TVNZ ups security for journalists and broadcasters; Kiri Allan’s legal letter to media; Reflections on the Christopher Luxon NZ Herald front-page ad; Ad account changes; A big night at the marketing awards; Kiwi business tycoon
at centre of media awards fight.

Notebook, check. Camera, check. Microphone, check. Security guard … check.

As attacks and verbal abuse of journalists increase, some media businesses are taking no chances when it comes to covering the election, especially as protesters target rival parties.

TVNZ is upping protection for its political reporters and teams on the campaign trail, including the presence of security personnel at the Labour Party and National Party campaign launches in Auckland last weekend.

Protesters were present at both launches, including six hecklers who had to be evicted, one by one, from Labour’s launch inside the Aotea Centre.

“The landscape has changed since Covid,” TVNZ’s news and current affairs executive editor Phil O’Sullivan told Media Insider.

“Globally we’ve seen an increase in anti-media sentiment. We’re now seeing this in New Zealand too, with an increase in abuse directed towards our reporters while out in the field, and threatening behaviour in online spaces disproportionately impacting our female reporters.”

TVNZ says its reporters and presenters are familiar faces, and camera operators are highly visible because of the gear they are carrying.

“We used security recently at both [the] National and Labour campaign launches,” says O’Sullivan.

“There will be other events through the election period where we opt for this resource. We feel a huge responsibility to do our best to ensure our people feel safe when they are doing their job. This is our number one priority.”

TVNZ political editor Jessica Mutch McKay covered the Labour and National party launches last weekend, and reported on Saturday night that protests at the Labour launch that day felt “different from the start”.

While protests were nothing new, she told 1 News newsreader Wendy Petrie, this one was rowdier, more disruptive and co-ordinated.

With the likes of these protests as a backdrop, O’Sullivan says other safety measures for TVNZ staff can include travelling with extra security, reporting from safe locations and from a distance “if a situation feels volatile” and, when necessary, using the likes of mobile footage and drones rather than a full camera set-up.

“We also do a lot of work in the wellbeing space with a focus on psychological support and providing our team with the tools they need to deal with anti-social behaviour.”

I was a regular observer of protests at the Auckland Domain during the Covid period – on one occasion I saw a group of two or three protesters chase a television crew’s car, hurling a can and abuse. On another occasion, a TV reporter was harangued by protesters.

A Warner Bros Discovery spokeswoman said Newshub did not disclose security arrangements publicly.

Former Stuff head of news Mark Stevens, who starts at RNZ on Monday as chief news officer, wrote an excellent piece in early 2022.

“We publish a range of views, while avoiding and dismantling falsehoods, and we listen. But when you disagree, wipe the froth from your mouth first; we take criticism but cannot tolerate attacks, threats or violence,” he wrote.

Most of the vitriol at the time was coming from an “ill-informed anti-vax crowd”.

“But it’s worth noting that the anti-vax sentiment quickly morphs into a grab-bag of anti-anything sentiment,” he wrote.

NZME chief content officer – publishing Murray Kirkness agreed there had been an “increase in the inflammatory situations we’re reporting on”.

“The safety and wellbeing of our people is our priority – whether they’re working in our newsrooms or out in the field. We are comfortable with our current security arrangements, which we review regularly and adapt as and when required.

“Our teams receive ongoing training through our learning and development programme, which includes reporting in times of conflict and dealing with complex situations.”

Kiri Allan’s legal letter to media

Three media outlets and a popular blog site have corrected articles in relation to Kiri Allan’s arrest in July, after legal letters from a lawyer representing the former justice minister.

Barrister Christopher Stevenson wrote to several outlets this week, saying that references to police dogs tracking Allan were inaccurate and defamatory.

She reserved her legal rights, with the letter giving a deadline to correct the reporting. It is understood she also sought an apology.

Both Stuff – owner of The Post – and Newshub have corrected earlier stories, while Kiwiblog has corrected an earlier post and apologised to Allan. A syndicated Stuff article on the RNZ website has also been corrected.

“I can confirm a lawyer representing Kiri Allan contacted The Post this week in relation to the use of police dogs on the evening the then justice minister was involved in a motor vehicle accident,” The Post editor Tracy Watkins told Media Insider.

