Andy Oakley: TVNZ's Racism and Lies Exposed Again - (A must watch)

Tame's treaty tricks and other bollocks

Just released: the latest episode of Andy Oakley Investigates.

Once again, our state-funded broadcaster TVNZ is in the spotlight — and not in a good way. In this short video, I break down the latest example of the racism they continue to platform and promote.

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: TVNZ crossed a line with their handling of Maiki Sherman

From the commentary I’m seeing online, it’s clear there is a perception that no one reported on the Maiki Sherman revelation because the media were protecting one of their own.

I can tell you that perception is true. It’s not imagined - it is true.

Barrie Saunders: TVNZ – a reassessment

Apart from 7 years abroad, I have grown up with TVNZ’s channel one and was privileged to serve six years on its board – 2011 to 2017

Up until recently I retained a forlorn hope that it was possible to create a hybrid public service/commercial TV operation, that was positively New Zealand oriented, presenting objectively the reality of life here, and abroad.

Bruce Cotterill: TVNZ has lost its way and the public deserves better

There’s a lot going on. The Middle East. The oil price. The Royal Commission. The polls. The Senate hearings. Epstein. If you’re interested in current affairs, it’s a long list. It’s difficult to stay on top of things.

So I dragged myself back, kicking and screaming, to the 6pm television news. It’s a one-time ritual I’d long ago abandoned. I did so out of a need to catch up with the facts quickly.

I shouldn’t have bothered.

David Harvey: A Saucerful of Secrets

TVNZ Obfuscates Balance and Bias

In July 2025 it was announced that TVNZ was commissioning an independent review of its news. The focus was mainly on balance and bias. Concerns had been expressed by the Government that TVNZ needed to improve its trust levels.

Capitalist: Where Have All the Viewers Gone?

Prime Minister Chris Luxon opens a bottle of diet Coke and takes a sip. As is fairly common, there happens to be a television camera filming him at the time. He drinks his diet Coke and thinks nothing of it, until 6pm that evening.

The lead story on TV One news is ‘Luxon Declares War on Sugar Industry’. Simon Dallow informs his audience ‘One News has obtained exclusive film footage which purports to show Chris Luxon launching his campaign to destroy the entire industry. We intend to bring you those exclusive pictures in a moment, but first this report from Maiki Sherman...’

Chris Lynch: Social media post featuring presenter removed after failing to meet RNZ editorial standards

A social media post of RNZ host Mihingarangi Forbes at a hīkoi has been removed after it failed to meet editorial standards.

ACT Public Service spokesman Todd Stephenson criticised Forbes, co-host of Saturday Mornings and host of the RNZ podcast Mata, for posing for a photo with a protest leader, and using social media to promote the protest.

Mihingarangi Forbes is a co-host of RNZ’s Saturday Mornings and hosts the RNZ podcast Mata.

Centrist: TVNZ exec’s participation in hīkoi raises impartiality concerns

TVNZ’s chief content officer, Nevak Rogers, attended the Te Pāti Māori linked Toe Toitū Te Tiriti hīkoi in opposition to ACT’s proposed Treaty Principles Bill, while on annual leave.

Her posts on social media prompted questions from TVNZ staff. According to one source: “How appropriate is it… that the exec who could be heading up the news and content teams is posting from the hīkoi?”

JC: The Sad Story at 1News

Staff at 1News are part of the problem, but they could also be part of the solution if they presented the news in an objective, non-partisan manner. Then some viewers and advertisers might return and aid the company’s balance sheet

The 1News at six pm is often an hour of doom and gloom. A major part of the news is on war, crime or those suffering in the poorer end of town. For many watching, six o’clock is their dinner hour and while what is being served up on the plate might be appetising, what is being served up on the screen is probably less so. The ease by which food can be enjoyed relies on the lower esophageal sphincter muscle working properly. If it’s not (tightening instead of relaxing), stomach acid can flow back up into the esophagus causing acid reflux.

Peter Williams: Put TVNZ ON The Block

The Government should get out while they can

New Zealand governments have always loved owning or controlling broadcasting assets.

Even though the first radio stations of the 1920s were ostensibly privately owned, the licensing of frequencies, the payment of a license fee for both transmitters and receivers, and restrictions on content meant it was the Reform Party government which really called the shots.

JC: No Logic Keeping TVNZ on Life Support

The government needs to have a rethink on TVNZ - either send it to the media graveyard or make it more fit for purpose.

I have written about this before but, in light of TVNZ’s recent disclosures of their ever-worsening financial situation, why on earth is the government, on behalf of us, the taxpayers, clinging like a leech to it? This is a government that prides itself on being financially savvy. Why then is the administration holding on to this abomination of leftist propaganda? It outlived its original purpose years ago.

