The Prime Minister took questions on her comments about RNZ's merger with TVNZ.
Video / Mark Mitchell
Opinion by Shane Jones
OPINION
The proposed merger of RNZ and TVNZ, into Aotearoa New Zealand Public Media (Anzpam), has been a triumph of noise over substance.
It epitomises much of Labour’s mission: transformational ideas shorn of economic robustness. Given noise means an unpleasant and disruptive sound, it’s no surprise the public is tuningout.
The Jacinda Ardern regime is showing many signs of the 1980s Labour downfall. A leader with rare communication skills, sparking electoral energy only to crash and burn. Too many ill-disciplined ministers chasing disparate targets as with Nanaia Mahuta in wastewater and sparkplug Willie Jackson on the wrong frequency.
After the Pyrrhic victory of Three Waters, this new broadcaster appears more Titanic rather than a titan of public media. It will have a 30-year public guarantee of $6 billion and a corporate injunction to harvest advertising revenue. No obligation to pay a dividend and zero accountabilities to the Commerce Commission.
No wonder its competitors look on with horror, especially Stuff and NZME, parties who were denied merger approval from the very same commission. As they scramble for revenue in recessionary headwinds, Labour squanders up to $370 million on restructuring costs.
Illustration / Rod Emmerson
Anzpam could be like the supermarkets and Air NZ. The former throttling grocery competition and the latter gouging travellers via monopolistic behaviour. Air NZ predatory pricing killed off numerous regional competitors but still enjoyed two taxpayer bailouts.
It is weird that Labour ministers boast about competition studies into the building and grocery sector - but appear untroubled about these flaws in the creation of Anzpam. Apparently, the Ministry of Culture and Heritage will exercise oversight to address such challenges. Irony must be a part of their DNA given they plan to spend $40 million of consultancy fees on this dunghill of an idea.
Disinformation, according to the Prime Minister, is the reason that this merger must take place. Presumably, she includes her own statements such as the assertion that RNZ will go broke without this hybrid birth. Sadly these clangers have become so common we are desensitised.
However, the public knows that the media and politicians have their biases, preferences and prejudices. Both think the way they see the world reflects the way it is.
Meanwhile, what is that in the sky? A bird, a plane, Superman? Ah no, it’s the bro, Broadcasting Minister Willie Jackson on a kamikaze TV mission. Still unable to convince the public why this broadcasting behemoth is needed, he probably feels more funding to NZ on AIr would have been better to generate niche products and quality current affairs content.
Who is acquiring who in this fusion? Whose culture will prevail - the public service norms of RNZ or the perks, office habits, and glossy style of TVNZ? Vastly different. If alignment cannot be struck, the new organisation will struggle.
Who would know if the merits of Anzpam eclipse other options in the absence of a credible cost-benefit analysis? Presumably, economies of scale and synergies have been bandied about. Labour needs to be wary of this. Neither entity, either joined or asunder, can take their audiences for granted.
A merger of this size has to be systematic rather than electorally opportunistic. The changeover to digital media is galloping ahead, does the Ministry of Culture and Heritage really understand this dynamic? Can we have confidence in its capacity to successfully deliver?
Shane Jones. Photo / Tania Whyte, File
This policy may fit Labour’s penchant for big bureaucracies such as Te Pūkenga, Te Whatu Ora and Three Waters. However, the public can see in the centralisation of the polytechnic sector, change management has been a disaster. A consultants’ banquet.
It is an indictment that this broadcasting blah-blah has come so far without compelling answers regarding editorial and institutional independence. The public is rightly suspicious when Labour struggles to justify this media merger. Is it merely a stage to promote race, transgender, wokeism and identity issues?
A democracy functions well with a shared appreciation of facts but it is also enriched by the marketplace of ideas. As such, media plurality is important. The free exchange of ideas drives progress. Without openness, prejudice does not vanish. Rather, it becomes the underbelly.
According to the Advertising Standards Authority, there is about $3 billion of advertising revenue sloshing around in NZ. Over 50 per cent is gobbled up by Google, Meta and other digital players. Of the remainder, TV takes $534 million, radio takes $257 million and newspapers take $220 million. Given the intense pressure for this dollar, Anzpam needs regulatory accountability.
The Prime Minister thinks merger value can be conjured or commanded. As in so many of Labour’s projects - from 100,000 houses to Auckland light rail - she has unrealistic expectations. Spinning policy thread into gold is a fairytale.
Ministers appear indifferent to how this new hybrid creature will function and are laissez-faire about the risks of delivery. This is particularly unwise in an election year. They ought to recall that in the natural world most hybrids are barren and some are stillborn.
Shane Jones is a former Labour MP and NZ First MP and was the first Minister for Regional Economic Development.
