Is the Media Complicit?
And Who is Behind NZ's Right Wing Media Channels including "The Platform"? One of Seymour's First Law Changes Appears To Have Benefited The Wright Family.
This is a long read. Open to all. Real time update included on Substack.
SYNOPSIS:
Traditional media is at a cross roads. There is a need for those in the media landscape, as it stands, to earn enough to stay afloat, but also come across as balanced and neutral to keep its audiences.
In America, NYT’s liberal leaning paper recently published an article that proffers input on how Trump can beat Kamala Harris - painting Harris as weak and unfit for office.
Media ‘balance’ has always been important to press.
But with the rise of ‘alternative facts’, the right and alt-right has used misinformation to cement power and push through their aims. And with that, increase polarisation within countries and transfer wealth upwards.
Aotearoa NZ isn’t exempt. but what role should the media play, and are they complicit, or victims themselves?
EXTRA: who are Sean Plunkett’s backers and what relationship do they have, if any, to Seymour? And what the heads of media in NZ face.
The media is influential and the media also therefore holds responsibility
As Donald Trump emerged as a potential US candidate leading up to the 2016 US election, there were many figures in American media and entertainment space that lent him credibility.
Jimmy Fallon, CNN, the conservative National Review, Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal, and of course Fox News - to name a few.
Trump had many people by his side as, and after, he got into power - most of whom can no longer abide his character or record.
For example -
Mike Pence - his VP who the Trump mob wanted to lynch on Jan 6,
Former National Security Advisor John Bolton who warns of Trump’s all consuming need for personal retribution and his selfishness makes him “unfit for office”,
Decorated ex-U.S. Marine Corps general and Trump’s longest serving Chief of Staff John Kelly etc
They all worked closely with Trump and have gone on the record to tell the world what a truly horrible man Trump really is.
Kelly in 2023:
“What can I add that has not already been said? A person that thinks those who defend their country in uniform, or are shot down or seriously wounded in combat, or spend years being tortured as POWs are all ‘suckers’ because ‘there is nothing in it for them.’ ….
A person who is not truthful regarding his position on the protection of unborn life, on women, on minorities, on evangelical Christians, on Jews, on working men and women.
A person who admires autocrats and murderous dictators.
A person that has nothing but contempt for our democratic institutions, our Constitution, and the rule of law….
There is nothing more that can be said.
God help us.”
God help us.
Yep. Except it’s no Hollywood script.
But these figures, like anyone else who will come after them, are now figures of dust.
They make a headline that quickly dissipates into the sandpit of irrelevance the next day.
Many people won’t hear it.
And Trump’s supporters don’t care. Neither do the growing number of Kiwis who now see him as … viable and even desirable.
Trump has become larger than life thanks to a series of bizarre happenstances, nepotism, media support, right wing mouthpieces, big money, evangelical bolstering, and at times seeming providence.
For example, when all seemed lost after Trump was found, on tape, saying “[Women] They let you do it. You can do anything. Grab 'em by the pussy,” - before the 2016 election - James Comey made an unexpected move.
Comey very publicly criticised Hillary Clinton about her email storage just days before the 2016 election.
All media ran the headline and there is no doubt for many - including Clinton and probably Comey - that that was one of the major reasons she lost (Clinton won the popular vote, but that doesn’t matter in the States).
Comey spent many years trying to rectify that error, becoming another of Trump’s greatest critics. Another of Trump’s critics is his niece Mary Trump, who writes on Substack. George Conway also took the integrity arc and regularly explains to audience why Trump is effectively, well, an idiot. (ex-wife Kelly-Anne Conway remains one of Trump’s favoured people.)
And let’s be clear - to Trumpers, who live in a parallel universe and effectively another world of perception, any criticisms or even facts/evidence are simply validation of why Trump is their person, their Numero Uno, their hero, and saviour.
Anyone who speaks poorly of him is mistaken, or more likely to them, part of the deep state, elites, or deluded, woke snowflakes!
After the assassination attempt, the rhetoric continued -
Greene: “We are in a battle between GOOD and EVIL The Democrats are the party of pedophiles, murdering the innocent unborn, violence, and bloody, meaningless, endless wars. They want to lock up their political opponents, and terrorize innocent Americans who would tell the truth about it.”
For MAGA - Trump is the man who will bring back kindness and sanity to America and the world, and rule in their image - whether it’s installing Christian Fascist Nationalism, destroying Anti-Climate Wokeness, Pro-Trickle-Down Economics, or just being the Anti-Dog & Cat Eating Immigrant policeman. He has it all. Trump is the Every Man to their movement, and in Trump, they trust.
