Over the last decade, the prophecies foretelling the death of the country’s legacy media have become louder and louder.
This week at Parliament, the Social Services and Community Committee heard from the heads of Radio New Zealand, TVNZ, and The New Zealand Film Commission at a committee briefing.
The whole thing had a bit of a “hey, are you still with us?” mood to it, but the three major state owned media entities were steadfast in their assurance that, despite the cries of doomsayers, they didn't plan on going anywhere.
TVNZ Chair of the Board Alastair Carruthers Photo: VNP/Louis Collins
The briefing focused on the most recent annual reviews of each entity, giving the Government and the public a lay of the land in terms of their productivity, engagement, finances, and the like.
Both Radio New Zealand and TVNZ underscored the importance of adaptation and innovation in the face of a rapidly changing industry.
“We're not abandoning generations, we're actually helping everybody to move into the future. And what's been so significant about the growth of our platform is that all generations are there,” mused TVNZ Chair of the Board Alastair Carruthers. “Our challenge, actually, is to make sure that the advertisers go there too, because that's a premium place where we can identify with data tools precisely who's watching. So public broadcasting is front and centre. But it can only happen if we have the revenue.”
Carruthers’ counterpart at Radio New Zealand, Dr Jim Mather similarly eulogised his entity’s performance at the briefing. “The need for an outstanding public media entity is stronger today than ever before. RNZ serves the needs of New Zealand audiences and our audience figures have been encouraging and growing, both online and on air.
RNZ board chairman Dr Jim Mather Photo: RNZ / Dom Thomas
“We serve underserved audiences, we have a commitment to quality content. We support the national debate with our news and current affairs. We provide a local utility service to our AM network, and we offer a vital service to our arts and culture community.”
What is the purpose of a briefing?
On this programme, we often harp on about the important function of Parliament’s Select Committee’s. These are cross-party groups of MPs who put proposed legislation under the microscope. To do this effectively, they often hear submissions from the public, and recommend amendments to the House.
Also in their remit, is the examination of petitions, financial scrutiny, holding inquiries, and perhaps the least talked about - initiating briefings
Briefings are sort of a casual version of the more formal inquiry function committees can initiate. In some cases, once members have learned more about an issue through a briefing they’ll launch an inquiry. There's no requirement for this though.
Briefings give committees the chance to get the low-down of an issue from subject matter experts. From time to time this might be from a visiting overseas delegation, but in this case it was industry leaders, who are usually (but not always) one and the same.
