Brendon Burns

There were clear signals at today’s Commerce Select Committee that the new charter for Radio New Zealand is under threat from a Government choke on funding, says Labour broadcasting spokesman Brendon Burns.

Radio NZ’s chair, chief executive and chief financial officer appeared in front of the committee on financial estimates.

Brendon Burns says that under questioning from committee members it became obvious that Radio New Zealand’s board believes an updated charter for state radio, introduced last year by Broadcasting Minister Jonathan Coleman, is under threat from the Minister’s demands for ongoing cost-savings.

“Dr Coleman introduced the new charter in an amendment bill last June, reaffirming that Radio New Zealand must continue to inform and stimulate people, reflect our identity and our place in the world.

“Now we learn that Dr Coleman is contributing ideas about how Radio NZ could cut costs,” Brendon Burns said.

“It’s still unclear whether he, or a frustrated board that wants to uphold its charter commitments, are putting up such nonsense ideas as not sending reporters to cover the Commonwealth Games, turning off National Radio from midnight till 6am, or axing FM coverage other than in Auckland.

“What is clear, however, is that the charter the Minister was happy to introduce six months ago would be breached by these sorts of cuts.”

Brendon Burns says Radio NZ today confirmed that such cuts will impact on its high standards as the nation’s only remaining public service broadcaster.

“The Government needs to focus on value rather than just cost. Three out of four Kiwis see Radio Zealand as providing a valuable service. It has dedicated staff who have long been paid salaries below prevailing rates.

“If Dr Coleman was committed to a future for public service broadcasting, he would be instituting the review of competition that he canned and looking at how to best ensure we have viable public-owned radio and television models into the future.”

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 18th, 2010 at 1:37 pm and is filed under Media Release. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.