7.Sept 2021 5.7 Board ppr PIJF NIR Roles.pdf

under the Official Information Act
Released

5.
The two applications from Stuff and NZME that are included in this paper were originally submitted in late
July 2021 to Round 2 Role funding. The round guidelines stated that applicants applying for NIR funding must
include:
•  Brief functional description of the current position/s
•  Demonstrate what imminent risk there is to the current position/s
•  Content output of the existing role/s and how it meets the PIJF definition of PIJ
•  Outline how the existing role/s link to measurable PIJF content creation.
•  Overview of the competitive environment relevant to roles sought
•  Considerations of loss of diversity of voice.
6.
9(2)(a)
was commissioned as the independent assessor to review al  material supplied by Stuff and
NZME. 9(2)(a)worked closely with NZ On Air staff to create specific criteria and requirements for NIR funding
that  were shared with both applicants.  The focus throughout  the assessment process was on two key
criteria:
a)  Important PIJ role: The role contributes significantly to PIJ, and its loss will impact audiences.
b)  Demonstrably imminent  loss: Financial necessity will require you to cut the role in the near
future. “Imminent” was taken to mean within 6 months of the application submission.
7.
Detailed financial information (including commercial y sensitive data) was required at full proposal stage.
This included financial records with costs and revenue for relevant editorial divisions, showing trends by year
over at least five years, explanations of past cost-saving measures apparent in the supplied records, and any
evidence of past redundancies triggered by similar financial conditions.
8.
All supporting documents provided by Stuff and NZME are in the Al  Applications Boardbook menu. They are
financial and data heavy documents that 9(2)(a) has reviewed closely alongside staff, so we do not require the
Board to have reviewed them in detail and have included the information deemed most relevant within this
paper.
9.
9(2)(a)  notes in his assessments that it is a necessary but not sufficient condition of funding to satisfy these
two criteria, “Whether and to what extent the non-incremental roles are funded will also be decided
against competing claims and the aims, priorities, and capacity of the whole PIJF fund. In short: an
application may meet both requirements and still not receive approval because funding remains
contestable.”
10.  He also observed, “Funding existing editorial roles within the local and regional media ecosystem carries
the risk of unfairly favouring failing businesses or divisions, and thereby distorting the market. It is beyond
the scope of this assessment to contemplate the relative disadvantage to news media businesses
operational in the same markets as the [newspapers] under consideration, should those [newspapers]
under the Official Information Act
receive funding. The priority here is the audiences who stand to lose valuable sources of local information,
community identity, and diverse points of view.”
11.  9(2)(b)

12.  Further general observations from 9(2)(a) on the process were that the applications “were significantly
different in form and substance. The differences reflect different internal structures for understanding
business operations and possibly different company cultures. ...At their core, both funding applications
Released
succesfully made the case that the reporting work being done was important and contributed meaningfully
to participation and identity within their communities.” Further to this he pointed out that, “9(2)(b)

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9(2)(b)

Staff wishes to acknowledge 9(2)(a) for his extensive and thorough analysis of the data and information
supplied.
13.  Neither application provided digital audience data so where audience numbers are referenced this is in
relation to print circulation.
14.  Round 2 al owed applicants to apply for up to two years of funding, subject to performance review
monitoring at key stages to ensure content targets are being met before a second year of funding is renewed.
Staff received strong feedback  from  the  industry that offering one-year contracts would not provide
sufficient security to enable recruitment and retention especially of experienced journalists.
15.  In the case of non-incremental roles, the issue of recruitment is not a factor, however, staff notes that the
provision – and in this case retention - of PIJ content to local audiences justifies a two-year consideration.
16.  A total of 108 new PIJF roles (circa $17m) have been approved to date. The Staff Investment Committee
approved 21 applications covering 48 incremental roles (up to $7,005,501) at the September meeting. The
Board approved a further four applications covering 62 incremental roles (up to $10,420,942) at the October
meeting.
17.  Both applicants were provided assurances from NZ On Air that the commercially sensitive information they
provided to us would not be appropriate to release and, if requested, would be withheld under the Official
Information Act 1982 (the OIA). The rationale for this within the OIA is “to protect information where the
making available of the information would be likely unreasonably to prejudice the commercial position of the
person who supplied or who is the subject of the information.”

