Boost for diverse media content and roles in latest journalism funding

6 December 2021

Audience-focused content that meets the needs of tamariki and rangatahi, rural women and regional New Zealand is among a range of projects successful in the third round of Public Interest Journalism (PIJ) funding.

Also successful in this round are returning investigative journalism and current affairs series that continue to inform and engage the public about important issues.

NZ On Air earmarked $9m for this funding round, the third drawn from the $55m Public Interest Journalism Fund announced in February 2021. Demand was high from a broad spectrum of media organisations, with 82 initial applications collectively seeking $29,135,469.

Head of Journalism Raewyn Rasch, Ngāi/Kai Tahu, says the assessment panel was particularly excited to see the standard of youth and tamariki projects seeking funding in this round.

“It’s clear the sector sees the need to engage young people in news and current affairs, so they’re better informed about the world around them. It’s great to see their innovative approaches to reaching young audiences with quality information, especially through social media.”

In Round 3, 18 targeted role applications were recommended for total funding of up to $1,500,785.

Six organisations - Allied Press, Newshub, RNZ, Kōwhai Media, NZME and Stuff - will receive funding for roles that will strengthen company-wide cultural strategies. Ms Rasch says the assessment panel believe these roles, particularly the Partnership Editor positions, will bring positive change to how the media engage with Māori and diverse audiences.

Other roles funded in this round include an audio innovation editor for NZME, to improve access to news for blind and low vision New Zealanders, and sub-editor roles at The Spinoff and Newsroom to lift the quality and output of public interest journalism content.

Stuff and NZME will both receive funding from Round 2 for existing roles to ensure that audiences continue to receive critical local news reporting on their communities. Stuff will receive $731,300 over two years to continue providing public interest journalism across the Marlborough region, while NZME will receive $940,188 over two years to retain reporting roles in its free community newspapers across Rotorua, Napier, Hastings, Whanganui, Manawatū, Taupō, Horowhenua, and Kapiti.

Twenty news and current affairs projects, which encompass children’s and youth news, investigative journalism, and high-quality current affairs will receive funding up to $7,753,648.

This includes six projects relating to tamariki and rangatahi news programmes, and strengthening student journalism. Other successful applications include investigations into New Zealand’s charity sector, the state of Aotearoa’s oceans, climate change and the legacy of abuse in State care.

The focus of improving journalistic standards also saw two on-the-job training projects with content outcomes approved for Allied Press and Māori Television.

A group of returning series (Tagata Pasifika, Kea Kids News, The Hui, Q&A, Newshub Nation, Stuff Circuit and Newsroom Investigates) have all been funded to return in 2022.

Funding details

Roles (funded for one year)

Allied Press, 1 x Partnership Editor role, up to $145,650

Campus Radio 95bFM, 1 x Sub-Editor, up to $32,916

Discovery NZ, 1 x Newshub Cultural Partnership Navigator, up to $130,500

GlobalHQ, 1 x Digital Editor, up to $105,000

Kowhai Media Ltd, 1 x Kaiwhakatiki Hourua, up to $55,020

Mana Trust, 1 x Editor/Mentor and 1 x Digital Marketing Manager, up to $165,000

Newsroom NZ, 1 x Sub Editor, up to $91,679

NZME, 1 x Kaupapa Editor and 1 x Audio Innovation role, up to $200,280

Radio One 91FM, 1 x Digital Content Editor, up to $20,000

RNZ, 1 x Kurawhakaue Partnership Editor Role, up to $108,000

Stuff, 1 x te reo Māori Translator, up to $103,000

Te Po, 1 x Kawea Te Rongo Kaiwhakahaere, up to $68,250

The Spinoff, 1 x Sub Editor role, up to $105,450

The Pantograph Punch, 1 x Business Development role and 1 x Social Media Specialist (3 months), up to $95,040

Tikilounge Productions, 1 x Pasifika Youth Digital News Editor, up to $75,000

Projects
Allied Press, Cultural Competency and Commissioning project, 6 x long-form articles and staff training programmes, for Allied Press and associated publications, up to $61,725

BusinessDesk, Charity Sector Investigation (an in-depth investigation into New Zealand’s $18b charity sector), minimum 30 stories, up to $154,020

Discovery NZ, Newshub Nation 2022, 41 x 50 mins and a podcast series of current affairs, for Three, up to $978,175

Great Southern Television and Aotearoa Media Collective, The Hui, 40 x 28 mins shows and 40 x 28 mins podcasts Māori current affairs, for Three, up to $737,036

Kakalu Media, Online project (website creation and livestream capability) for Kakalu o Tonga, up to $9,817

Kowhai Media, A Voice for Tangaroa, 4 x 3000-word written features, 6 x 400-1,500 word stories that focus on the ocean around Aotearoa, New Zealand, for NZ Geographic, up to $146,745

Luke Nola & Friends, Kea Kids News, 80 x 4 mins videos for digital platforms and 80 x 2 mins videos for social media platforms, up to $653,773

Mahi Tahi Media, Ohinga 2, 50 x 4 mins videos, up to $264,386

Māori Television, Miria Te Pounamu (on-the-job journalism training wānanga for staff) for Māori Television, up to $189,200

Muster Vibrant Rural Communities, Rural Issues: Women’s perspectives on contemporary social and cultural issues, 9 x 3000 words, 72 x 600-1,500-word stories, 6 x 3 mins videos for Shepherdess Magazine platforms, up to $292,692

Newsroom NZ, Newsroom Investigates 2022, 60 mins video investigative current affairs, up to $336,358

Newsroom NZ, Climate Change Interview Series, 10 x 12 mins video interviews focused on how New Zealand will move to a low carbon future, up to $40,000

North & South Media, Exploring Aotearoa’s Chinese Communities, 4-6 features totaling 20,000 words exploring different facets of Chinese communities in New Zealand, up to $25,000

NZME, Whenua: Is it yours?, Interactive database and map, 4 x 1,500-3,000-word features that explores how and when land became part of the Pākehā property system in Aotearoa New Zealand), up to $80,500

Stuff, Stuff Circuit 2022, a minimum of 90 mins of video, investigative current affairs, up to $324,200

SunPix Tagata Pasifika, 51 x 23 mins and 2 x 90 mins Pasifika news and current affairs for TVNZ 1, up to $1,919,913

Te Parerē National Māori Students Magazine, 32 digital issues focused on Māori youth current affairs, up to $28,240

The Spinoff, The Quarter Million, 2 x 4,000 – 5,000-word feature, 8-10 Instagram tiles, 4 x 1,000-word stories plus 8 – 10 Instagram tiles, 4 x 2,000-word stories plus 8-10 Instagram tiles providing a youth perspective on the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care, up to $152,304

TVNZ, Kids Kōrero, 30 x 5 mins linear videos, 30 x 2 mins explainer videos, and 30 x 5 mins podcasts news and current affairs for 10 –14 year olds, up to $517,364

TVNZ, Q + A with Jack Tame 2022, 40 x 59 mins episodes, plus a two-hour special of current affairs, for TVNZ, up to $842,200

Non-incremental Roles

NZME, up to $940,188 over two years to support its newsgathering in Rotorua, Napier, Hastings, Whanganui, Manawatū, Taupō, Horowhenua, and Kapiti.

Stuff, up to $731,300 over two years for non-incremental role funding to support its Marlborough newsgathering.