Media Insider: TVNZ newsreader Simon Dallow considering his future; Inside the NZME/NZ Herald cuts; Top 25 toughest PR gigs; Reporter of the Year quits Stuff
“As a viewer, I want to see and hear unbiased, dispassionate information that is not influenced or coloured in any way by the presenter; leaving the viewer truly free to make up their own mind.”
To that end, Dallow has done a masterful job. It is not exaggerating to posit that he is a key reason that the state broadcaster still enjoys relatively high trust ratings. He can rightfully claim a place as a newsreading hall of famer, alongside names such as Judy Bailey and Philip Sherry.
He will undoubtedly hate that description; in the same email, he railed against the idea of a newsreader being a “celebrity” – it was a fundamentally different role to other TV presenting jobs, he said.
“Overlaying celebrity onto it changes the parasocial relationship from neutral to one influenced by preference – and thus plays a subconscious role in influencing the viewer’s perspective.”
The evening television news in New Zealand is an institution, even if ratings are nowhere near where they once were. Even so, TVNZ’s 1 News at Six dominates the Three News bulletin each evening; it also enjoys healthy streaming numbers – people watching it in their own time.
Last year, Dallow turned 60. As he celebrated an important milestone, he also had a front-row view of dramatic changes at the state broadcaster, as it revamps its business model, lowers costs and evolves into a digital-first media company.
With that has come a heavy human toll – the loss of experienced reporters and producers – and broader fears of a drop in quality.
Morale within the TVNZ newsroom has been low, especially with the cutbacks and the axing of high-profile shows such as Sunday and Fair Go. That will take time to rebuild.
Several well-placed sources say Dallow – who spent many years reading the news alongside the talented Wendy Petrie – is now mulling when it will be time to sign off from the 6pm news, especially in light of the cutbacks, and the impact those might have on the evening bulletin.
There are suggestions he could decide to call it quits as early as later this year.
One source said Dallow was openly considering his options, but that it was early days. “They are musings, ponderings.”
He has been telling people that he is keen to travel more, particularly with his two adult children now on the Gold Coast and in Melbourne. He told one source that he was keen to be closer to his children, especially for when grandchildren arrive on the scene.
Dallow is also likely to have other options in media, or similar industries.
Whatever the case, TVNZ will be thinking about succession.
Obvious candidates are Q+A host Jack Tame, weekend newsreader Melissa Stokes and fill-in newsreader Daniel Faitaua. Should he wish to return to news-reading (and that is highly doubtful), John Campbell might be another potential candidate, although his foray in recent years into in-depth commentary – some of it political – might prevent that.
A TVNZ spokeswoman said Dallow was preparing for the news late yesterday afternoon and she would be unable to provide a comment from him.
“Simon has been a key presenter on New Zealand’s most-watched TV programme for two decades now. He’s an important part of 1News’ continued success on air and on TVNZ+, and he’s also a leader within our newsroom.
“We’re not planning our goodbyes at the moment. We have a strong line-up in Melissa Stokes and the various presenters who fill in on 6pm. This depth of talent will support any future transition.”
TVNZ’s newsroom leadership team is in for an overhaul itself over the coming months.
The state broadcaster has started advertising for the new executive role of chief news and content officer – the job description emphasises the importance of preserving trusted news and editorial independence.
There is arguably no bigger, more public-facing role than the 6pm newsreading role.
Back in 2016, Dallow told the E-Tangata website when asked about his future: “I think that, when you’re working in broadcasting, you can’t afford to anticipate too much. Things are always changing.”
“One of the problems these days is that, in all forms of media, there is more opinion than fact. I just want to present the facts, and let people judge the facts for themselves. The internet has not just been a game-changer in every industry but it has been hugely influential throughout the media. And one impact is that it has encouraged tribalism.
“Tribalism has always existed — people gravitating to one side or the other. But the internet now gives them plenty of outlets where they can find voices and experiences and opinions that reflect their own. So we end up with an increasingly tribal approach. It’s a very black-and-white approach to the world.
“In reality, there are nuances and shades of grey to almost everything and everybody. And, rather than just stereotyping people as black or white and bad or good, we need to look hard and appreciate those shades. Otherwise, we won’t ever have an inclusive, open-minded and tolerant society.”
