Trust in media, or lack thereof, was front and centre as the Minister of Broadcasting had a week of being grilled in parliament's Question Time about the Aotearoa New Zealand Public Media Bill.
Trust in media, or lack thereof, was front and centre as the Minister of Broadcasting had a week of being grilled in parliament's Question Time about the Aotearoa New Zealand Public Media Bill and ended up walking back some of his utterings.
Each day Willie Jackson was questioned by National's Melissa Lee on whether he stood by all his statements and actions regarding legislation to create a new public media entity out of RNZ and TVNZ. Mostly he did stand by them.
"We no longer have trust in national media. No longer is there trust in what's happening at a national media level," Jackson told the House on Wednesday.
"We need a trusted public broadcaster, because national identity is incredibly important, and no longer do people trust New Zealand television or New Zealand radio. Our last survey told us that New Zealand radio is the second most listened-to medium; New Zealand television is fourth-second and fourth. So we need a national broadcaster for a great public identity."
The previous day, Jackson expounded on the government's rationale for merging Radio NZ and Television NZ, which it sees as a way of fortifying them both against a slow death in relevance during the digital age.
"The most important thing here is that we have a changing landscape in terms of the media. We have people disappearing down rabbit holes. We need to have a trusted public media entity-that's the absolute priority-that reflects all New Zealanders. People can't see themselves. They can't hear themselves.
"They want to see all New Zealanders and hear from all New Zealanders-Māori, Pasifika, Asian, young people. It's not just about the dollars."
Select Committee
The select committee process in relation to this bill has received many public submissions, and Melissa Lee referred to some of these in her questions
"What response does the minister have to submitters to the select committee who say, and I quote, 'The editorial independence guaranteed by the bill is illusionary' and that there is an unacceptable level of ministerial control that transcends anything currently imposed on RNZ and TVNZ?" Lee asked.
"I say those submitters are wrong," Jackson said. "My intention is that the Aotearoa New Zealand Public Media should have extremely strong protections in relation to editorial independence. What is in the bill is intended to strengthen the current editorial independence that TVNZ and RNZ have…