Today’s broadcasters, Newstalk ZB excepted, appear to be a bunch of lost souls. Those at TVNZ and RNZ seem to have no idea why the viewers and listeners are deserting them in droves. The minister of broadcasting, if he had the answers, is apparently unable to pass them on as that would be deemed political interference. So Paul Goldsmith, who owns these entities on our behalf, is powerless and just has to sit back and let them bumble on, costing the taxpayers plenty.
The people in the higher echelons of these organisations live in their own little bubble. If they bothered to look around the world they would see that similar government-run media enterprises are in the same boat – and some of the privately owned ones as well. Had they done this, it might have occurred to them to look for a common denominator. Maybe, just maybe, they would have worked out what it was. It is a common virus in the left media and it can be explained in one word – BIAS.
Instead, the CEO and editor-in-chief of RNZ, Paul Thompson, asked Richard Sutherland, their former head of news, to provide some advice on RNZ National. Richard talked to a range of people across RNZ to tap in to their thinking. Richard’s advice will be shared among staff. Quite how getting an ex-employee to compile a report is expected to solve their problems is beyond me. It looks more like a case of appearing to be doing something when, in fact, you’re doing nothing.
I, and most Good Oilers, could acquaint them with the truth. They employ people who, by and large, have a left-wing bent. This causes them to spew out a line of thinking that the majority disagree with. If people don’t believe what they are seeing or hearing they will look for the off button. Their bias is damaging to their credibility and ratings. There’s an old saying, ‘there are two sides to every story’, but you’d never know it listening to 1News, ThreeNews or RNZ.
Meanwhile TVNZ is commissioning an independent review of its news – checking for balance and bias – after pressure from the Government to improve its trust levels. According to a TVNZ spokeswoman, trust is important and an area of increased focus. They have commissioned a former ABC and SBS executive to undertake some refresher training. ABC and SBS, when it comes to bias, would be equally bad to, if not worse than, TVNZ. This is laughable.
We have to be thankful that, due to their deliberate lack of objectivity, we are only subjected to television news for one hour a day. On the other hand, RNZ has plenty of news but continually spouts a narrative that is disagreeable to most people’s ears. Their failure to discern what their problem is tells you a lot about their overall capabilities or lack thereof. There is always the possibility that they do know but won’t admit it. The same applies to TVNZ.
NewstalkZB is an interesting case in point. It is quite obvious who the types are that inhabit the newsroom. They have a different view of the world than most of the talkback hosts. It is the hosts that are garnering NewstalkZB the ratings rather than what emanates from the newsroom. The same bias applies to the Herald.
As I have mentioned in previous posts, right-wing news and talk media is far more popular than the left. They are more in line with the mainstream views of the populace. In America the two most popular mainstream media channels, CNN (commonly known as the Clinton News Network) and MSNBC are both in financial trouble. Trump has just closed down two government-run media outlets. It’s just a pity our minister of broadcasting didn’t have the gumption to do the same.
