Labour appoints a politician to run public broadcasting in NZ

Kris Faafoi has announced:

The Minister for Broadcasting and Media has confirmed the nine-member Establishment Board to lead the work on creating a new public media entity in New Zealand. …

The Establishment Board is: Tracey Martin (Chair), Michael Anderson, Andy Coupe, Barbara Dreaver, Bailey Mackey, Dr Jim Mather, Peter Parussini, John Quirk and Aliesha Staples.

A former MP should not be on the board of a public broadcaster, let alone chairing it. This is another nail in the coffin for trust in media.

I’d like to see all future appointments to boards of public broadcasters and NZ on Air to be made non-partisan by requiring them to have the agreement of the leader of the opposition. If National wins the election, I hope they do this.