Graham Adams: The Spinoff’s $10m taxpayer haul

NZ On Air’s records show 52 grants dating back to 2016.

Last week, Duncan Greive announced an urgent fund-raising drive as a do-or-die moment for the The Spinoff, which he founded in 2014. At the very least, unless enough money rolled in from readers, more staff would lose their jobs in addition to the few roles that had already been disestablished.

He and the two other senior staffers who signed the open letter identified The Spinoff’s three “main buckets” of revenue — advertising and commercial partnerships; readers’ contributions; and taxpayer funding. The buckets were leaking badly.

Chris Trotter: Why Newshub Failed.

TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared to present levels) amount of commercial advertising. This arrangement reinforced both the public character and the public obligations of the state broadcaster. As the network’s primary funders, the viewing public constituted TVNZ’s most important clientele. These were the citizens to whom TVNZ’s professional broadcasters believed themselves accountable.

Graham Adams: Mihi Forbes and the great Atlas conspiracy

The TV presenter counts on her audience being uncritical and ill-informed.

Last week, Mihingarangi Forbes made an extraordinary claim while interviewing David Seymour on Mata Reports, a taxpayer-funded current affairs programme which, she says, looks at events through an “indigenous lens”.