“Her lawyer suggested a reference to police dogs used at the scene defamed his client. We disagree.

“We were happy to clarify that, while the dogs were deployed to the scene to assist with scene inquiries – a fact confirmed in writing by police and witnessed by our journalists on the scene – they were ultimately not required for tracking.”

A Warner Bros Discovery spokeswoman said of the Newshub story: “The article in question has been updated and it is our view that the matter has now been satisfactorily resolved.”

Part of Kiwiblog’s correction and apology pointed out that it was quoting the Prime Minister’s own initial statement at the time of Allan’s arrest – in particular the incorrect information she had been charged with reckless driving and resisting arrest.

A spokesman for the Prime Minister told Media Insider the PM’s office had not been advised of any legal action being taken by Allan.

“That is a private matter for her. The Prime Minister’s statement from early in the day on 24 July reflects the information he was provided by her at that time.

“Police sent a statement shortly after that included clarification of the specific charges. We can update the [Beehive] website to note the specific charges she ultimately faced.”

Police have charged Allan with careless use of a motor vehicle and refusing to accompany a police officer.

Her case is due in court next week. Allan is not required to appear in person and is not expected to.

The Christopher Luxon NZ Herald front page

The CTU opened a new salvo in New Zealand attack politics with its front-page NZ Herald advertisement featuring National Party leader Christopher Luxon this week.

I was initially taken aback – it was certainly a bold call.

I also knew instantly it was an advertisement (as opposed to editorial) and would like to think that the vast majority of readers clearly differentiated it as such, as well.

But it was certainly an ad that riled a percentage of the NZ Herald audience, judging by radio talkback.

Just how big that percentage is, NZME won’t say.

I asked NZME whether there had been many – or any – cancellations. The company came back with a more generic statement saying that “all advertising decisions are made from a commercial perspective and stand very separately from editorial”.

“Before we accept any advertisement we take steps to ensure it complies with our Advertising Acceptability Policy, as well as our Election Advertising Policy and all relevant laws, including the Electoral Act and the Broadcasting Act,” said a spokeswoman.

There are several points to the debate.

Politically, I’m not convinced it works from the CTU’s perspective – if anything, it may raise sympathy for Luxon among undecided voters.

Most Kiwis still have an innate sense of fair play, despite all the social media vitriol we’re exposed to these days.

This goes the other way, too, for when right-wing groups target the likes of Chris Hipkins. It’s worth remembering he has been subject of an advertisement inside the Herald previously – it was just not quite as pointed.

The CTU could have used the front page – the debate reinforces just how powerful the medium remains – for a more focused approach on Labour’s policies, and any benefits to voters. The attack ad perhaps shows just how big a threat his opponents consider Luxon.

As several commentators have noted, the debate suddenly shifted on Monday from scrutiny on National’s tax cuts to the ad. It was an own goal, in that respect.

In terms of the decision to publish the ad, it was an equally bold call.

I became more comfortable with it as the day and the week went on – I went back to it several times. I know only too well the commercial imperatives on media businesses, and balancing that with considerations such as brand trust and recognising our readers’ concerns.

Along with admiring our newsroom leader, Murray Kirkness, two people who I also respect in journalism have somewhat different views.

Senior Herald political correspondent Audrey Young said in one of her commentaries this week: “For those of you shocked by yesterday’s union advertisement against Christopher Luxon on the front page of The New Zealand Herald, I would say: first, advertising has been the Herald’s core business since 1863 just as journalism has been, it was clearly labelled an ad, and it helps to pay the wages of journalists.”

Former Herald editor-in-chief Tim Murphy has a different view. “Just makes the good journalism inside that much harder,” he told Media Insider. “Not something any of us need in an age of distrust of the media and journalists. People make one-dimensional judgments and the commercial arguments in favour of strong party political ads on a front page just don’t get through to them. Even if, as I imagine will happen, National/Act also buy the space in the next six weeks, that will just piss off another side of partisans.”

For me, the case also brought back memories of a small policy sticker advertisement that the National Party paid to have affixed to the front page of the Herald on Friday, November 25, 2011 – the eve of the general election.

