Mediawatch

Midweek - Treaty Principles Bill and TJ Perenara’s controversial haka stir debate; the latest public funding for current affairs and journalism and Three's local stuff for 2025.

This week’s Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti harvested heaps of headlines, hours of airtime and piles of print and pixels - media copped plenty of criticism for the coverage. Also: a deep-dive podcast that needed deep pockets - and warnings of ‘news deserts’ here.

Midweek - Accusations of bias and a lack of impartiatality in coverage of Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti. Also the Herald v David Bain, Facebook scam surge and problems for local magazines.

Why was an award-winning journalist dedicated to reporting abuse in state care briefly banned from the official apology for that this week? Also - NZME plans to close 14 local North Island papers, possibly leaving some towns without coverage.

Midweek - Hikoi hits the road; Seymour vs TVNZ; TV news cuts latest and how sketchy reports of a foreign football flashpoint sparked a diplomatic incident.

“It’s their media world now. We just live in it” - what news media are taking away from the Trump triumph; Media message from Trump’s triumph, how Australia and Malaysia are making social media accountable for the content they carry

Midweek: the epic media coverage of an epic US election that's put Trump back in charge. Also - more grim news from TVNZ; and warnings from Crux and NZ Geographic

Could the boss of the country’s biggest news publisher joining a local ginger group alongside political figures compromise her own company's coverage in the capital? Also: award-winning NZ Geographic adopts maximum transparency to secure its survival

Midweek: Kiwi journalists in the US ramp up election reflections - and some politicians here too. US papers cop it for u-turns on backing Harris; TVNZ backtracks on its 1 News website - and Colin meets football elite (sort of . . . )

A look at how US media have coped with the controversial campaign for the upcoming election there - and we look back at how our media fared covering the election here one year ago.

Midweek - fallout from RNZ's scrapped Anika Moa podcast featuring former Labour MP Kiri Allan, intervention in the WCC, the lack of excitement about the America's Cup win, and Health NZ’s $9200 on canapés

Coverage of capital’s troubled city council - and claims the government could intervene. Also: news publishers respond to a survey showing more Kiwis dodging their news - and a surge in social media scam posts co-opting big names in news media.

Midweek - The government turns 1 (or does it?), a 'Chris-tastrophic' political poll (or was it), TVNZ news not on TV, RIP BBC Hardtalk.

TVNZ’s signaled more cost-saving cuts and started by scrapping its online news site next year. Meanwhile Google’s threatening to cut ties with local news altogther. What’s going on?

TVNZ's plans to axe its news website, ministerial fact-checking from Q+A - and a rude front page from The Press.

The controversial call to cut back the rebuild of Dunedin Hospital - and how local media helped drive a big backlash. Also: Patrick Gower’s got a new ‘feel-good’ weekly show. But do we really want feelgood news in not-so-good-times?

What Colin learned watching TV the old-fashioned way, and news of more cuts to come at two TV broadcasters. Also: online changes at Stuff - and a ‘crime against broadcasting’ on RNZ National.

Mediawatch talks to the boss of Australia’s public broadcaster the ABC - and the producer of a show putting mental health in the frame for the past 15 years. Also: fallout from the murder trial that preoccupied the media for the past two months. * this programme discusses the issue of suicide and how it is covered by the media *

A year ago our former government torched its plan for a joined-up public broadcaster more like Australia’s one. But the ABC is a billion-dollar beast that’s also been a political football. Mediawatch asks its outgoing boss where it - and David Anderson himself - is heading.

The media’s Polkinghorne trial preoccupation - and the audience’s appetite; two problematic podcasts go offline - but for very different reasons

Our media put politicians’ feet to the fire in the name of accountability - but some won't front up in the first place. Is the way they’re doing it part of the problem? Also: the local iwi steps in to save the local paper in Wairoa.

Another threat to Trump's life as sad Springfield squirms under unwanted media spotlight. Also: pushbike pushback; big-money mistake on a new artwork; a fond farewell for pioneer of political broadcasting - and an MMA quiz fail.

