“If you think of the overall shape of New Zealand media, including news as a subset of that, it was historically almost entirely funded by advertising, with the exception of Sky, which had a huge subscription base,” says Greive.
“The advertising market is now increasingly dominated by huge digital platforms.”
Google, Meta and, more recently, TikTok have seen their revenues balloon at a time when pressure has continued to grow on the companies that employ the vast majority of Kiwis working in our local media industry.
“There’s no denying that the overall pool of funding, whether it comes through advertising or any other means, that goes into local media and employs people who create news, entertainment and culture on behalf of this country is shrinking – and it’s going to keep shrinking as a proportion of the overall spread of spend.”
New Zealand politicians have long had the power to do something about this, but no one has stepped in with the bold thinking necessary to challenge the current trends.
“Unless a politician comes in and starts to make significant legislative changes, they can expect to stand there and watch this thing contort and shrink in front of their eyes,” says Greive.
“They just need to be aware that this is going to happen, and that’s not a great story for those of us who work in media or those who love what it does. I might be wrong, but there are two decades of evidence for this that will continue to be the story in the absence of a step-change in the way we deal with the technology platforms.”
Greive says that while some might be calling on the Government to better fund the media, he doesn’t believe this is the long-term answer to the issues facing the sector.
“I was at a NZ On Air music event on Wednesday and they talked about wanting greater investment. [Incoming National MPs] Paul Goldsmith and Melissa Lee were in the crowd, but I just don’t rate anyone’s chances of getting more investment.
“I think they’re probably better off asking for structural reform, which better reflects the contemporary reality. I think changing the legislation and some of the mandates is probably going to get better outcomes for the industry as it stands.”
So what does this mean long-term for the media industry? And is there still room for current affairs programming after the canning of The Project?
Listen to the full episode of The Front Page to hear Greive elaborate on these issues and more.
The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available every weekday from 5am. It is presented by Damien Venuto, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in business reporting who joined the Herald in 2017.
You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
