Stuff Digital Edition

TVNZ’s public duty

While the country asks itself why at-risk kids are turning to crime, the country’s state broadcaster asks the really tough questions, like Jeremy Wells, with his ‘‘Why are peggy squares taking off this Christmas?’’.

While we as a nation are wallowing in misinformation, about things that matter, courtesy of social media, TVNZ’s news at 6pm gives John Campbell (what a treasure this man is) a couple of minutes to inform us about efforts to meet the youth crime spike, and the Seven Sharp ‘‘info-tainment’’ caravan gets 30 minutes to discuss major topics like peggy squares.

While many people fear that their world is falling apart, with Covid, the economy, Ukraine and climate, where is the long-form television journalism designed to inform and educate, not just entertain?

Thank God for newspapers which produce excellent think pieces on controversial topics like these, but

television is the most powerful medium of communication ever devised, and TVNZ has a public duty, as a taxpayerowned and funded entity, to stop prioritising cooking and quiz shows.

How come no-one understands the reasons for reforms like Three Waters and the broadcasting merger, as is clearly the case? Because of the failure of TVNZ to get out into the real world and tell us. John Terris, president, Media Matters in NZ (Inc)

Opinion

en-nz

2022-12-09T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-12-09T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://stuff.pressreader.com/article/281831467769648

Stuff Limited