Bad news about bad vibes in our big cities right now - and Wellington's woes in particular. Also: new research for the broadcasting watchdog says some minorities say discriminatory stuff is turning them off our media. But where is it coming from? And - fact checking claims about the legality of peeing in public.

How the epic broadcast to mark a new epoch in te ao Māori was made at Tūrangawaewae Marae, media focus on small stuff in big bucks plan for roads; 'Toast-gate' prompts a backlash and a u-turn on maternity ward snacks.

Holding ministers to account - but also amplifying their spending statements without scrutiny; two editors in Asia holding the line on media freedom; update on advocacy ad angst.

Colin Peacock talks to Emile Donovan about a lid-lifting Sunday paper scoop about gun crime - and a minister in the spotlight over gun law reform. Also - Australian media go rogue on Raygun, and more Newshub TV talent scooped up by Stuff.

Mediawatch looks at how the news media are using artificial intelligence these days. What is AI technology good for? What is it bad at? And do media need to be ready for the fake AI content that's undermining news? Also: further fallout from a controversial advert run by The New Zealand Herald.

Hayden Donnell talks to Emile Donovan about the Herald backing away from running another ad from Hobson's Pledge, a question going begging in the coverage of the government's benefit sanctions announcement - and a cynical PR move by the All Blacks.

Mediawatch looks back at the media in the middle of political rows about race relations - and why Maori journalists want an apology over a controversial advocacy ad in the Herald. Also: how social media amplified anger over the riots in the UK - and boxing at the Olympics.

Colin Peacock talks to Todd Zaner about reactions to the revelation the Herald used AI to write editorials - and what was revealed by coverage of the National Party's AGM last weekend. Also: some standout Olympic media moments and unexpected acapella jingles.

Mediawatch looks at a controversy over the use of AI artificial intellgince the New Zealand Herald - and asks if readers should be told when AI technology creates news content. Also: how the media jumped the gun over our lack of medals at the Olympics - and an unconvincing complaint about the All Blacks spurning our media.

Hayden Donnell talks to Emile Donovan about the Herald using AI for an editorial - and he delves into the disappointment over our lacklustre Olympic medal count so far. Also - peeling back layers of health bureaucracy and a very personal challenge to a reality TV show.

Mediawatch looks at how the media reacted to the Abuse in State Care report - and the role the media played in bringing the issue to light.

Colin Peacock talked to Emile Donovan about how the media handled the news that Joe Biden had thrown in the towel - and the final report from the Inquiry into Abuse in State Care. Also Colin also looked at a revealing local report about a local high school - and something he got wrong about his own primary school days.

Mediawatch looks at what our media made of the government's new emissions plan - and how best to cover global climate change without pumping up people's despair. Mediawatch also talks to an RNZ reporter who got a rare opportunity to find out what's going on Nauru, where journalists have been kept at arm's length for years.

Hayden Donnell talks to Emile Donovan about TVNZ Breakfast getting dragged into the Trump shooting debate, some NZME criticism from NZME, TVNZ's exclusive interview with isolated Green MP Darleen Tana - and Hayden apologises for mixing up his memes.

Mediawatch looks at how our media reacted to the shocking news of the attempt on Donald Trump's life in Pennsylvania. And shortly before that news broke, Colin Peacock a look at the week's news and media live on Sunday Morning with Hayden Donnell - including how it panned out in the first week of Stuff's ThreeNews, a change for TVNZ's Re:News, a significant change in the government's stance on affordable housing - and horoscopes in the news.

Colin Peacock talked to Emile Donovan Stuff making a solid start with ThreeNews on TV; the British media making a meal of their landslide election and local democracy reporting's financial reprieve. Also: the unhealthy obsession with the world's most famous footballer - and Emile gives Mediawatch the (remixed) gift of music.

Last Friday the curtain came down on Newshub at 6 - and more than 30 years of nightly news made at the TV channel Three. But the next day the new 6pm bulletin by Stuff launched in its place. Mediawatch takes a look at its debut - and asks the question: what do people want from the 6pm TV news these days anyway?

Colin Peacock talked to Emile Donovan about the government backing a law change - which they once slated in opposition - to help the media get more money from Big Tech. Also - the end of Newshub coming closer - and another round of concerning closures in the media in local newspapers, the once-mighty Sunday News and at Newstalk ZB.

