in trust of media at the same time ... part of it is that the people that have the big brands and have lots of trust have lost the trust of the public.
“You can't blame the internet or anyone else, I mean, in theory, they started this competition with a massive advantage, and if anything, they should have become more trusted, given the preponderance of of misinformation out there, but somehow they've become less trusted.”
Inspecting TVNZ’s “return on equity” with comparable businesses in media markets, if there were any, would be part of a broader bid by Seymour and SOE Minister Paul Goldsmith to review the performance and “public policy objectives” of the wide range of government-owned enterprises.
“No-one’s talking about selling anything. But at the same time, I think it is really important that the public have a really clear understanding of what we own, what we get from it, and why we own it.
“It’s always a danger anywhere in the world to have the government competing in any sector ...
“There’s a general principle that if we’re giving cheap capital to a company that makes it harder for their competitors, and may distort the market.
“It does apply in the context of TVNZ, but it applies in any sector that the government participates commercially.”
The unexpected announcement that Newshub owner Warner Brothers Discovery was planning to close its news division, ending the 6pm news bulletin on Three among other shows, has left industry players and the Government scrambling for answers.
Luxon and Lee have confirmed there will be no Government bailout of Newshub, and have dismissed suggestions earlier intervention such as providing sought-after relief from Kordia transmission fees could have aided its survival.
The Government has maintained its ambiguity whether it will back the former Labour Government’s Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill.
The bill would compel major online platforms such as Google to enter into commercial deals with media producers for the use of their content something the media companies have lobbied heavily for.