Public television broadcasting ended in NZ last night. The TVNZ Amendment Bill passed which kills the TVNZ Charter. TVNZ is now required to be a commercial broadcaster. it remains State owned for now but is likely being prepared for sale by a government that has no commitment to public broadcasting.
While the National Govt axes the Charter and drives a stake into public TV broadcasting, there’s a mounting crisis in the media world; in the relationship between media and politicians which could severely impact on the Murdoch media empire and the UK Govt.
The News of the World phone hacking scandal has reverberated around the globe. The Murdoch empire has tentacles in many countries.
There’s some important lessons here.
Independent public media, not captured by vested interests is critical to the health of a nation. The public needs to know that politicians and media aren’t in bed with each other, that there’s standards that media adhere to and lines that wont be crossed. If they are crossed, that the judicial system will investigate and prosecute. And wont be captured and muzzled by fear of powerful media.
But the passing of this Bill takes NZ on a slippery slope to a place where vested interests rule our media. Hopefully not our politicians.
But.
We’ve already seen the government fork out $43 million to bail out Mediaworks. It’s pretty clear that TVNZ is being prepared for sale and meanwhile Sky gains a bigger slice of the unregulated broadcasting sphere. Unfettered. Not good.
Labour is committed to a strong independent public media. If you have had any doubts about the need, just look across the hemisphere.
All governments are susceptible to media influence. Especially big media empires. Which makes for a compelling case for independent publicly funded media which is arms length from government.
Now that TVNZ is a commercial creature of its masters, Key and Coleman, a close watch must be kept on news and current affairs coverage by them, particularly political news coverage. A ‘Murdoch style’ relationship is a very real threat now.
Where ithink Labour made a coimplete hash of it last time, was to try and have TV One a a duel model. It would have been better to either have TV One as a sole commercial or exclusively Public. Either or does not work.
Now i would suggest the TV Seven be retained as a pubic channel and leave TV One to screen the crap that the do at present.
A ‘Murdoch style’ relationship, Jennifer, as you have seen in the UK, works exceptionally well for the spin of both labour and the tories as both sides clamour, back-stab and deal their way to the top of the polls.
“We’ve already seen the government fork out $43 million ”
Really, that old line again? I think the money “forked out” is actually the net difference (if any) between the interest rate the loan was drawn down at, and the would-be market rate on a similar loan
@ softstarter, wasn’t it Murdoch’s Sky News that broadcast the open mike left on Gordon Brown, and his Sun newspaper that hacked his infant child’s medical records? Have you never watched Fox News?
Channels 1 and 2 should be sold off, or at least pay a public dividend abck to the hand that has fed for so many years. They’re blooody rubbish.
What is descibed as ‘network news’ is a hodgepodge of cat stuck up tree, sport, and uncritical NBC/FOX re-broadcast shoved in between the all important ad breaks.
If people believe anything reported on TV1, certainly in the political sphere, then they deserve to be duped.
Don’t even get me started on the endless police/hospital drama tripe.
There is way better free to air TV out there incl. Maori and TV7(a massive mistake in canning this channel IMHO).
A significant part of any dividend should be used to support a proper ad free PBS though but of course, that won’t happen either under the Nats or Labour beacause there’s no money in it.
George Monbiot has suggested an ethical oath similar to the Hippocratic one of doctors. Could make for an interesting change in journalism.
Definitely need some well funded independent journalism and it’s obvious that we don’t get that from privately owned news corporations. That leaves only one option – government funding with no commercial focus.
Jennifer, I have watched Fox News but I don’t watch Fox News, I find it quite annoying. What’s your point? The Sun, NOTW, the Mirror, Star etc… are all tabloid newspapers, they are extremely competitive for their market and don’t really care who gets in the way. Labour buddied up to Murdoch as much as anyone else in Parliament knowing full well the influence these papers have over the voting public, you know, ordinary working class, labour/tory/lib dem/greens voting folk.
