Dear NZ On Air,

Context:
This request is being made in light of the new Deputy Prime Minister's accusations of "bribery" wherein journalists and journalistic organisations were required to promote specific political views as part of receiving funding from the Public Interest Journalism Fund. While I do not agree that the term "bribery" is necessarily appropriate here, it does appear as though political interference may be present.

Specific to my request is section 3.3 in this document: https://d3r9t6niqlb7tz.cloudfront.net/me...

Under the heading "The Public Interest Journalism Fund must achieve all of these things:", point 3 states: "Actively promote the principles of Partnership, Participation and Active Protection under Te Tiriti o Waitangi acknowledging Māori as a Te Tiriti partner."

Request:
1. What obligations, contractual or otherwise, with respect to the Treaty or presentations of topics related to the Treaty were assigned to any person or organisation who received money from the fund?
2. Please provide a copy of the standard contract entered into that governed receipt of money from the fund. Please include any constraints or obligations that are assigned under this contract that may appear in schedules or attachments to the standard contract.
3. Did anyone who applied for the fund (whether they received funds or not) complain about constraints imposed on them related to editorial decisions? If so, how many complaints were received and please provide a list of those complaints.
4. Were there any explicit limitations or constraints placed on fund recipients with respect to the content they produced/published?

Yours faithfully,

C. SchockEditor