As much as we enjoy listening to Sean Plunket on Morning Report, we dont like the idea of forking out tax dollars to prop it up.
We have new and younger Ministers in parliament and surely they must realise that the new generations of kiwis are not listening to Radio NZ, they get their information from the net.
Now Fran O'Sullivan proffered the suggestion a couple of weeks back that NZ On Air should be funding no just broadcasting but print and online media. They are all playing to information hungry audiences and its difficult to see why Radio and TV continue to be singled out for special privileges.
So if you were looking at what RNZ's core service is - its news. So really they should only be funded to provide that, if at all. But we reckon that there isn't an appetite to cut RNZ funding altogether, so the least the government could do is give it a good shave.
And frankly we are a bit past the handouts to one media over another. ( Except in the case of Maori TV of course and they too need to shape up for the day when they operate on a purely commerical model)
If there is to be any funding it should be contestable.
But if you stick with some funding then gone would be Jim Mora and the midnite to dawn sessions. And apart from Kim Hill, the stunningly mind numbingly boring weekend shows.
RNZ should be forced to release its audience figures so we can all see with some clarity who is listening to what and axe the bits that don't get any listeners.
And its not a commercial entity so it should be much much more transparent than it currently is.
Sunday 11 October 2009
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11 comments:
While I agree that duff old RNZ content like the Midnight to Dawn show needs to go, I couldn't disagree more about the value of having a government-funded radio station. It's worth the pathetic cash it gets and more.
What do you base your assumption that younger people don't listen to RNZ on? I'm not young - in my 30s - and I listen to RNZ. I also get content from the net, but radio still has a huge place for people who want to listen to something other than ads punctuated by the odd song as they work, renovate, chill etc.
A lot of people grow into RNZ when they reach my age and damn I hope the Government doesn't listen to the likes of you. That would leave NZers eventually at the mercy of Radio Live and Newztalk ZB.
I've listened to Radio Live a couple of times and, aside from the amazing weekend shows, its presenters are about as well informed and researched as you. It's Jim Mora by the way, not Moir.
yeah well my tax dollars dont prop up Radio Live so why should it prop up RNZ?
And I think the demographics would show very clearly that RNZ audience is mainly older citizens
There's a vast difference between a "free press" and a "commercial press". One is (or should be) open to democracy and is a public good. The other responds to the market for profit.
Like most on the noisy right, you just betray your lack of understanding about the principles that quietly underpin a democracy, (like the entire state structure) thinking that mass wealth has somehow outgrown the need for them.
The evolution of mass wealth makes them more important to democracy.
And your tax dollars are your debt to society and enable democracy, which provides the stability for markets to function. Granted, you may be paying more than you should, the vast majority are. Problem is, 10-20% are paying nowhere near enough.
oh give me a break fantail - RNZ is known both externally and within its own ranks for its left wing bias - whats democratic about that? So please explain to me why I should be forced to prop up a left wing media outlet that plays crap music?
I see you don't contest my points - just pull your hair in frustration.
If the public broadcaster has a left -wing (or rather, left of National) bias, the reason for this and its placement in the scheme of the nation's overall media coverage should be examined. Direct your focus there.
The quality of the free press should always, always, be up for debate.
Its funding is not.
"Problem is, 10-20% are paying nowhere near enough".
Its more like 40% Fantail and we call them beneficiaries.
Not many of the lower end of society listen to RNZ which defeats the purpose of it being a public broadcaster. It's left-wing but with a chardonnay socialist audience - not the working class.
The working class and beneficiaries are ironically more likely to listen to commercial channels pumping out music and ad breaks.
RNZ is taxpayer funding for the intellectual snobs, pseudo-intellectuals and political junkies of NZ. It has nothing to do with democracy providing it with state funding.
Given its demographic (wealthy, supposedly well-educated people) it should be self-sufficient in a commercial model.
RNZ should stand on its own two feet. The bullying interviewing tactics of Plunket leave me cold.
I do listen to RNZ from 6am to 8am just to hear what their "brain washing" tactics come up with.
There is nothing to stop those who wish to listen, from making voluntary donations.
For me the fascinating thing about RNZ is that Farmers listen to it despite it's left wing bias. Their listening time is between 5am and say 8am and whenever they are in between noon and 2pm. They listen for:
1. The weather reports.
2. Meat and Wool schedules.
3. Financial reports - in particular exchange rates and interest rates.
This old farmer has forgotten how long it is since he listened to left wing radio. Jaimie MacKay's Farming Show gets my ear if I'm in control of a radio at lunchtime.
My radio gets turned off at 8:00am on saturday and Sunday.
I am soo sick of Kim bloody Hill with her sneer at Americans/Christians/National party act.
She is a nasty angry woman, and the sooner she is forced to earn a crust in the real world the better.
The 9-12 woman in the week is no better, its all tut tut the gummint needs to intervene and nanny us all some more.
Then you have laidlaw and the allegedly thinking international socialism of sunday mornings.
Still I get a lot more done.
It's simple. Tell RNZ it gets a one off bulk funded subsidy and has to raise money from sponsorship, subscriptions or donations after that.
Those who love it so much can cough up for something they think is special.
Everyone else will be a little better off. After all if you don't listen, it doesn't matter. If you do listen, either it is worth paying for, or you can't be bothered, and if you can't, why should I?
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