There is no logic to be had when almost one half of your voting public believe in am alternate world of not only facts, but perception.
It was, as Kelly-Anne Conway, then senior advisor to President Trump, made clear in 2017 -
I remember watching the interview that day and finding it comical.
But the truth is their will was done - alternative facts, alternative reality.
Two Earths - one world.
Political domination.
The vested interests of empires
I should note that before Trump became the Republican nominee for the 2024 election, some billionaires did get tired of his erratic conduct.
For example -
Koch, the remaining brother with a fossil fuel empire that despises environmentalists, public transport, and climate change protections with a passion greater than the heights of the Empire State Building, threw his money behind Nikki Haley first.
He eventually went back to Trump when it was clear Trump was unstoppable.
Murdoch called Trump an “idiot” and thinks poorly of him, but his networks have still beat the MAGA / Trump drum.
Elon Musk is a recent but true convert to Donald, and apparently Trump can propel Musk to even greater heights of wealth and power. Musk has also been tapped to lead “efficiency” for America if Trump wins!
Spoiler: Musk’s efficiency drive didn’t go well at Twitter, Musk fired 80% of the staff, i.e 6000 people, and tanked the company’s value by over 70%. Still he made Twitter a very effective right wing platform so he did buy a loud megaphone.
They are now supporting him in concert with whatever their empires have available to them. e.g. Project 2025, Fox News media empire, and X - a now pro-Trump social media machine.
Let’s face it, to most of these big oligarchs, the world is their oyster, and ‘no’ is not really an option.
They want someone in politics who is pliable and if not, at least amenable and helpful to their causes. For many oligarchs, Trump is their preferred option. Trump’s last package of tax cuts alone cost US$4 trillion over 10 years, ensuring the richest would get most of the benefits.
These oligarchs have long learned the art of ‘I rub your back, you rub mine’. And ‘what’s good for business, is good for me.’
It’s just business, after all.
Related Reading - Article continues below:
Aotearoa
NZ isn’t exempt from the same forces, in my opinion.
And why would it be?
We are an open market. There are right wing figures with deep pockets - domestic and global. There is corporate media. There are politicians. And electoral donor laws are extremely lax.
There is profit to be made for those who view money and power as primary.
Or the state as a nuisance - cut red tape! is their battle cry. And the results? In the UK, the Tory’s ideological match to cutting red tape for businesses resulted in one of the worst fires - the Greenfell Tower incident - 74 deaths, 72 injuries, and horror.
And while we have corporate media here - e.g. NZME, which owns publication labels such as NZ Herald, Business Desk, OneRoof; radio including Newstalk ZB, Radio Hauraki, The Hits, Coast, iHeart Radio etc. and there is the rise of Sean Plunkett’s The Platform, for the most part, the media appears to just be doing its job, within the system it’s operating in.
Still - I sometimes wonder about things -
For example, is repeating the Coalition’s talking points verbatim appropriate when a government has proven to be a key perpetrator of misinformation and lies aka Trump?
Take -
“Blanket speed reductions” - There was no such thing despite Simeon’s claims but media across the board repeat it constantly.
A Stuff article where the two male journalists repeated, verbatim, Simeon Brown’s claim that Labour threw away ~$1.3bn on 3 Waters.
National threw it away by ripping up Labour’s in-progress reforms (part of the money went to Councils). In that piece, Stuff provided no such context.
In a 1News interview with Lester Levy last month, the interviewer challenged Dr Levy on his ‘no frontline impact’ line by telling him doctors told her it wasn’t true.
Yet shortly after, as Levy searched for an answer, the journalist offers Levy an olive branch, saying the doctors could have told her that because it comes from “resistance.”
At this point, Levy looks physically relieved, breaking out into a smile (!) and says it’s definitely resistance and “even sabotage”
Bremner’s ‘suggestion’, which Levy grabbed onto has the direct impact of undermining the feeback of doctors and nurses who have been warning for months that ‘someone will die’. [Two have died so far that we know of: Rotorua & Dargaville]
And is it really the role of Bremner - as a journalist - to suggest conspiratorial soundbites for her subject to get him out of a tight spot?
How is any of that good journalism?
I despair at times - but only because it’s been one of my core beliefs that misinformation and lies is at the core of a rotten society.
If we focus on facts, and laying out causal relationships - then perhaps there will be a better chance for education and reaching mutual understanding in the community.
Example - when the government effectively culls most mental health call outs for police, but has no method to catch those who fall between the cracks through increased social support services, people will die.
Example - as the government systematically abandons technology and infrastructure investment for hospitals, deferred costs will fall on our future. And what will deteriorate by abandoning the investment? Our efficiency, patient care, social impacts, ability to intervene earlier for positive health outcomes etc.