While our government ponders policy to help news media companies cope with their crumbling business models, millions of us get our news first from Facebook, Google and even TikTok. It's the same in Australia - and this week our friends at the ABC ask if public interest journalism can survive on these online networks - or without them. And if serious news outlets slip into obscurity, what would that mean for our public life?

Hayden Donnell talks to Emile Donovan about the prime minister becoming his own hype man, a strange malfunction in RNZ's push notifications, and a grab bag of media business news.

Pundits have predicted the death of old-fashioned newspapers for years - but they're still here. This week Mediawatch looks at a new history of New Zealand newspapers' golden years, from one hundred years ago until the new millennium when digital technology and devices turned the news business upside down.

Hayden Donnell talks to Emile Donovan about an emerging media consensus over our malfunctioning Defence Force aircraft, how rude words slipped though in music on RNZ - and a huge few months at Stuff.

How the media copped criticism for reporting allegations of personal data misused for political purposes - and the struggle to get meaningful responses from official sources. Also: the popularity of an ultra-long local podcast contradicts assumptions about short attention spans - and how one journalist's trip to his local cafe ended up as national news.

Colin Peacock talks to Emile Donovan about more moves between broadcasters, more new podcasts - but fewer Prime Ministerial press conferences. Also: TVNZ makes football fans happy.

Regional reporting cut back for NZME's new national focus; sports news that was too late - and too early; the controversy over cancer treatment funding missing from the Budget,can we trust surveys of our media which say we don't trust them?

Hayden Donnell talks to Emile Donovan about the government's latest reason for not funding 13 cancer drugs, a mammoth loss expected at TVNZ, AI faking the news and even our contemporary history -and a slight directed at the Ōtaki Today.

Long-running bid to make big tech pay for news hits a snag - so what happens next?; stories based on stats sliced from surveys; shock horror over incomplete houses.

Colin Peacock talks to Emile Donovan about Duncan Garner's new live morning show - and an old name for a new 6pm TV news show. Also - a couple of awkward moments at this year's national journalism awards and an awkward confrontation between a rugby coach and a reporter; an outlet devoted to the music of the dead - and who gets struck by lightning?

New Zealand's big awards for journalists were given out this week at a time when many are losing their jobs. Also - Mediawatch talks to an editor who has secured the future of two important medical magazines in tight times - and looks at coverage of the A-League scandal that's posed some awkward questions with reputations at stake.

Hayden Donnell and Emile Donovan apologise poetically to a small Tararua seaside settlement inadvertently insulted by RNZ online. Also: Stuff launches crime podcasts you pay for - while another new podcast hit a hitch this week; ScarJo's lawyers 1, Chat GPT nil.

A long-running plan to reform the oversight of our media has come to a sudden halt; how public toilets suddenly became political this week.

Colin Peacock talks to Emile Donovan about Fair Go and Sunday coming to a sad but dignified end this week at TVNZ, as the broadcaster itself copped criticism for its handling of the redundancies and closures. Also: a complaint against a newspaper's controversial coverage of roading and new offerings from RNZ.

Pre-budget teasers increase exposure - and scrutiny; Green MP under pressure over conduct; bid to backstop local news; Gaza coverage attract complaints - and prizes.

Hayden Donnell talks to Emile Donovan about new hires for the upcoming Stuff-Newshub 6pm bulletin. Also - TVNZ and the journalists' union face off over job cuts while the outgoing boss of TV channel Three took a swipe at its state-owned rival; and a fringe online radio station's set to return after raising money from its listeners.

One opinion poll prompts intense political pushback; new report urges sweeping changes to media, law and funding - and fast; Wairoa Star closes after more than a century in print.

Colin Peacock talks to Emile Donovan about an MP taken to task about his knowledge of the arts - and a TV producer taking on a funding agency in court. Also: a new political poll causes ructions; a century-old newspaper folds - and a spurned sportsman's great save on camera.

New media minister rolls in after PM's surprise reshuffle; TV news and current affairs on the way down here, but highly competitive across the Tasman.