Have you heard of Damien Mcbride and his actions under labour and gordon brown? No, I didn’t think so. There is a world outside the Guardian you know. Don’t go turning this into some strange evil tory plot.
As for the story about hacking gordon brown’s childs medical records, the story was broken by The Sun in NOVEMBER 2006, a time where nulabour was very cosy in bed with Murdoch and his organs which were openly backing Blair and brown. The latest is that this story was deliberately leaked by a ‘family friend’, quite possible to cover up a bad news day.
Quote from gordon brown this week:
“You’re in public life. And this story appears. You don’t know how it’s appeared. I’ve not questioned how it’s appeared. I’ve not made any allegations about how it’s appeared. I’ve not made any claims about [how it appeared]. But the fact is it did appear. And it did appear in the Sun newspaper.”
So, no accusations at all from brown or denials from brown.
I thought Clare’s blog was about the TVNZ charter not Murdoch, NOTW et al. Indeed the loss of this charter makes it all the more imperative to save TV7.
Of course it could be that Coleman (aka Maestro)is simply fattening up TVNZ for sale….perhaps to Murdoch!
@ softstarter, did I imagine hearing a highly indignant Gordon Brown on the radio today saying the Murdoch journalists had hacked his tax and legal records, and all manner of private information. And it seems Cameron is now dropping Murdoch as the scandal eats its way toward No10.
@ Draco
I wouldn’t take what George “What Global Warming? / It’s a healthy dose of radiation” Monbiot says too seriously there, my friend
However, the idea of an oath is an interesting one. But while ‘news’ is filler for ads and a prop for boosting circulation/viewership, it aint gonna happen.
I disagree,
All news media is inherently bias and in some way whether they consciously acknowledge it or not beholden to their funders
That said if NZ so desperately need public broadcasting why not set up an NFP Trust and work with Stratos etc… to provide an NZ public broadcaster, that funding it all there through NZ On Air and the balance could be obtained through sponsorship
It not about bias, it is about resources to carefully research and present facts, yes some bias may exist but a good jornalist will find away to address this.
At present none of our broadcast have the resources to research facts. The commercial imperiative seems to be cheap infotaintment.
You can pick which articles and news bites that are press realeases repeated verbatim. That is the measure of a good piece of spin via a press realease how little it gets edited before going to air.
TV one seems to be`really bad at the moment for repeating opinions as news and fact, even though the source is has a vested interest.
New Zealand needs a well resourced and independent news organisation; it is essential to democracy. It should not rely on sponsorship or advertisment.
@ softstarter: July 13, 2011 at 1:17 pm
from The Economist, Jul 7th 2011:
‘Thanks largely to some splendid muckraking by the Guardian, it is now clear how one tabloid obtained some of its headlines.’
And as for printing Fraser Brown’s medical records in The Sun . . . what were they thinking?
“Independent public media, not captured by vested interests is critical to the health of a nation.” & “Labour is committed to a strong independent public media.”…… I have no faith that public media= lack of vested interest. I am reminded of Kim Hill’s brilliant remark that whenever people say they “want more quality programming” they are actually saying they want more of the programmes they like
“A cynical, mercenary, demagogic press will produce in time a people as base as itself.” – Joseph Pulitzer
@Pedrovsky – I love Kim Hill and that emoticon
!
I still don’t follow Jennifer. Are you implying some sort of tory plot here? That somehow only Cameron has his fingers in this? Are labour polititians somehow squeaky clean and immune from Murdoch’s reach? That there is perhaps something rotten about the lobby system (there probably is)? Is it only that evil right wing tory media running the show? Any comment to make on the Trinity Mirror Group and their involvement? What about The Sun’s headline saying that Gordon is wrong?
What Labour wants is a Government controlled media organisation that will preach the party line as TVNZ did for so many years under the last Labour regime
Why should the poor taxpayer subsidise a state broadcaster only to be rewarded with the absolute tripe dished up on TVNZ.
Sell it, take the money, repay debt & move on. Next please.