1. NZ Media Ownership 2011JMAD Media Mapping Project Author: Merja Myllylahti “Prime Minister defends loan to MediaWorks” m “ “Probable Closure of NZPA Sends Shockwaves Through Media”
2. JMAD and NZ media ownership In March 2011, JMAD took over New Zealand media ownership project from Bill Rosenberg – a pioneer on this field in New Zealand. We are proud of that since no other New Zealand university is addressing media-communication ownership themes on an ongoing basis.
3. What we have achieved so far? We have received past reports and archived material from Bill Rosenberg. We have established online presence. We have produced JMAD’s first New Zealand media ownership report. We are publishing an article about the topic in Pacific Journalism Review’s October 2011 issue.
4. NZ media ownership 2011 Some key findings: The ownership structure of New Zealand’s news media hasn’t dramatically changed since Bill Rosenberg’s last ownership report, but it seems that New Zealand media is even more rapidly integrating into global media system. During 2011 Fairfax, APN and Sky expanded their influence at the expense of public broadcasting provision and independent, nationwide news services. News stories are informed by fewer sources meaning that fewer voices are heard. Broadly speaking there are fewer mainstream content providers and less choice for consumer-citizens.
5. Closure of the 130 year old NZPA Closure of the 130 year old NZPA: now three Australian news services share the market. In his final story, NZPA senior journalist Max Lambert wrote: “The closedown means the newspaper industry has lost a truly independent source of New Zealand news. NZPA has a proud tradition of producing straight-up-and-down news stories unflavoured by bias, comment or opinion.”
6. Government loan to MediaWorks The New Zealand government used public money to help MediaWorks which is owned by an Australian private equity firm. Minister Stephen Joyce defended government’s loan arrangement in Parliament: “I point out too that, ultimately, if the Government had not offered it and radio broadcasters had gone broke, then the member and his friends would have been accusing us in the House of not doing anything to help save jobs in the broadcasting industry.”
7. End of the public TV? Government funding of TVNZ7 – the commercial-free digital channel - ending in June 2012. The new TVNZ Amendment Bill will gives TVNZ a clear mandate to make profit as its primary objective. The move will benefit at least one operator: The Sky TV, but as a group of 60 New Zealand academics warned: “Pay television cannot satisfy the same needs. It would be wrong to assume that Sky provides a range of programming that can replace the role of a public service channel. Sky provides relatively little in the way of local content other than sports, Sky having effectively monopolised the rights to the latter.”
8. Cutting and searching for revenue The two leading New Zealand media companies – Fairfax Media and APN News & Media – are in a process of economising, digitising and monetising. As APN Chief Executive, Brett Chenoweth, puts it: "The industry is changing. In a digital world it makes sense for media companies to look at infrastructure-light business models. We need to focus on content, editorial, sales and marketing through a range of different platforms."
9. Corporates enter local markets Corporates and hyperlocal hype: new entrants, Yellow Local and Localist, are providing local news as well as business and community information. Michael Skoler writes in Nieman Report: “We search for new business models that involve paywalls, more video, the iPad, and wealthy donors, while the most powerful emerging business driver in the new economy is community.”
10. A reminder why this all matters Prime Minister John Key defends the government loan to MediaWorks on ONE News, April 8 2011. http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/primeminister-defends-loan-mediaworks-4109116/video