Murphy was not happy about it and, in a very Machiavellian, some-would-say-genius move, he designed the front page to publish EVERY party’s policy snapshot. The National Party sticker was affixed over the National Party snapshot, and alongside every other party’s policies.

“I think I did it in two elections,” Murphy says. “I’d argued against allowing it on the front page as a sticker and lost. So then it was just a case of getting precise placement coordinates from [the] Ellerslie [print plant]!

“Got no negative feedback internally – the newsroom were pretty pleased not to have had the front page promote a party by itself. Didn’t hear from agencies or even our internal sales team. Those were the days when the editor could have a say!!”

I will point out the editor still has a major say – he’s being mischievous with that comment – but certainly, the commercial landscape has changed a lot in 12 years.

Nevertheless, and this is a critical point, editorial independence remains, which is also why we can have this debate openly and freely.

Five readership takeaways

Nielsen has released the latest newspaper and magazine readership results, for the 12 months to June 30.

Five key takeaways for me:

1. Kia Ora magazine is soaring once again. Undoubtedly reflective of our return to the skies following Covid, the Air New Zealand inflight magazine has gained 135,000 readers in 12 months, the biggest increase of any newspaper or magazine. It now reaches 399,000 readers. Similarly, the Herald’s Tuesday Travel magazine remains the biggest newspaper magazine in the land, with 398,000 readers each week.

2. Weekly magazines Woman’s Weekly, Woman’s Day and The TV Guide are all up year on year. Woman’s Weekly, with 457,000 readers, remains the best-read weekly magazine in New Zealand.

3. AA Directions has taken a significant hit in this survey, down 108,000 readers to 791,000. The quarterly magazine remains the best-read magazine in New Zealand overall.

4. All major daily newspapers are down for this latest survey period, apart from The Press, which remains steady on 113,000 readers. The Herald remains the biggest newspaper – its daily readership of 545,000 outstrips the combined total of Waikato Times, The Post, The Press and the Otago Daily Times (394,000).

5. Another winner in this survey is Sunday News – out of seemingly nowhere, the paper has gained 13,000 readers in a year, and now has 133,000 readers. It is just 3000 readers behind its bigger Stuff stablemate in Auckland, the Sunday Star Times. The Herald on Sunday maintains a healthy overall lead in the Sunday market.

Big ad account moves

A “massive” win for Group M’s media agency Mindshare, which has reclaimed Unilever’s $40 million account across New Zealand and Australia, eight years after losing it to PHD.

AdNews in Australia reported that Unilever, with brands including Lynx, Dove, Continental, Ben & Jerry’s, Comfort and Persil, would return to Mindshare in January 2024.

“The tender was part of a periodic global review of Unilever’s media agencies in many markets to ensure best-in-class media agency partnerships,” a Unilever spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, Hearts & Science has won the contract for The Warehouse Group’s digital planning and buying.

Hearts & Science boss Jane Stanley referred Media Insider to parent group OMG’s Australia and New Zealand CEO Peter Horgan.

He said: “TWG has always been serviced across OMG agencies since the start of our successful relationship together. There have been several tweaks during our tenure, and we have just flexed allocation to Hearts for the digital remit. TWG are fully supportive of this adjustment.”

NZME’s legal hunt

In my former life, I would be constantly at the desk of NZME general counsel Allison Whitney to call out “legal bullshit” on any manner of external threats against our newsroom, or attempts to silence a piece of journalism that was clearly in the public interest.

Her patience with me and her application to the role more generally have been admirable and appreciated.

Whitney departs the business today; she’s off on an OE initially, taking in the delights of Tuscany.

Whitney has seen just about it all over the past 10 years at NZME – defamation and suppression cases, our public listing, merger attempts, competition law cases, and a rapidly transformed media landscape.

She’s also been backed by lawyers whose passion for journalism has helped us get many a critically important story across the line – the likes of Tania Goatley, Robert Stewart, Alan Ringwood, Kristin Wilson and Sarah Brougham as well as our own in-house stars Paul Gillick and up until recently Jess Kavanagh and Ashleigh Harding have been a wonderful team.

We’re in a period that’s seen many senior media roles up for grabs, NZME general counsel is one of the latest.

Several names stand out for me as potential top-notch candidates – Gen O’Halloran at Stuff and Brent McAnulty at TVNZ.