Bill once asked me a question that has played on my mind - should the other side be playing dirty politics too?
And my thought is - no - but the opposition do need effective, robust and smart sound-bites to cut through the lies.
We need more education by people who can proffer it calmly and charismatically.
Example - Why in the world are folks obsessed with road cones, cycle-ways or Māori when associated costs are small in the scheme of things?
Cycleways only every accounted for a mere 1% of the transport budget
Maori have only been given less than $3 billion in a lifetime of settlement claims!
To get the Treaty Principles Bill to Select Committee will cost conservatively $4mn, but the whole saga is a contrived issue - irrelevant to anyone who isn’t looking to stamp down on Māori - but sold as helping Kiwis re-discover their equality and dignity.
These really aren’t the things holding NZ back.
Think big, NZ ! Don’t be so petty !
Yet that is the mastery of the right, I reckon - distraction, sleights of hand and mistruths
And the reality is right wing media is effective because it stirs emotions, works on soundbites and has money to resource their stations/papers.
When the latest press about Casey Costello’s $216 mn cuts to tobacco taxes appeared, I failed to find coverage on any of the landing pages of NZ Herald.
For a publication that regularly enjoys publicising news that should outrage or frighten e.g. crime or gangs, it was deathly quiet on the Costello front when I looked that day. I eventually found the article, but only through a specific Google site search.
Still - even NZME is merely a creation of the system.
It’s the free market at work.
It’s not illegal or wrong for Mike Hosking to stoke anger about cycleways, or Heather du Plessis-Allan to ridicule a young school girl on climate.
It’s not even illegal for PM Luxon to lie, seemingly often too.
[Look at the OIA response to Luxon’s false claim that 88% of Maori kids can’t read. It merely doubles down on the discredited statistic.]
And misinformation/disinformation is all very, very difficult to unpick in the world of social media and tech giants - and the old narratives in NZ remain in motion from many corners incl. this government and its mouthpieces. e.g. Labour left the country’s debt in hyperbolic shambles, the current health crisis is all on Labour, we have to privatise etc.
It appears almost impossible to break the cycle though - just as hard as it is to ask Trump supporters to see what John Kelly means above.
A world where two sides can have completely different perceptions and realities - driven further apart.
Are media naive? Can they help?
Those of us who watch political press conferences can see that journalists do challenge this government.
Exhibit A: When Luxon and Willis lied about their intention to fund cancer drugs, a journalist said -
Q: “Doesn’t the fact that you’ve announced this 23 days after the budget and the fact that you’ve booked it against next year’s budget actually tell us that this wasn’t just a communication error … And you’ve had to rush it together because of the public backlash?”
Luxon: “No, no I disagree.”
Except I never saw that explicitly stated anywhere in media.
[Until.. Seymour was only too happy to throw National under the bus though - later telling media that yes, zero work was performed on the cancer drugs until after the very public backlash.]
Exhibit B: When Shane Reti and Luxon declared an emergency to appoint Dr Pray-For-Me to deal with a “miraculously” appearing $1.4bn health deficit, one journo asked how the deficit could be blamed on Labour when it happened on National’s watch.
Q: “This deficit has arisen under your watch…This happened after you came into government. Did you take your eye off the ball? Do you have any responsibility for the situation?”
But on that announcement day the headlines all looked like this without any mention of nuances - and this is what most people will remember. (Labour’s fault of course, said Luxon and Reti)
Why is it that we don’t see the insights from press conferences translated into their media columns or news bulletins?
Is it because media aren’t allowed to extrapolate, to analyse? They can certainly do so in opinion pieces, but it’s perhaps their rush to get the news out, and their desire to stay in the government’s good books too.
I remember scanning media that day to try to find deeper commentary amongst all the articles but came up empty handed.
Still: Media - the Fourth Establishment have the largest reach. Their impact is the most important. So is their responsibility.
And the media did do their jobs - with subsequent days revealing the truth around the deficit and Reti admitting the 14 layers doesn’t even exist. [To which Luxon replies “Woop de doo”]
But that first day is what blared out - and Luxon and Reti got what they wanted from media.
And this - just in
Media is in a difficult situation
Yes, media have challenges.
If they are not corporate buy outs, they are faced with threats from David Seymour (TVNZ), are vulnerable to political change (RNZ), and/or are struggling to make ends meet (Stuff / TVNZ).
Media have a need to stay impartial, unbiased, and present things as they appear. It’s “news reporting” not “news analysis” apparently.
And with editorial guidelines, reduced staff, falling profits, competition, and a desire to maintain relationships with the government, it can perhaps be hard.