GENERAL ASSESSMENT & STAFF OPINION
Non-incremental Roles
Stuff

      Requested $9(2)(b)
Funding Requested
18.  9(2)(b)

9(2)(b)
under the Official Information Act
Funding Recommended
Released
Newsroom
Role
Annual rem.
Kiwi S/Leave
Total Funding
Marlborough
9(2)(b)
Marlborough
1 P/L, or P&L, stands for profit and loss statement. It is one of the financial statements of a company and shows the company's revenues and expenses during a
particular period. It indicates how the revenues are transformed into the net income or net profit.
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9(2)(b)
Marlborough
Marlborough
Marlborough
Marlborough
Annual Cost
Two-Year Cost

$          731,300
19.  The recommendation is to fund five roles 9(2)(b)
at a total two-year cost of $731,300.
General Assessment
20.  9(2)(b)
fuel the editorial content in multiple local print mastheads and contribute to the
national Stuff site and other digital platforms (including Neighbourly). The roles cover the following
publications:
Marlborough
This paid newspaper dates from 1866 and is published three times a week. A dedicated
Express
area on the Stuff site presents a majority of public interest journalism (PIJ) content. As
indicated in the Stuff submission, this content goes beyond what a free weekly
newspaper can supply in terms of reporting detail, in particular for coverage of the local
bureaucracy. Local court, business, crime, and sport articles appeared on the home page
accessed for this assessment.
Saturday
Delivered every Saturday to households across Marlborough (circ. 20k print and digital)
Express
9(2)(b)
21.  9(2)(b)’s assessment of the Stuff application is here.
22.  Staff notes that the Marlborough Express currently hosts one LDR reporter. There is no duplication in
funding requested for this LDR role in their submission.
23.  In their Round 2 final  proposal application Stuff applied for funding of $9(2)(a)  to employ a total of 20
new reporting roles 9(2)(a)

20 new roles
under the Official Information Act
were approved by the Board at the October meeting total ing $2,789,240 over two years.
24.  Regarding the NIR funding, 9(2)(b) and NZ On Air staff held a number of meetings with Stuff executives and
made several requests for supplementary information. Stuff supplied the fol owing documents:
•  9(2)(b)

Released

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25.  In terms of the competitive news landscape in those regions, the Stuff publications - 9(2)(b)

9(2)(b)

Marlborough
Operated by Top South Media it publishes the Marlborough Weekly newspaper,
Media
Marlborough App and monthly Marlborough Magazine
The Blenheim
Independently owned and operated in Blenheim since 2002, a free twice weekly
Sun
publication delivered to homes across Marlborough
9(2)(b)
26.  Marlborough covers a diverse area from the Marlborough Sounds and the gateway to the South Island,
Picton, through to the hinterland of the Kaikoura Ranges with a population of 51,500. 9(2)(b)

27.  The detailed financial information and data provided spanned FY17-FY21 (with YTD FY22) and contained:
•  9(2)(b)

28.  In terms of criteria a) ‘Important PIJ role’, Stuff provided detail on the functions of the roles as follows:
9(2)(b)

under the Official Information Act
29.  9(2)(b)

Released
30.  As noted in 9(2)(a)’s report, 9(2)(b)

Stuff’s financial data shows that
in recent years 9(2)(b)

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9(2)(b)

31.  Stuff was asked to provide an overview of the competitive environment given there are several small
and independent competitors jostling for a place in a smal  market. Their response was 9(2)(b)

32.  In terms of b) ‘Imminent loss’, 9(2)(a) noted of the data supplied by Stuff that, “A good overal  view of this
situation is provided by reducing the data (to total revenue, editorial costs, all other costs, and
contribution) and then trending the data over the five available years” as per the table below.

9(2)(b)

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9(2)(b)
33.  In the graphs above the darker green bar represents total revenue and the lighter green bar is
contribution. The intervening two red-hued bars are non-editorial (“all other costs”) and editorial costs.
34.  9(2)(a)’s assessment of this data was that, 9(2)(b)

35.  A broad trend observed throughout the assessment was that editorial costs 9(2)(b)

This
assessment also considers the cost-saving measures taken by Stuff 9(2)(b)

under the Official Information Act
36.  9(2)(a) notes in his analysis that, 9(2)(b)

Released
Staff Opinion
37.  In terms of assessment criteria a) that NIR roles must ‘contribute significantly to PIJ, and their loss will
impact audiences’, staff determined that that criteria a) had been met.
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38.  Regarding criteria b) ‘demonstrably imminent loss’, 9(2)(b)

39.  9(2)(b)

40.  In general correspondence 9(2)(a)provided to staff alongside his two assessments he states, 9(2)(b)

41.  9(2)(b)

under the Official Information Act

.”
42.  9(2)(b)

Released
43.  However, staff believes the five roles in Marlborough should be approved and that 9(2)(b)

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44.  9(2)(b)

45.  In supporting this recommendation, staff acknowledges that while there are other local news providers
9(2)(b)
, those other publications are community weekly publications and
therefore fulfil a different niche, driven by advertising. We believe that retaining a level of media
plurality in the regions is important especially in smaller communities where issues such as the debate
around the Three Waters Reform and COVID vaccination can be divisively polarising.
46.  This funding would give the Stuff Marlborough newsroom some respite from the impact of the ongoing
COVID crisis and 9(2)(b)
. But most
importantly it will ensure a relatively isolated and geographical y diverse population maintains strong
local PIJ. Funding is recommended for five Marlborough roles up to $731,300 over two years subject
to9(2)(b)

.