The latter has his hands full as acting TVNZ CEO and may want that job permanently. In my brief interactions with O’Halloran, she has always been a champion for journalism and media more generally.

Other possibilities include Harding – she recently joined Fletcher Building as a company secretary – and former top TVNZ lawyer Helen Wild, now general counsel at Auckland Council.

One Good Text

With NZ Herald rugby writer Gregor Paul, who is in Paris for the opening Rugby World Cup match, All Blacks v France, on Saturday morning.

Kiwi oil baron at centre of media awards storm

A New Zealand-born oil baron is at the centre of a media industry storm in Australia, and one that threatens to undermine the country’s prestigious annual journalism awards.

Australia’s national media awards, the Walkleys, are named after Sir William Gaston Walkley, who was born in Ōtaki in 1896, and established himself as an oil industry entrepreneur in New Zealand after the First World War.

With the help of a consortium of local business leaders, including the Todd family, Walkley launched the Europa petrol brand in New Zealand in 1931, taking on the foreign-owned oil giants with a cheaper local alternative.

Five years later, after moving to Australia, he helped launch a similar cheap-price petrol, Ampol. He became chair of the company from 1939 until his death in 1976.

In 1956, Walkley – inspired, apparently, by the history of his great uncle, Times literary critic Arthur Walkley – launched Australia’s national journalism awards. He was a regular presenter at the annual showcase.

So that’s the history. Fast forward to 2023, and a major brouhaha is unfolding over racist comments that Walkley made in a column 62 years ago in the Sydney Morning Herald, expressing concern that Australia could “cease to become a white man’s country”.

The comments resurfaced in a new SMH column two weeks ago and have sparked a boycott of the awards by a range of cartoonists and journalists, who are also unhappy about the awards continuing to be sponsored by Ampol.

Among those boycotting the awards are David Rowe (Australian Financial Review), Matt Golding (The Age), Chris Downes (The Mercury) and Fiona Katauskas, Glen Le Lievre, David Blumenstein and Andrew Weldon.

“In this era of climate crisis it’s pretty dodgy for major awards for journalism to be sponsored by big oil,” wrote Weldon on Instagram. “I’ve withdrawn my Walkley submission along with many other great cartoonists.”

Another cartoonist, Jon Kudelka, said there had been a call for climate reporting to have its own category as part of a revamp of the awards but it didn’t make the cut.

“I know that Australia is a very small place and only the impotent are pure etc, but climate change is an actual existential crisis and the media have to play their part and ruthlessly interrogate why the hell real cuts to fossil fuel use aren’t happening urgently.”

The awards organisers have apologised for Walkley’s views, and announced they are reviewing their sponsorship policy.

“His views do not reflect the values, views and ethics of the Walkley Foundation,” a statement from the Walkley Foundation said.

“We apologise for the deep hurt and offence these statements will have caused for journalists and the broader community. As an ethical organisation, we must call out the mistakes of the past.”

The backlash has now met its own backlash with a range of journalists, including high-profile writer Hedley Thomas – whose podcast Teacher’s Pet won a Gold Walkley in 2018 – urging organisers not to bow to “knee-jerk activism”.

“The custodians of the journalism awards should not be cowed,” Thomas told The Australian.

“There will be no end to ­demands from activists if they sense weakness in the Walkley Foundation and leadership team.

“Those who are currently ­attacking the Walkley Awards for having been supported by ­’fossil fuel’ companies deserve, in absentia, a new gong – Most ­Hollow Virtue Signalling – at the 2023 event in Sydney in ­November.

“Our annual celebrations of journalism are always bleary, but I can’t recall seeing a bicycle rack outside the Walkleys, nor any of the current critics pedalling there in past years.”

Marketing Awards winners

Congratulations to all the winners and finalists at the annual TVNZ NZ Marketing Awards, held on Wednesday night.

As the awards website says, the big winners were undoubtedly Spark and marketing partner Proximity New Zealand, taking out the Supreme Award as well as Excellence in Data Insights Strategy, Excellence in Marketing Communication Strategy, Excellence in MarTech Strategy, Excellence Utilities/Communications Marketing Strategy, and Best Overall Marketing Campaign.

That’s a massive haul.