Part of this is the government’s strategy too - run circles around media with unverified and unverifiable information sprung on them, and know they don’t have time to catch up.
It’s working.
We still have many good journalists!
Jack Tame does a good job researching facts and filing background evidence. He’s not afraid to challenge, and to laugh.
Breakfast shows can tease out details. RNZ does great work - for example Guyor Espinor’s work on Casey Costello & tobacco.
Mihingarangi Forbes has been working for years to expose confronting stories. She remains the only journalist in NZ that has been brave enough to ask David Seymour about his Atlas Network connections - opening her up to a vicious campaign by Sean Plunkett afterwards
Newsroom often publishes in-depth analysis, although it also hosts the words of Atlas Network - but on balance, I believe it provides valuable perspectives.
NZ Geographic is a hidden gem with often extremely valuable articles including NZ Doctors preparing for the worst case scenario and breathtaking NZ photography.
Still, and sadly, traditional media is a dying industry.
Talking about Mihingarangi Forbest and Atlas, Dave P found this treasure trove yesterday of David Seymour, Jordan Williams, Alan Gibbs, Ruth Richardson etc together at an Atlas Network function from 2016. So remind me - why did David Seymour lie about his relationship to Atlas Network again? And why did Chris Bishop and David Farrar back that lie up the next day - also claiming Atlas Network is a conspiracy?
What’s clear is who has the money has the goods
Luxon’s social media team of 7 & a $320,000 spend on media communications strategies and producers is a luxury few can afford.
Similarly, Sean Plunkett’s ‘call for a pogrom of government critics i.e. massacre’ ‘The Platform’ is funded from Best Start’s multi-hundred-millionaire Wright Family.
It’s successful1. Highly patroned from the right.
And that again, is all from a well funded, luxurious position - Plunkett has a budget that could possibly rival if not exceed traditional newsrooms who need to comply to broadcasting standards and meet editorial standards.
Plunkett’s Platform does not.
BTW Anyone else notice that Seymour’s “passions” coincide with the Wrights’ business and his early laws are beneficial for them e.g. one of his first acts as Minister for Regulation is to help ECE (early child education) businesses pay less for relief teachers?
In 2022, Wayne Wright Junior, Plunkett’s backer, told Spin Off:
“They can’t cancel me. When people come and rattle their sabres at us, we can say, ‘well, tomorrow is another day. Good luck with that. And by the way, you could buy one of our things over here. Stay in a hotel we own’.
Yes, after building their wealth and receiving hundreds of millions in taxpayer subsidies, including nearly $30mn from Covid related subsidies, and even wanting taxpayers to fund their child birth business too, the Wright Family is now not only very well connected, but too rich to be cancelled.
You need us - we don’t need you.
Wright Junior’s interview with Spin Off founder Duncan Greive reveals striking similarities to some of our current politicians’ views.
For example, of different conditions and of Māori, he states:
“I would say that if a particular group of people feel aggrieved, then make something of it. Get out there and do it.”
“The thing that really disappoints me is that when folks do question that, with what I think are legitimate issues and legitimate questions, they get terms like racism thrown against them, for asking the question.”…
“I’ve seen what racism looks like in other countries, and it is severe. It’s people hanging up on burning crosses. That’s what racism looks like.”
He believes Te Tiriti is an important document, but not relevant to his vision of New Zealand, and that Māori dispossession of their language and whenua has long since ceased to be an adequate explanation for poor outcomes that persist over generations.
“I don’t think the answer to it is carving them out, and giving them extraordinary rights and privileges, because they don’t live as long. The fact that a group doesn’t live as long… is not inherent racism.”
That sounds a lot like something you would hear from Plunkett, Luxon, Brown and in Seymour’s actions.
And this brings me to the crux of the issue.
Politics is clearly bought, and media should be protected from that influence.
My friend Sapphi once shared the words of former PM Sir Keith Holyoake in support of a free and independent press.
I stand entirely on the principle that I believe in New Zealanders owning their own industry… wherever practicable…. This country is growing up, and I want to see it owned and controlled by New Zealanders in every possible sphere…
This has a special and greater reference to newspapers and news media than to any other form of industry, and this has been recognised by other responsible Governments (around the world)…
I think the dissemination of news media is something special. It is greater than the ownership of a biscuit factory, or a brick factory, or any other factory. This is my simple faith.
When the last NZ government provided funding to media, the right falsely framed it as “bribes”.
Yet it is more than apparent that media do require support if it is to work - and work for the people.
