Classic Blunder - The Sequel, Part 9

Good News/Bad News: The Good News is that Parliament will review Radio New Zealand’s Charter after all, cancelling out the Bad News that Broadcasting Minister, Kris Faafoi, refuses to guarantee the future existence of Concert FM.

As reported in the previous episode of Classic Blunder:The Sequel, Faafoi ’s response to a written question about the charter review from National’s broadcasting spokesperson, Melissa Lee, was his now familiar tactic of taking refuge behind the seemingly never-ending process of building a “business case” for merging Radio New Zealand and Television New Zealand into a “new media entity”.

Lee’s question (No 6503/2021), submitted on Wednesday 17 March, asked: “Have any Ministers requested a delay of the review of the Radio New Zealand Charter as set out in Section 8C of the Radio New Zealand Act 1995, if so, what were the reasons given?”

Faafoi’s response later the same day failed to address the question directly. “I plan to report to Cabinet in October this year with advice on the viability of establishing a new public media entity. Therefore, I have written to the Speaker of the House advising that I do not think that it is ‘practicable’ to undertake a review of the current Charter of RNZ until Cabinet has made final decisions on creating a new entity. This is not a delay as there is no specific date for review of the Charter, rather I have advised that I think that the review is not practicable at this time.”

The charter is supposed to be reviewed every five years. The next one is due to start any time after this Good Friday 2 April. Faafoi’s reliance on the letter of the law — which stipulates that the review must be undertaken and completed as soon as “practicable” — is as spurious as his claim that the review won’t be delayed.

There is absolutely nothing to prevent the Charter being reviewed in the six months before Faafoi reports to Cabinet. Even if the former TV reporter met his deadline, he says the review would not be “practicable” until after Cabinet makes “final decisions on creating a new entity”. At the current rate of progress in policy development at the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, that could be well after Hell freezes over.

By observing the statutory start date for the review, the new Charter would be ready for when Radio New Zealand takes its place in the “new media entity”. But that doesn’t seem to be in the plan.

In Written Question 6500/2021, Lee asks Faafoi: “Will the RNZ Concert platform, not withstanding a nominal name change, continue to exist in the structure of the Minister’s proposed new Public Media Entity; if not, why not?”

Faafoi responds by referring the National MP to his answer to Parliamentary Question 6492/2021: “The business case to assess the feasibility of creating a new public entity is still being developed. Accordingly, no final decisions have been made about the future delivery of public media content.”

It would be interesting to know what Beethoven and Dave Brubeck would have thought of having their compositions described as “public media content.”

Even more ominously, Faafoi adds: “Cabinet has directed that any new entity must provide public media services on a variety of platforms” — one of which, surely, would include radio? But questions about other elements of state broadcasting — TVNZ’s channels, its On Demand streaming service and Freeview — all got the same response: see Answer 6492.

Yet another instance of the furtive and obsessive secrecy that has shrouded public broadcasting policy since Faafoi took over the portfolio from Clare Curran in 2018, the Minister’s evasions point to an undivulged agreement on overall strategy between his office, Radio New Zealand, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage and NZ on Air.

Radio New Zealand’s involvement, beyond its botched attempt to migrate Concert FM on to the internet, was confirmed in the answer that its communications consultant, John Barr, gave to a question about the broadcaster’s preparations for the Charter review. He said: “RNZ understands that the existing RNZ Charter would likely be replaced by the Charter of a new entity should the proposal to establish a new entity progress.”

Where did he get that idea? Is the Ministry for Culture and Heritage really going to attempt the impossible by trying to write a charter that covers commercial television, public radio and the various weird and wonderful forms of journalism that now occupy nooks and crannies largely unseen on obscure web pages?

The answer to questions like that is an obvious reason for not wanting to have a charter review with its opportunity for public submissions and open hearings. So Melissa Lee’s post on her Facebook page on Thursday 25 March was very good news indeed.

“I suspected the Government was trying to get out (of) a statutory review of the RNZ Charter when we heard nothing about it at the start of this Parliamentary year,” she wrote.

“Imagine my shock when I saw the reply to a question (No 1653/2021) I lodged a few days ago!

“Fortunately I can now confirm an RNZ Charter review will NOT be cancelled and will be taking place before the Economic Development Science and Innovation Select Committee in the weeks ahead and no, there won't be a delay.

“I believe this session will be absolutely vital to understand what is going on in the Government's Public Media plans. We want to get to the bottom of the myriad of issues that surrounded public broadcasting policy in the last Parliament from the attempt to decimate RNZ Concert, to the actions of the former Broadcasting Minister as well as the current Government's plans to disestablish RNZ & TVNZ to replace them with a new Public Media entity.

“It will also be an important time for discussion about the future of New Zealand's media sector.”

It will indeed. This is the opportunity, relinquished by the same committee not acting on Rutherford Ward’s petition calling for RNZ’s board to be sacked, for the public to get involved in vital decisions about the media that have previously been tightly controlled by politicians and their bureaucratic advisers.

“Please send me any questions or feedback you have for this review,” urges National’s broadcasting spokesperson (melissa.lee@parliament.govt.nz). “I’m looking forward to a detailed and thorough examination.”

So are we all. Stay tuned.

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