David Farrar: Think if we had sold TVNZ a decade ago

TVNZ has just announced an $85 million loss and a huge $39 million drop in revenue.

I’ve never seen why taxpayers own a commercial media company. There is a case to be made for owing public service broadcasters such as Radio NZ and Maori TV, but not a commercial broadcaster.

Heather du Plessis-Allan: These TVNZ job losses won't be the last

First it was Newshub, now it's TVNZ.

We are still waiting on the details- staff have been told there will be 68 job losses, but the rest they’ll find out tomorrow.

The speculation in the media is that half of those job cuts will be in the newsroom. Fair Go and Sunday reportedly will be merged, Breakfast and Seven sharp are affected, as is the late bulletin.

Shortland Street will be cut down to three nights a week at some point, and the main news bulletin will reportedly be cut down to 30 minutes, but nothing is confirmed right now.

Karl du Fresne: The John Campbell question

Once again, state-owned TVNZ has obligingly provided a platform from which its best-known (and no doubt highest-paid) journalist, John Campbell, can flail the government.

This is extraordinary and unprecedented. The government’s most potent communications medium has been hijacked by one of its employees and co-opted in a highly personal political mission.

Graham Adams: TVNZ’s naked bias on display

The state broadcaster’s lack of balance is dismal.

Given the widespread mistrust of mainstream media and accusations of bias, it seems extraordinary that New Zealand’s taxpayer-owned broadcaster TVNZ seems to be going out of its way to prove that it is — as its detractors claim — incurably partisan.

Last week, a column by John Campbell appeared on TVNZ’s website titled: “Are we on the cusp of something new or something old?” He portrayed the coalition government as likely to be extremely damaging to the nation’s future and decried the “resentment populism” of Act and New Zealand First. He lamented that New Zealand was “entering an age of unenlightenment”. And much more in that vein.

Campbell is perfectly entitled to his opinion, and to express it. It is only a problem because he happens to be TVNZ’s Chief Correspondent. How, for instance, will he be able to interview ministers and other influential people, or write about any government policy, with even a veneer of objectivity after he has nailed his political colours so firmly to the mast?

Robert MacCulloch: Madness at TVNZ - is a formal public apology owing to Chris Luxon?

Our State-owned broadcaster, TVNZ, engaged academics at the Public Policy Institute at one of our State Universities to "fact check" the party leaders during the debate, which was watched by much of the country - the academics declared National Party Leader Luxon's claim that taking GST off fruit and veges would not lower their prices to be down-right, flat-out "false". Amazingly, Radio NZ are running the story below today, hot on the heals of DownToEarth Kiwi querying TVNZ's "fact checking":

Ministers advised taking GST off fruit, veggies would not lower prices

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 28/6/23

Finding out how $128m is being spent (on universities), who has met our PM (Xi Jinping) and what Robertson didn’t mention

Confirmation of our Buzz report yesterday was recorded on the government’s official website soon after we posted our news.

Yes, the government short-changed the universities on Budget Day and has come up with an extra $128 million funding, over two years, for tertiary education providers for courses at degree level and above.

For good measure, the government will review higher education funding system.

Karl du Fresne: The pleasure of having one's prejudices confirmed

I forced myself to watch Web of Chaos, Tuesday night’s state-funded TVNZ documentary that promised “a deep dive into the world of disinformation”.
It’s sad that I should regard it as a chore to watch something I helped to pay for, but that’s the way it is. I wanted to satisfy myself that Web of Chaos was exactly what I expected, and so it turned out. There are few things more richly satisfying than having one’s prejudices confirmed.

The first clue was in the name of the director: Justin Pemberton. I vaguely recalled the name from somewhere else, and it soon came to me. Pemberton made Capital in the 21st Century, which I described in 2019 as a masterpiece of the propagandist’s art.

I wrote then that “The film uses every trick in the documentary-maker’s book to dramatise its message, which is that contemporary capitalism is overwhelmingly rigged in favour of the ultra-rich and basically rotten to the core”.

Mike Hosking: Media merger another example of failed ideology

Submissions continue today over the Government's plan to merge TVNZ with Radio NZ.

The process, like most submission processes is a scam. It’s a nod to some sort of democracy, but in reality, the Government of the day pretend they are listening and carry on anyway.

This Government is no better or worse than other governments. They all do it and they would be way better saving the time and money and avoiding the whole process.

Chris Lynch: Trust in New Zealand news media nose dives, “No strong case for public funding of commercial news content.”

Trust in news media in New Zealand has fallen “alarmingly” according to a new study from AUT.

From 2020-2022, broadcasters TVNZ, Newshub, RNZ and Newsroom saw the biggest drops – over 10%.

During the same period, the NZ Herald, Newstalk ZB and Stuff also experienced “significant declines in trust.”