Australia’s national taxpayer funded broadcaster, ABC, is regularly attacked as ‘wasting taxpayers money’ from Rupert Murdoch media. The Taxpayers Union in NZ also regularly attacks media organisations including RNZ for wasting taxpayers money.
Why?
Independent press is a threat to large corporate interests and power groups.
The free market has failed media
A wholly commercial media system, one driven by the “free market” is not going to work and will only lead to the increasing cannibalisation of independent and unwelcome media outlets by moneyed up and special interest groups, families, and individuals.
A weakened media dis-establishes a critical checks-and-balance on power.
And yes there are nuances because there are different types of media -
Tabloids like those established by Rupert Murdoch granted him immeasurable power, but at a huge cost to society.
To this day, I believe the Brits have been poisoned by the politics of tabloid culture - make them hate, cry, rage, and - voila, profit. It is an exceedingly successful formula that remains in play today.
Corporate media like NZ Herald is clearly aligned to liberatarian and corporate interests - and NZME’s Deputy Chair is part of the Atlas Network.
The Platform is a fringe alt-right group that pushes an anti-Māori rights agenda and supports the Coalition government.
Seymour is a regular contributor and is given soft-ball treatment each and every time.
TVNZ needs to play both sides to maintain viability, and I wouldn’t underestimate Luxon and Seymour’s pettiness either.
To me - it’s clear that fair, balanced and independent regulation, is not only essential but critical.
But how do we combat misinformation? Education, regulation of the tech industry & public good over profits.
The problem with “free market forces” is many people of significant wealth simply do not care for e.g. public health care, climate change, independent media, renewable energy etc.
Money flows to where they want, and what will make them more money - not to what is in the interests of the masses.
We also have to contend with the increasing use of social media for people to get their news and soundbites, while technology companies profit off of media work. i.e. Consumers are at fault too as they seek ease of reading and quick answers.
The regulation on technology companies has never caught up in America or places like NZ - perhaps this is due to the insurmountable levels of wealth big tech has accumulated.
But it will be important.
What Heads of NZ Media Say
I end with an excellent article by Spin Off founder Duncan Grieve who earlier this year interviewed the heads of newsrooms in NZ.
They share their challenges and realities and it’s truly an excellent read to understand the media landscape more.
I wonder if it will lend you to be more sympathetic to any of their foibles or not.
Excerpts below -
Stuff CEO:
Market power imbalance …takes 90 cents in every digital advertising dollar to offshore media tech companies.
That’s not from our incompetence but how the digital ecosystem works across advertising…The market power imbalance, unfortunately, is only getting worse with the rise of new AI players who train their tools on content they don’t create or own, or in most cases, pay for… Sure, you can operate, but your profit margins are incredibly challenged, which poses issues for investment into our core business of journalism.
Newsroom co-founder:
“Our costs are going up but our income is either static or in some cases .. it is nose diving. This is squeezing the already tight profit margins (if there are any) and the only way most media companies can reduce costs is to shed staff. Cutting the number of journalists starts a vicious cycle of less content followed by lower readership and less revenue.”
The excellent NZ Geo:
“I can’t see a future for what we do. This isn’t due to a lack of imagination. New Zealand Geographic is about as diversified as a media organisation can get..
This is due to the unavoidable conclusion that the digital media economy only works if you own a sizable portion of the internet. And the expectation that with the advent of AI, all bets are off..
As an example, a recent feature on the ongoing fallout for Cyclone Gabrielle victims in Hawke’s Bay cost us $14,000 to write and photograph in the field. Tens of thousands of people read the feature, but few were paying subscribers. Having said that, it is a privilege to produce this work..
RECOMMENDED READING:
Stuff, The Spinoff, Newsroom, SYSCA and NZ Geographic on the media crisis
Two hours with the secretive rich lister bankrolling Sean Plunket’s The Platform
Spin Off even reported that NZME approached The Platform to get tips from them on how to succeed and potentially form a relationship!
OMG! That must have been an exhausting, and dispiriting, task.
Thank you for your considerable effort in providing a clear précis of the dangers unbridled greed present to our society.
In america at present listening to why trump won Tuesday’s debate (because the whole setup was organised by media that is biased against him) - unbelievable, but right there in front of my face!
It seems money will always win and, under current social ‘norms’, big money is winning big. Will we ever return to a fair and just society where people will do the right thing rather than the most profitable?
History is not comforting.
Tino pai! I found myself nodding a lot as I digested your words. Unfortunately I don’t see any way to make the media do their job properly until the financial side is fixed. Perhaps a left leaning millionaire can start their own tv/radio/newspaper service? When Seymour sermonises about everyone’s voice being equal he conveniently ignores the super powers that wealth bring…