The Better Public Media Trust congratulates Kris Faafoi on retaining his role as Minister of Broadcasting and Media.

The next three years will be challenging times in media, as has the last decade, and it's important for New Zealand to have a Minister who understands the issues and has the interests of audiences at heart.

Minister Faafoi has begun a process to restructure public media in New Zealand for the long term. This is important and overdue work, with far-reaching repercussions for the industry and audiences.

The proposals for an amalgamated RNZ-TVNZ entity will only be a success if the government is willing to align the level of the funding with the scale of its policy vision. Cabinet needs to appreciate the importance of public media in the battle against Covid and the economic recovery. This is in addition to the important role our media plays defining New Zealand culture, supporting democracy, and keeping us all entertained.

Although there has been some welcome increases in funding for RNZ and NZ On Air over the past three years, this has fallen well short of the $38m annual increase promised by Labour in 2017.

Before the 2020 election, Labour proposed putting $75m over the next three years to the Local Democracy Reporting scheme. BPM supports this but warns that transparency is needed over where and how this funding is spent.

BPM looks forward to working with Minister Faafoi over the next three years and wish him all the best.

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