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RNZ spent more than $ 100,000 on a controversial ad campaign that drew strong criticism from its commercial media counterparts.
Figures released under the Official Information Act show that RNZ spent $ 107,550.89 on the “We have news for you” campaign, which covered New Zealand cities and social media in the month prior to closing.
The campaign poked fun at other outlets, including Stuff Ltd, the publisher of this website, and outlets like NZ Herald, one of its main competitors, joking about how those sites generated revenue through advertising and subscriptions.
“If you can’t seem to avoid online ads, we have news for you,” read an ad.
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“If it seems that quality journalism has disappeared, we have news for you,” reads another.
The ads noted that RNZ did not run ads or solicit subscriptions, but many in the commercial media felt they were unfair due to tensions in the industry and hid the fact that RNZ readers paid for their journalism through their taxes.
Things Editorial Director Mark Stevens called the ads “deaf” and “hypocritical” in an op-ed on Things.
He said the campaign undermines RNZ’s efforts to help its commercial media counterparts survive.
A RNZ spokesperson said the campaign was not intended to increase market share at the expense of other outlets.
“RNZ has a small budget to market its services to reach as many New Zealanders as possible.”
“The intention of the campaign was not to gain market share for RNZ at the expense of print publications, but to raise the profile of RNZ with people who are unfamiliar with the publicly funded services we provide,” they said.
The spokesman said the campaign had already ended.
Monique Ford / Things
RNZ spent over $ 100,000 on an advertising campaign.
“The campaign existed on multiple platforms with multiple label lines. The criticized label lines were a small part of the overall campaign.”
“The campaign has already ended.”
Shayne Currie, managing editor of NZME, owners of the NZ Herald and Newstalk ZB said The spin-off who thought the ads were an attack on the pay wall his company had launched last year as a way to fund premium journalism.
“It is disappointing and insincere that Taxpayer-funded Radio New Zealand in any way suggests that New Zealanders do not pay for journalism or RNZ journalists,” he said.
Commercial media has taken another hit since the RNZ ads were released. Executives of the main media, including Things, he told Parliament’s Epidemic Response Committee that they had seen their advertising revenue drop more than 50 percent.
NZME, Stuff and MediaWorks have asked staff to take voluntary 15 percent salary cuts, and NZME has continued its efforts to buy Stuff, most recently offering $ 1 for the company, an offer rejected by Stuff owners, Nine media. in Australia.
In April, the Government announced the first of several packages to support media through Covid-19.
It offered $ 11.1 million for specific assistance to media companies and additional cash flow assistance in the form of exemption from transmission fees charged to broadcasters.
RNZ was the only organization that received specific assistance, raising $ 600,000 through the government that agreed to temporarily cover the cost of the station’s AM transmission fees.
