Just when I think I've plumbed the depths of David Seymour's cluelessness, he responds to the NewsHub announcement by saying he'll save them by making TVNZ pay a dividend to Treasury again. This is the publicly-owned TV broadcaster that lost NZ$17 million in the first half of last year. Even Winston, who railed against the "mainstream" media through the election campaign, thinks that's dopey. https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/focusonpolitics/audio/2018928273/when-no-news-is-bad-news
Like a lot of people, #NewsHub's closure has got me thinking about media funding again.
The Public Interest Journalism Fund was NZ$55m over 3 years. Round it up to 60, and round the population down to 5 million and that's $4 per kiwi per year (20÷5). Less than a coffee or a beer.
A small price to pay to help keep hundreds of journalists employed, not to mention freed up to work on public interest projects, instead of whatever clickbait brings in advertising for their employers.
Some people were suspicious of the PIJF because it came directly from the general budget. Making a big chunk of income for the news media industry subject to budget decisions by the government of the day. Fair enough.
So what if the government subsidised public interest media production in Aotearoa - not just journalism - by charging telecos a levy of $1 a week on all net connections? With the money ring-fenced and administered by an autonomous NZ on Air type funding body (NZ Online?).
I couldn't find exact numbers for net connections in NZ with a quick web search. But including both mobile contracts, and fixed line connections at both homes and commercial premises, there's probably one for every person in the country.
Let's use a conservative estimate of 3 million connections across the country. A levy on those of $1 a week, or $52 a year, would provide just over NZ$150 million per year in public interest media funding. More than 7 times the yearly size of the PIJF.
People struggling with the cost of living might balk at $1 a week but keep in mind they may not be the ones who have to pay it.
Unlike the old TV license, this isn't a levy on the owners of net-connected devices. It's a levy on companies that provide access to the net. Yes they'll do their best to pass it on to customers. But as players in one of NZ's few truly competitive markets they can't just set prices. If even one company absorbs the cost to gain competitive edge, most will follow.
The value of a net access service is massively subsidised by the producers of all the works that a net connection gives customers access to. Why shouldn't the companies who sell net access help to fund the production of some of those works? If they wanted to get some of the money back, they could always try employing local media producers to work on public interest projects and apply to NZ Online for funding.
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