Non-incremental Roles

NZME

Requested
$1,818,875
Funding Requested

9(2)(b)
under the Official Information Act
47.  9(2)(b)

Released

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Funding Recommended
Newsroom
Role
Annual Sal
Kiwi S/Leave
Travel
Total Funding
Rotorua Weekender
9(2)(b)
Napier Courier
Hastings Leader
Whanganui Midweek
Manawatū Guardian
Taupō Weekender
Horowhenua Chronicle
Kapiti News
Annual Cost
Two-Year Cost

$940,188
48.  The recommendation is to fund eight roles 9(2)(b)
two-year cost of $940,188.
General Assessment
49.  9(2)(a)’s assessment of the NZME application is here.
50.
9(2)(b)
9(2)(b)

In its initial 5-page application to Round 2, NZME applied for   new roles (across   publications) for
its Open Justice scheme, and 9(2)(b) non-incremental roles across its community newspaper network for a
total ask of $9(2)(b) . The Open Justice scheme was approved at the October Board meeting for
funding up to $2,995,702 for 15 new roles.
51.  Regarding the NIR application, NZME supplied the fol owing documents:
•  9(2)(b)

52.  9(2)(a) noted that the applicant, 9(2)(b)

under the Official Information Act

53.  In its proposal, NZME outlined that it publishes 9(2)(b)

54.  NZME has at least 17 community news publications in its stable 9(2)(b)

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. Greater detail on the publications are
outlined here.

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9(2)(b)
under the Official Information Act
55. Staff notes that the Rotorua Weekender received $440,000 PIJF Project funding from Round 1 for the
provision of a bilingual te reo Māori section which is now publishing.
56. Regarding criteria a) ‘Important PIJ role’, 9(2)(a) looked at a single copy of each publication in question to
determine how many articles ran and what proportion would be considered PIJ. He found the majority
of content could be considered PIJ in its broadest sense (including local sport and arts reporting).

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Edition
Total articles
PIJ articles
PIJ %
9(2)(b)
57.  9(2)(a)’s notes, “The survey was useful in that it provided an overview of the scope of publications and the
differences between them. It also gave an indication of their potential utility to the communities in
which they are published. 9(2)(b)

58.  Regarding the availability of local news in the markets under consideration, all the publications under
consideration are free weekly newspapers. 9(2)(b)


•  9(2)(b)

under the Official Information Act
59.  9(2)(b)

9(2)(b)

Released

b)  All the weeklies are home delivered and free as opposed to paid/subscription/online models of
the daily papers providing more access for audiences.
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c)  The weeklies are more involved in covering community events and spotlighting local people in
a way that under normal circumstances might not be considered public interest journalism, but
in a small town provides a level of community engagement which speaks to the goals of the
Cabinet paper and its definition of PIJ as (28) “…. journalism that contributes to a person’s
ability to function as a valued and informed member of the communities in which they live
and/or work.”
60.  In analysing the criteria b) ‘Imminent loss’, NZME provided a variety of data including:
•  9(2)(b)

61.
NZME provided detailed financial information for each of the eight publications from 2018-2021, as
well as the overall P+L for its “Communities” division 2019-2021. Separately it included a graph of
total Communities revenues by sales channel from 2016-2021. The 2021 submissions are in al  cases
ful -year forecasts.
62.
NZME states 9(2)(b)

:
•  9(2)(b)

under the Official Information Act

63.
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9(2)(a)  notes that, 9(2)(b)

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9(2)(b)

64.
9(2)(a) argues, 9(2)(b)

9(2)(b)
under the Official Information Act
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65.
He continues, 9(2)(b)

66.  In terms of 9(2)(b)

67.  9(2)(b)

9(2)(b)
68.
9(2)(b)

under the Official Information Act

Staff Opinion
69.
In terms of the key assessment criteria a) that NIR roles must ‘contribute significantly to PIJ, and their
loss wil  impact audiences’, staff determined that that criteria a) had been met. As 9(2)(a) states in his
assessment, 9(2)(b)

Released

70.
Regarding criteria b) and ‘demonstrably imminent loss’, staff concurs with 9(2)(a)’s note that, 9(2)(b)

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9(2)(b)

71.
Staff agrees with 9(2)(b)

72.
9(2)(a) makes a point of saying that, 9(2)(b)

73.
9(2)(b)

Funding is
recommended up to $940,188 over two years subject to a9(2)(b)

under the Official Information Act
Released
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