2023 Winners

Supreme Award: Spark, Made For You Review, Proximity New Zealand

Marketing Hall of Fame: Andrew Stone

Marketing Team of the Year: Rockit Global

Marketer of the Year Simon Hofmann, Kiwibank

Up-&-Coming Marketer of the Year Shavawn Jacobsen, Counties Energy

Best Overall Short-Term Marketing Campaign: Spark, Made For You Review, Proximity New Zealand

Best B to B Marketing Campaign: Brother, Brother: It Just Works, Wave Agency, MBM

Best B to C Marketing Campaign: ANZ Bank New Zealand, ANZ Good Energy Home Loan, TBWA, PHD

Best Data-Driven Marketing Campaign: Spark, Made For You Review, Proximity New Zealand; Highly Commended: AMI, AMI Helps Customers Avoid the Risk of Under-Insurance, Chemistry

Best In-House Marketing Campaign: Squirrel, Squirrel’s “First 100 Get $100″, Words for Breakfast (Helen Steemson)

Best Marketing Campaign on a Shoestring Budget: New Plymouth District Council, New Plymouth District Council Vote22 Campaign, Words for Breakfast

Best Media Campaign: Trade Me, The Headline Hijack MBM, Perceptive Research

Best Not-for-Profit Marketing Campaign: National Collective of Independent Women’s Refuges, The Great Night In, EightyOne

Best Public Sector/Government Marketing Campaign: Fire and Emergency NZ, You’re Cooked – Recipes to Avoid Disaster, Motion Sickness, MBM, Kantar Public

Excellence in B2B Marketing Strategy: Brother, Brother: It Just Works, Wave Agency, MBM

Excellence in Brand Transformation Strategy: NZ Post, Year Two of NZ Post’s Brand Transformation Delivers More!, FCB, Inhouse Design, TRA, David Thomason

Excellence in Consumer Products & Services Strategy: Dosh, Launch of the Dosh Visa Debit Card Rainger & Rolfe, Tilt Digital

Excellence in Data Insights Strategy: Spark, Made For You Review, Proximity New Zealand

Excellence in Fast Moving Consumer Goods Strategy: Lion New Zealand, Steinlager – Breathing New Life Into an Old Icon, DDB, Mediacom, Mango, Kantar, Huffer, Live Nation, Universal Music / Six60

Excellence in Financial & Banking Marketing Strategy: ASB, Helping Customers Become Savers, The Monkeys, Behavioural by Design

Excellence in Healthcare/Beauty Marketing Strategy: Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare – Experience Full PerformanceBeehive Creative, A Perfect Curve Creative, Borderless

Excellence in Long-Term Marketing Strategy: Foodstuffs New Zealand, PAK’nSAVE – 17 Year Sticking Power, FCB Aotearoa, PHD Media, One Picture

Excellence in Marketing Communication Strategy: Spark, Made For You Review, Proximity New Zealand

Excellence in MarTech Strategy: Spark, Made For You Review, Proximity New Zealand

Excellence in New Brand Development: Zuru Edge, Better When it’s Bonkers, Zuru Edge Internal Media and Design Teams, Pablo London

Excellence in Not-for-Profit Marketing Strategy: Engineering New Zealand, The Wonder Project – Inspiring Rangatahi With STEM, Sea Digital

Excellence in Public Sector/Government Marketing Strategy: Te Whatu Ora, Hepatitis C National Awareness Campaign VMLY&R, Wawata Creative

Excellence in Purpose Driven Marketing Strategy: Engineering New Zealand, The Wonder Project – Inspiring Rangatahi With STEM, Sea Digital

Excellence in Retail & e-Commerce Marketing Strategy: McDonald’s New Zealand, How Macca’s Ruffled Feathers, DDB Aotearoa, OMD NZ, FUSE NZ, Mango NZ, Guihen Jones, TRACK NZ

Excellence in Sponsorship Strategy: Silver Fern Farms, Cooks on Fire, FUSE @ OMD NZ, TVNZ

Excellence in Travel/Leisure & Entertainment Marketing Strategy: TAB, TAB – Uncontainable Joy 2022, Chemistry, MBM, TRA

Excellence in Utilities/Communications Marketing Strategy: Spark, Made For You Review, Proximity New Zealand