One Good Poll
Inside the NZME/Herald newsroom cuts
One journalist summed it up with gallows humour – “take the cyanide pill now, or await a slow hanging”. More than 600km south, in Wellington, the strains of Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive were heard floating from the NZ Herald’s political gallery office.
In journalism, an invitation to an all-staff meeting in the modern era is regarded with apprehension, particularly one to discuss “proposed newsroom changes”.
And so it came to pass – on Wednesday morning, more than 150 NZME editorial staff filed into the company’s iHeart lounge in its central Auckland headquarters. The curtains to the outside world were literally closed. On Zoom, the number of people steadily climbed – more than 110 were on the call by the time the meeting was under way at 9.33am.
By 9.50am, the topline, proposed cuts were known – a net 38 roles to be cut from NZME’s news operation, which includes the NZ Herald, BusinessDesk and Newstalk ZB.
Fourteen of those roles are in “content creation” – essentially frontline reporters and writers from the likes of general news, business, sport, and lifestyle. Another 24 net roles are proposed to be lost from content production roles – that includes subeditors, graphic artists and digital editors.
At follow-up team meetings throughout the day, the mood was sombre, from those delivering the messages to those receiving them. There were pockets of anger, but mostly a sense of sadness and resignation. One journalist walked out of a team meeting. Others went home early or to the pub.
The proposed job losses are likely to be just the start of another round of cost-cutting at media companies in 2025, especially as the economy remains depressed.
These latest cuts are coming inside one of our more successful media companies. NZME will announce its annual results next month – it has forecast an operating profit of $53m-$55m for 2024 (down from earlier forecasts of $57m-$61m).
So what’s driving this latest round of cuts?
Quite simply, NZME’s publishing division is not as profitable as the publicly-listed company would like. In making changes now, this early in the new year, it is trying to ensure its margins are back to levels shareholders expect. And that they are sustainable.
Cost-cutting – and the dreadful human toll that this takes – is one side of the equation.
On the revenue side, the company sees opportunities, particularly in digital subscriptions and video digital advertising.
With the use of data, the company knows exactly which Premium stories generate (and retain) subscribers, and which free stories engage audiences.
That data is freely shared with journalists – they can see how their own stories are performing – and editors can now pinpoint more clearly the journalism and content that is simply not working, with a caveat: data should always help guide and navigate decision-making, rather than dictate.
In a slide presented to staff on Wednesday, NZME editor-in-chief Murray Kirkness revealed about 12,000 of the more than 18,500 articles produced between August and November last year generated 97% of the NZ Herald website’s views. That meant more than a third of the stories – more than 6500 – did not resonate.
Kirkness and other editors point to this as obvious proof that the newsroom produces too much content.
The newsroom changes – cutbacks and investment in new areas – are being framed under that hypothesis. That one solution for greater success lies in taking more time, and care, on identifying and working on stories and issues that engage audiences more deeply.
But dangers lurk everywhere, some of them in the data itself. Editors will need to be careful to ensure they have, firstly, the balance right in the number of journalists working on exclusive, unique stories and those producing quality, free stories.
The size of the news audience is not the problem – both the NZ Herald and Stuff websites have a monthly audience of more than two million people, and are the two biggest local websites in the country, behind Google and Facebook.
The real issue is how to monetise those huge numbers – NZME’s digital advertising revenue has remained subdued for the past two years, its yield lower than what print advertising generated for more than 150 years.
Where NZME has identified a potentially richer vein of digital revenue is in video news.
Staff have been told that the company will soon launch a new stream on nzherald.co.nz, as a means to build video inventory and therefore revenue. A new video studio – a second – will be built in the Herald’s Auckland newsroom; recruitment is already under way for senior video roles.
A new, more direct battleground is opening up with the likes of TVNZ and Stuff, which last year won the contract to produce the 6pm news for Three, and which can now slice and dice those videos for its own website articles.
Former Newshub boss Sarah Bristow is leading the video charge at the Herald.
Another former Newshubber, investigative reporter Michael Morrah – one of New Zealand’s best television journalists – has brought new reporting energy to the Herald’s video storytelling, complementing the work of a stable of other award-winning investigative reporters and video specialists.
