Alex Walker: Central Hawkes Bay Mayor and Local Government New Zealand Rural Chair on calls for local democracy reporting to be expanded

Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) is calling for local democracy reporting to be expanded to all communities. 

The call comes as NZME proposes to cut 14 North Island-based community papers before Christmas. These newspapers collectively serve over 850,000 people. 

Local mayors are concerned the closures could negatively impact turnout in next year’s local body elections. 

Central Hawkes Bay Mayor and LGNZ Rural Chair tells Heather du Plessis-Allan “this is not just a local newspaper issue; this is about wider media.” 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Ever do for ze Ellen nineteen ninety is the text number,
standard text fees apply and let me know what you think.
We're going to talk to Barry Soper about it later
on in the meantime, and then obviously Peter Dune after five.
In the meantime, Local Government New Zealand is calling on
the central government to put some money into local newspapers.
Now this comes as inz ME, the company that owns
news Talk ZB proposes to cut fourteen North Island based

(00:22):
community papers before Christmas. In the Hawks Bay what is
being cut potentially is the Central Hawk's Bay Mail. Now
the Central Hawk's Bay Mayor and Local Government New Zealand
Rural chairs Alex Walker, Hey, Alex Calder, Alex, why did
the Central Hawk's Bay Mail shut down?

Speaker 2 (00:40):
Well, that's a great question. Some would say sign of
the times. Some would say this is the same challenge
we've been having for decades actually, but making sure that
we've got a media outlet at the local level at
the right size and such a purpose. But in zeed
me are the ones that are clearly making some business
decisions at the moment, and we've got figure out what
it means.

Speaker 1 (01:01):
I mean, obviously I don't know any of the detail
about this, right, but it would suggest to me that
this paper is it hasn't got enough readers, It hasn't
got enough advertisers to actually wash its face. So if
people aren't actually engaging with it, then why should the
government put money into providing the same service.

Speaker 2 (01:17):
Yeah, but here's the question. Is it actually about those
individual papers or is it about the business model that
nzb ME is running to do this. We don't know
that because that has been how the choice has been
about how nzb ME runs it, and community would probably
give you feedback to say well, actually, if it's relevant,
if it's good local content and it's good circulation locally,
then advertisers will be there. If it's not popular enough,

(01:40):
they need to tell us so that we can figure
out how we can solve it.

Speaker 1 (01:43):
So what would be the business model that you're talking about?

Speaker 2 (01:45):
Oh, look, I don't know. We need to get creative
about how we change. This is not just a local
newspaper issue. This is about wider media and look, we're
particularly concerned about what this means for local democracy. If
we don't have the local papers hitting the kitchen tables
around our rural and provincial areas. How are we getting
good engagement on candidates for elections and on the really

(02:07):
crunchy local issues.

Speaker 1 (02:09):
Don't you need to take it online.

Speaker 2 (02:12):
Potentially, But look across our rural communities we've got we
have don't have reliable access to internet all of the time,
and it's a really tangible link of community getting together.
And we have high proportions of elderly people in our
rural communities, more than the national average. That security of
the paper landing on their front door step every Thursday

(02:32):
is actually really important now.

Speaker 1 (02:34):
Alex, I mean, look, I love news, right, it's my business,
so I'm sympathetic to what you're saying. But I also
feel as if we can't keep throwing money at things
that people don't want. And I reflect on the fact
that you know, we've got in one of the communities
that we live, we have got a fantastic Facebook page
where everybody gets together and shares content. Everybody's on it,
we know everything that's going on in that community. Isn't

(02:56):
that the kind of thing. Actually, I'm not suggesting that
everybody is onto Facebook because I hate it, but isn't
that the kind of thing that we should be doing
we should be figuring out ways to keep our community
connected in a forum that people now use, which is online.

Speaker 2 (03:10):
Absolutely agree with you, and community has strong conversations online
as well, but it's not always for everyone, and I
think we have to think carefully about what is that
independent media role and the role of the local democracy reporting.
That's why local Government New Zealand are calling for the
strengthening of that service because that's actually what's plugging the

(03:30):
gap at the moment, putting good reporters into test, challenge
and report on the key issues happening at the local
government level. And so that's why we're pushing into that space.

Speaker 1 (03:40):
How much money would this take, I don't know.

Speaker 2 (03:44):
We've got local democracy reporting around the country. It's not
even coverage and some of it's really tentatively contracted. So
for instance, in my community, there is a local democracy
reporter who is part of a regional group under the
Hawk's Bay today one person for the whole Hawks Bay
region from white or to put on the home and

(04:04):
they're only on a test until the end of December.
How you can operate a business model with that lack
of certainty on the funding, I don't know. We need
to deepen the commitment to this. If this is how
we're going to.

Speaker 1 (04:16):
Do it, Alex Sisten, thank you very much for talking
us through to appreciate it. That's Alex Walker, Central Hawk's
Bay Mayor and also the local government New Zealand Rural Chair.
For more from Heather Duplessy Allen Drive.

Speaker 2 (04:26):
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Speaker 1 (04:28):
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