Hayden Donnell talks to Emile Donovan about the departure of broadcasting minister Melissa Lee - and the arrival of the next one Paul Goldsmith. Also: a controversial TV interview with the Israeli ambassador - and some truly startling stuff in a Stuff illustration.

Stuff is taking over Newshub's 6pm TV news. A bold move for an outfit that's never been a broadcaster before. Will it work? Also: Mediawatch talks to two editors about the latest survey showing another alarming slump in New Zealanders' trust in the news.

Colin Peacock talks to Emile Donovan about Stuff leaping into uncharted waters by taking on Newshub at 6. Also: TVNZ going 'beyond broadcasting,' NZ Post and NZME add to predictions of print's demise; recognition for a one-man band in Southland - and Colin's mistaken identity mix-up... again.

End of TV news as we know it? TVNZ cuts back and Newshub closes down. Newshub's news boss responds; the minister plays for time; a former minister fights back

Colin Peacock talks to Emile Donovan about an historic day - not in a good way. The confirmation of the closure of Newshub and more cuts confirmed at TVNZ means more than 300 journalists' jobs will go by midyear - and TV news and current affairs will shrivel. Also: the latest report on trust in the news media reveals a further decline - and listeners' questions about what it all means.

TVNZ has confirmed Fair Go - on air for 47 years - and news shows Midday and Tonight will cease next month. The future of Sunday will be confirmed tomorrow. Meanwhile a decision on alternatives to a proposal to close Newshub in June is expected tomorrow from its owner Warner Brothers Discovery.

We talk to an editor keeping an eye on where public money for public services ends up and the government's new political action plan gets the media's attention.

Hayden Donnell talks to Emile Donovan about the government's new chunked-out action plan, a new channel coming to the ThreeNow app - and why media companies chasing online engagement risk alienating their users.

Gabrielle review lessons for media; Dolphin drama fires up media.

Colin Peacock talks to Emile Donovan about the dolphin drama that divided the nation (and the media) last weekend - and royal revelations that overshadowed a terrorist atrocity in Moscow. Also: the PM and party leaders drop hints about upcoming policy to help cash-strapped news media.

Mediawatch looks at the fallout from Winston Peters' criticism of the media in his State of The Nation speech.

Hayden Donnell talked to Emile Donovan about Winston Peters attacking the news media in his State of the Nation speech - and the death of Rod Oram, a much-admired journalist dedicated to coverage of business and climate change. Also: how many journalists are left in New Zealand - and the rights and wrongs of airing 'hot mic' comments.

Artificial intelligence tech threatens to take our eyeballs even further away from the outlets which produce news - but it's also a tool they can use to make more of it. This week Stuff - which has warned AI could wreck the business of journalism - used Chat GPT to write a stories about readers' opinions. Mediawatch asks an unimpressed editor if we all just have to get used to this now.

What will government do about the great TV news meltdown?; Stuff deploys AI for DIY news.

Colin Peacock talks to Emile Donovan about a manic Monday afternoon of news - cricket, Oscars, terror in the skies... and the post-Cabinet media conference. Also: the royal photo fakery frenzy; political responses to the TV newspocalypse; US politics satirised and fact-checked by TikTok; the leap-year community's struggles.

TVNZ has proposed big cuts to news that could leave the country with only one daily TV news bulletin and almost no current affairs on TV within weeks.

Hayden Donnell talks to Emile Donovan about job cuts looming at TVNZ as its crosstown rival Newshub faces a shut-down. Also: coverage of Chris Luxon's terrible, no-good week - and Heavy Metal Morning Report.

For years news media bosses warned the creaking business model backing journalism would fail at a major local outlet. It finally happened this week when Newshub's owners proposed scrapping it. Then TVNZ posted losses prompting warnings of more cuts to come there. Can TV broadcasters pull a crowd without news? And what might the so-far ambivalent government do?

Warner Bros. Discovery's decision to shut down Newshub was met with mourning within the media - and also concern about what could replace it in the media ecosystem

Mediawatch: TVNZ's latest losses signal likely cuts to come. But it's the slump in income for the broadcaster that dominates free-to-air TV which will worry the entire media industry.