Traditionally, Herald readers come to the website and newspaper to read in-depth, longer-form journalism. One of the biggest challenges for the newsroom and NZME will be to now showcase the compelling video menu, to make that a drawcard in its own right.
There are early templates for success, both in individual projects from Herald journalists and specialist shows. Markets with Madison, hosted by business reporter Madison Reidy, is the epitome of specialist content that is working well. And by also sharing that show on YouTube, NZME also shares revenue.
As it moves through a consultation period over the coming days and weeks, NZME will need to carefully balance an unsettled newsroom, with ensuring it has the right resources assigned in its reporting ranks and new-look desk structure – including ensuring those who are left are not stretched too thinly.
There is much at stake.
Tamaki tweet
Brian Tamaki may have thought he was giving the NZ Herald and NZME a serve with his self-aggrandising tweet on Tuesday evening, following a Herald news report revealing that there was to be a staff meeting the next day: “Get the tissues ready … there’ll be tears tomorrow! Don’t expect any sympathy after all the lies they’ve printed about people like me – and even today, more lies and bias about Trump. Guess fake news doesn’t pay the bills.”
Tamaki may feel, very genuinely, that he has been wronged by the Herald in the past. But his fake-news line is as predictable as it is wrong. The fact is that without the work of journalists, those in power or grand positions are more likely to escape scrutiny. It suits them very much if there are fewer journalists, and for them to spread misinformation on social media channels.
The news of the NZME cutbacks drew two major forms of response on Wednesday, as Newstalk ZB host Andrew Dickens dryly noted. On the Herald and ZB social channels, he said, some were gleeful about the cuts to an apparent left-wing organisation. On RNZ social channels, he said, there were comments and glee about cuts to a right-wing organisation.
Spot the difference
NZ Herald, Wednesday, 9.56am:
Journalists were taken into team meetings following the all-staff meeting to hear how the proposals impacted them directly. It is understood a number have also been invited to 1-1 individual meetings.
The company has said it will consider voluntary redundancies.
Stuff, Wednesday, 10.23am:
Journalists were taken into team meetings following the all-staff meeting to hear how the proposals affected them directly. It is understood a number have also been invited to 1-1 individual meetings.
The company has said it will consider voluntary redundancies.
Top 25 toughest PR challenges
Wellington-based Blackland PR has issued its annual list of what it describes as the “toughest” public relations jobs of the past year.
The issues themselves are all self-explanatory, although I expect a fair bit of debate over the rankings.
Blackland PR director Nick Gowland and his in-house experts assessed around 130 different issues that arose in New Zealand over the past 12 months and scored them on four different factors – public profile, personal impact on people, emotional reaction and complexity.
They’ve given a mark out of 10 for each of those factors, for a maximum score of 40.
Gowland acknowledges it’s all very unscientific, but it makes for a great discussion.
He said 2024 was a tough year for organisations handling issues. They could no longer rely on Covid-19 to divert public attention “or serve as an excuse for blame when things go wrong”.
“2024 was a year confidence and optimism sunk to new lows. The national gloom was made real with major physical failures.
“It was bookended with two very high-profile and embarrassing mistakes. Both involved boats and both were human screw-ups with handling autopilots.
“The Interislander grounding shows how simple mistakes can be used as evidence to confirm existing assumptions people have about organisations.”
The sinking of HMNZS Manawanui, he said, “was a cause for national embarrassment and seemed to confirm that in New Zealand … many things were not working well”.
He said energy shortage issues featured prominently in the rankings. “Top of our list were accusations that high wholesale prices forced the closure of businesses because it added a new tier of emotional reaction to the issue.
“These issues ranked very highly because everyone uses energy, and reasons for the shortages and prices were complex, interdependent, and required multiple actors to resolve, and communicate.”
The survey is now into its 13th year.
