Tag: Paul Thompson

Political potshots should not define RNZ CEO’s term


RNZ chief executive Paul Thompson’s announced departure will forever be linked in the public mind with the last salvo fired by ACT leader David Seymour. The state-owned media’s leader deserves better, much better.

If Seymour – publicly or privately – claims a scalp he will be both wrong and, once again, in breach of the spirit of the statute he is charged with upholding as RNZ shareholding minister.

I say “once again” because I stated publicly that I believed he was in breach of the spirit of the Broadcasting Act when he criticised the appointment of John Campbell as Morning Report co-host and hinted in the same breath that Thompson could lose his job.

Speaking to The Platform, Seymour did not name Thompson in his criticism of the Morning Report appointment, but it was obvious he was referring to Thompson when he said “Look, that guy’s got an awful lot to answer for, and I suspect that he won’t be answering the call at RNZ for much longer.”

To many, it will appear that Seymour now has his wish – in spite of an emphatic statement by RNZ board chair Dr Jim Mather that the chief executive had signalled to the board last December that he intended to step down at the end of 2026.

After that announcement by the RNZ board last Friday, Seymour stated that he had been unaware of Thompson’s disclosure to the board last year. We must take him at his word but I have to confess I wondered what had happened to the much-emphasised ‘no surprises’ policy that successive governments have demanded of not only ministries but state-owned enterprises. Continue reading “Political potshots should not define RNZ CEO’s term” →

RNZ National may have the circuit breaker it sorely needs.

 

I will start with a confession. I was a loyal wake-up-to-it-Monday-to-Friday fan of RNZ’s Morning Report. I no longer am.

I am not alone. Morning Report had a peak cumulative audience 10+ of 531,000 in September 2020, but today that audience stands at only 333,000 – down by more than a third. Once the undisputed leader in breakfast radio, the programme is now far outstripped by NewstalkZB’s Mike Hosking Show.

The plight of Morning Report was highlighted last week in a blunt review of RNZ National by the state-owned broadcaster’s former head of news, Richard Sutherland. The details of the review were revealed in a scoop by the New Zealand Herald’s Media Insider Shayne Currie, who obtained it under the Official Information Act.

Sutherland is a vastly experienced journalist and broadcaster whom I greatly respect. His findings are to be taken very seriously: No more so than in relation to what should be RNZ’s standout flagship programme.

Currie quoted Sutherland saying that, overall, RNZ “suffers from a lack of audience clarity, internal cohesion, and urgency”. Interviews with staff revealed “blame shifting, low ambition, and a belief that radio is in terminal decline”.

RNZ once led the radio market in terms of cumulative audience. It now sits at eighth. It has made impressive inroads into the digital market but that has clearly been at the expense of its traditional medium. Continue reading “RNZ National may have the circuit breaker it sorely needs.” →