Colin Peacock talked to Emile Donovan about the sudden and startling news of Newshub's impending demise in a 'proposal' from the global owner. Also: is it wrong for journalists to use 'big tech' tools to scrub the sound of real people from reports - or bum notes at the Superbowl?

The PM's State of the Nation speech got the media's attention when he said welfare needs reform. He didn't mention record-level immigration but that's also been deemed unsustainable and set for a reset too. What did the media tell about these problems - and what's at stake?

Last week the great and good of New Zealand's news media urged MPs to back a law change to make Google and Facebook pay them for their news. They say the income could be critical to the survival of journalism here. But the lobby group campaigning for better public media says there's a better way to 'send a lifeboat'.

As the biggest pop star on the planet packed out huge Australian arenas this week, the media here milked Kiwi Swifties' anger over missing out. It also aired confusing blame-game claims about why Swift gave New Zealand a swerve in the first place - and where the big gigs might be held in future.

Government 'resets' immigration and welfare; another way to make Google and Facebook to pay for journalism; media milk Kiwi Swifties' stadium FOMO.

Hayden Donnell talks to Emile Donovan about the death of Efeso Collins, big conclusions drawn from conflicting polls - and the problems with an old media adage.

A Herald headline this week said Auckland Transport was 'pushing on with $500,000 crossings'. The apparently outrageous expense was also aired on radio and in Parliament as evidence of the urgent need to reprioritise. But AT said the true cost was a fraction of what was reported.

Media bosses warned MPs this week journalism is in jeopardy here if they don't back a Bill making offshore tech giants pay for news carried on Facebook and Google. It's based on laws already in place in Australia and Canada. Mediawatch asks the ex-editor leading the publishers' pitch how it might work.

Auckland's transport turmoil reports lack full facts; publishers pitch to Parliament to make Google and Facebook pay for their news.

Colin Peacock talked to Emile Donovan about the Port Hills fire prompting another state of emergency; questions posed by two awkward interviews with political leaders - and the retail rat-astrophe in our supermarkets that suddenly surged to the top of the news agenda.

In past years some media outlets were ambivalent about Waitangi Day - some even hostile at times. But new moves by the new government and a strong pushback from Māori gave it an extra edge this year. Some even called it historic and a possible turning point. How did the media depict all that?

Waitangi tensions test politicians - and the media; Why is Sky screening more top-dollar sport for free?

Sky TV became the big beast of pay TV by keeping a stranglehold on exclusive live rights to the country's most popular sports for paying subscribers. This week it suddenly announced top rugby, netball and league will soon screen in weekends free-to-air. Why?

Hayden Donnell talks to Emile Donovan about Chris Luxon being harangued by the media for copy-and-pasting his Waitangi Day speech, an eye-opening column on police recruitment numbers - and a sensational-sounding political scoop that has yet to see the light of day.

Stories about surging inflation, successive food price rises and more Kiwis in arrears topped bulletins and filled front pages last year. But recent news about slowing inflation, cheaper food and rising business confidence hasn't had the same impact. How come?

It's more than a decade since Todd Scott staked everything to buy the business news weekly where he worked, the National Business Review. Since then NBR's gone online-only, axed ads entirely and the owner moved to Fiji. During a flying visit back to HQ, Mediawatch asks Scott if he's still in it for the long haul.

When James Shaw tweeted "James Shaw goneburger" it was the zenith of one political reporter's eight-year effort to goneburger every departing politician in New Zealand. But Jo Moir is now leaving Twitter (X) - and goneburgering - behind.

This week on Mediawatch, does bad news about the economy trump good news? The end of the line for goneburger?

Colin Peacock talked to Emile Donovan about just-announced changes to RNZ National's schedule and an RNZ news story last weekend which prompted complaints. Also: an ex-MP's emotional interviews; defining sport once and for all - and what do Jacinda Ardern and Liverpool FC have in common?

The summer holidays are usually a dead zone for domestic political news - but the unseasonal and unexpected downfall of Golriz Ghahraman bucked the trend this month. Media copped criticism from some for reporting the allegations that led to her resignation - while others railed at media for failing to condemn her alleged crimes and playing the 'mental health card'.