‘It can be quite frustrating being the minister’
Melissa Lee has had a baptism of fire as Minister for Media and Communications.
If she didn’t realise it before, she will surely now be aware that perceptions of her success in the role are going to be closely linked to the fortunes of the sector.
The media portfolio is going to be a very uncomfortable one to preside over if a large chunk of the mainstream media disappears under her tenure.
It should also have clicked that it’s not a good look for a minister for media to sit on all requests for interviews from the media, as she did at least right up until Warner Bros Discovery announced it was consulting on the closure of Newshub.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon gave her little cover. His attempt to characterise Warner Bros Discovery’s announcement as primarily a personal tragedy for the staff and families involved, rather than a matter of broader public interest for the country’s democracy, instantly fell flat.
That said, it is hard to see what, in practice, Lee or the Government could actually have done differently so far.
For one thing, the fate of the Newshub operation still appears unclear.
Warner Bros Discovery will just be going through the motions as it is required to do with its consultations on its exit from news.
But a spokesperson says it has been “approached by several parties that we are exploring options with”.
He would not confirm that the approaches centred only Newshub, so it may be that some of the parties are sniffing around the wider TV3 operation.
It would be typical after an announcement of the nature it has made for the company to be approached by a number of tyre-kickers.
But there is every indication that Sky Television is seriously interested in investigating whether it could take on some of Newshub’s staff to kick off its own local news and current and affairs operation.
Sky TV, it should be remembered, is now a New Zealand-based and listed company with no ownership connection to the Murdoch empire or its namesakes in Australia and New Zealand.
The chance that it could take over where Newshub left off would now be the best outcome for journalism and hence the Government, and one which Lee will not be wanting to jeopardise.
Warner Bros Discovery’s spokesperson says “it took the announcement of the proposed restructure to kick off any and all conversations that may be occurring”.
“We are open to all ideas. There is no preferred outcome since we are open to everything being put on the table.”
Lee says she has no direct knowledge of any discussions Warner Bros Discovery may be having, including with Sky, but hopes to meet with TV3 tomorrow and would encourage Sky to do some local news if they were interested.
“Having another voice is always a good thing.”
There has been an element of pass the parcel with television channel Three, and the fact the music stopped shortly after Lee took office is bad luck. Doubts have been circulating for many years, under a variety of owners, over the viability of the operation.
Lee ultimately gave Warner Bros Discovery the cold shoulder when senior vice president Glen Kyne approached it earlier, seeking relief from the digital terrestrial television (DTT) transmission fees charged by state-owned enterprise Kordia.
DDT is the technology that allows about 1.9 million people in more populated areas to watch television channels broadcast on Freeview without that going through a satellite dish.
But Lee did at least consult officials on what that support could involve.
Warner Bros Discovery is understood to have made similar appeals for help to the former government that were rejected without it taking that step of seeking advice — albeit, it is understood, on the understandable grounds that it would be a poor look for the government to be subsidising a US$20 billion foreign company.
Lee has been criticised for initially opposing the Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill, which could provide a lifeline for journalism in New Zealand more generally. She has at times appeared disingenuous in refusing to recognise that the prospect of such legislation is the only thing that will have persuaded Google to enter into some voluntary licensing agreements with the news media.
But she made the fair point in Parliament yesterday that the former government would have had plenty of time to pass the legislation had it drafted an intervention earlier.
She is right that it is now appropriate for her to wait until the Economic Development, Science and Innovation select committee reports back on the law change before she announces the Government’s next step. And as she has also suggested, there may well be ways in which the legislation could be improved.
But what Warner Bros Discovery’s announcement will have underlined is that media outlets can disappear with little or no warning beyond the warnings already given, so she may not have the luxury of time to start afresh.
She warns there are not a lot of levers the Government can pull to shape the media landscape, beyond that bill.
“I’ve been working on something to take to Cabinet and I can't really talk about it until it has been to Cabinet. It can be quite frustrating being the minister.”