Media: Activist blamed for service shutdown

Penny Bright says her job is to bark and snarl and draw attention to what is going on. Photo / Richard Robinson

National Business Review says a left-wing activist has forced it to shut down its Horses Mouth free press release service.

The free unedited section of its nbr.co.nz website - where users could upload material direct - was pulled on October 16.

The reason? "Two words," said NBR editor-in-chief Nevil Gibson, "Penny ... Bright".

Bright is a long-time activist-about-town and has been particularly driven in the debate over water services.

So her politics are anathema to NBR.

In ideological terms the closure could be seen as a success for the left over campaigning right-of-centre newspaper, the NBR.

But a free media service has been lost to the public.

It is also a lesson on the limits of free unedited posting on the net by a mainstream media company.

Bright made no apologies for Gibson's statement that her posts had led to the Horses Mouth closure.

Gibson said her approach of linking from the Horses Mouth to a site that was subject to a court order meant the free website had to be monitored and had become unmanageable.

"It's annoying to our legitimate corporate users - but we have to accede to the court wishes," Gibson said.

NBR might resurrect the free press release service under a different guise but had other issues to deal with, Gibson said.

Bright said she had tested NBR's commitment to freedom of expression.

"When you are a public watchdog your job is to bark and snarl and draw attention to what is going on," Bright said.

FRICTION FICTION?

Film New Zealand is unhappy with last week's item about friction between that national body attracting Hollywood to New Zealand and the Auckland regional Film Office.

FNZ chairman Julian Grimmond criticised the report and said he did not believe there were problems in the relationship with the country's busiest film region.

Last week's item included criticism from an Auckland industry leader, Peter Parnham, deputy chairman of Film Auckland who spoke in a private capacity, about the way Film New Zealand trustees are appointed, and the lack of representation proportionately for Auckland.

FNZ responded this week, saying it had changed its processes, which were open to scrutiny on its website.

But Parnham still has concerns.

FNZ said in a press release it had secured branding expert Howard Grieve to act as marketing adviser.

Subsequently Film New Zealand confirmed that Grieve was providing advice for free and it would be using his services "prudently".

Parnham was previously associated with the film facilities company Panavision, but left that firm last year.

RAIN ON PLAIN

TVNZ chairman Sir John Anderson should get himself one of those high-powered torches they use in the Television One channel promotion.

He can shine it down into the political swamp to see who approved the "Plain English" promo for the Spotlight on The Economy programmes on digital channel TVNZ 7. TVNZ used $16,000 of taxpayer funding for the promotion aired on TVNZ channels which casts TVNZ - probably unfairly - as being overly cosy with the Government.

The promotion looked for all the world like a party political election ad leading to the view it was either dodgy, incompetent or both. TVNZ may have refused to pull the ad because it did not want to be seen to be caving in to Labour Party pressure.

But its belligerence in the face of a clear ethical breach just adds to the impression it has something to hide.

Even if you accept the view that this breach of ethical standards was cock-up rather than conspiracy, it still points to another example of loose systems and processes at the state-owned broadcaster.

The Business Herald asked TVNZ spokeswoman Megan Richards whether chief executive and editor-in-chief Rick Ellis or head of television Jeff Latch had been aware of the content for the ads. She would not say.

"Senior people from across the company were aware of the intent and content of the promos, but ultimately it is marketing's to sign off.

"That is all we will say," Richards said.

CASTRATED

TVNZ's defence was that the highly political Plain English promo was not news and current affairs and it followed standard procedures for making a promotion for a digital channel.

Maybe head of news and current affairs Anthony Flannery was not kept informed, or perhaps, like the rest of TVNZ management, he did not care. Neither possibility looks good.

Maybe - aware of concern among some of his news staff - he has been calling for wiser heads to prevail.

At best the Plain English row is a sign of the confusion that surrounds the development of TVNZ 6 and TVNZ 7 and where digital channels fit with TV One and TV2.

At its worst - and more likely - it illustrates TVNZ's half-hearted interest in editorial integrity and limited impact of a castrated news and current affairs division.

The same loose standards were apparent with its treatment of showbiz psychic Deb Webber - a star of TVNZ reality show Sensing Murder - with nary a shred of scepticism.

A news staffer even helped Webber reach the family of missing toddler Aisling Symes.

This lack of cohesion - a lack of respect for news and current affairs at the expense of an increasingly powerful marketing division - began when Flannery replaced Bill Ralston in 2005, and Ellis sought to bring the errant division to heel.

Ellis restructured the once-powerful news and current affairs division out of the top executive committee that runs the company.

As a result there is no journalist on that top rung at TVNZ to explain the damage that Plain English has caused for the TVNZ news brand.

GREEN ROOM

Of course this in not the first time TVNZ has clashed with politicians and been accused of being friendly to one party. The Nats - probably wrongly - believe most journalists are from the left, and TVNZ is no exception.

The most dramatic clash may have been back in 1996 when Helen Clark came head-to-head with TVNZ chief executive Chris Anderson - hired to privatise the company - and public relations man Alastair Carthew.

The two men insisted on confronting Clark about her approach to TVNZ as she prepared for an election debate with Jim Bolger, leading to a bizarre confrontation between Opposition leader and company bosses outside the TVNZ green room.

It may have been that the two men just wanted to have a chat. But sources say that Clark saw the approach as a bid to unsettle her at a pivotal time in the election campaign.

That led to Labour's attempt to bring change at Television New Zealand and removed the threat (or promise) of privatisation from 1999 to 2008.

Many believe that National will put privatisation of the state-owned broadcaster back on the agenda if the Government can find a buyer.

LOMAS TO LISTENER

The Listener has appointed David Lomas as deputy editor, replacing Mary Jane Boland, who left recently.

Lomas has a long background working on newspapers and in television and is currently working with Eyeworks Touchdown on the series Missing.

Lomas will return some of the Auckland focus for the magazine.

Three of Listener editor Pamela Stirling's most prized writers - Ruth Laugesen, Joanne Black and Jane Clifton - are in Wellington. Rebecca Macfie is based in Christchurch.