Here then are the top 25:
1. High wholesale spot prices and blame for business closures – electricity generators 34 out of a score of 40
2. Global Microsoft outage – Microsoft 33
3. Interislander grounding – KiwiRail 27
4. May energy shortage, criticisms on lack of resilience – Government 26
5. Manawanui sinking – Ministry of Defence 26
6. Shortages of gas – gas industry 25
7. Increased financial scams – banks 25
8. Budget 2024 not including the funding of 13 cancer drugs – National Party 24
9. Pylon maintenance leads to power outages in Northland – Transpower 24
10. Decision to cap new Dunedin hospital spend – Government 24
11. Public sector cuts – Government 23
12. Government response to hīkoi – Government 23
13. Shortages of various staple medicines – Pharmac 22
14. Release of report into abuse in state care – Government 22
15. Rats photographed in supermarket – Woolworths 22
16. Classroom mobile phone ban implementation – Government 21
17. Allegations of mishandling bodies – Tipene funerals 21
18. Food parcel lollies contaminated with meth – Auckland City Mission 21
19. Treaty of Waitangi Principles Bill support beyond first read – Government 21
20. SolarZero liquidation – NZ Green Investment Fund 21
21. Credibility of RBNZ following surprise decision to cut rates 20
22. Women Hurricanes haka critical of government – Hurricanes 20
23. Actura New Zealand collapse and cancellation of space camps – Actura 19
24. Responding to criticism of traffic management changes – councils 19
25. Financial woes, CEO resignation and pressure on board to resign – Fletcher Building 19
Happy Birthday, Hosk
Happy Birthday to Mike Hosking – the king of radio turns 60 today. He’s back from Tuesday on Newstalk ZB.
Reporter of the Year quits Stuff
New Zealand’s reigning Voyager Media Awards reporter of the year, Sam Sherwood, is understood to be leaving Stuff after being there only eight months, to join RNZ.
Sources say Stuff is “filthy” about the move – they had invested heavily in drawing Sherwood back to the organisation after his award-winning work for the NZ Herald.
Media Insider understands he has been lured to RNZ as national crime correspondent.
RNZ, boosted by an increase in taxpayer funding, is certainly sparing no expense in poaching from other media organisations, especially Stuff. Former Stuff head of news Mark Stevens won’t be winning many friends at his former employer with his aggressive recruitment.
RIP, Jonathan Underhill
One of New Zealand’s finest business journalists has died after a short battle with cancer.
Jonathan Underhill, who co-founded BusinessDesk alongside Pattrick Smellie, died on Wednesday at Mary Potter Hospice.
“Without Jonathan Underhill, there would never have been BusinessDesk,” Smellie wrote in a personal obituary that he sent overnight.
“He had the idea. He found and landed our first customer, and most importantly, he committed from the start in 2008 to ‘work very hard’ to make our fledgling service succeed.
“He would do so relentlessly for 10 years, his most valuable insight being that a news wire must create an aura of constancy and reliability. There must always be a sharemarket report, a dollar report, an overnight markets wrap and a ‘Stocks to Watch’ column.
“That was the foundation of a wire service that at various times sold its news to almost every mainstream NZ publisher with the exception of Radio New Zealand, and to the Australian Associated Press and Yahoo! NZ, which in those days had huge traffic as the homepage for most Xtra email accountholders.”
Smellie wrote that Underhill was “a great teacher of young journalists”
“One of NZ’s finest, BusinessDesk’s first employee Paul McBeth, sat by Jonathan and learnt stocks, bonds, currencies, securities regulation, commercial court and how not to make mistakes.
“Many others also benefited from his experience and talent for passing on his professional skills.”
Smellie said that by 2018, Underhill had had enough.
“I returned from a family holiday in Peru to discover that when he emailed to say he was leaving and would like some time off before starting other work, it turned out he meant he was leaving that day.
“Our friendship, by then, was under terrific strain. A failing small business started by accident by two friends stopped being fun and the future was unclear.
“As a result, Jonathan just missed the defining event that took BusinessDesk from cottage industry to the premium, subscription service it is today – the arrival of Brian Gaynor, also sadly departed too soon, as an investor.
“If there had been no Jonathan, there would have been no Brian and no business.”
Underhill will be farewelled at Old St Pauls in Wellington at 12pm on Monday.
Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand’s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME including Managing Editor, NZ Herald Editor and Herald on Sunday Editor and has a small shareholding in NZME.