Broadcasters, writers face up to NZ demographic media challenges

By Jessica Harkins: Pacific Media Centre

Challenge noun: a task or request requiring special effort.

If ever there was a word used to describe the task facing our broadcasters in the coming decade, it would be this, if last week’s ethnic diversity broadcasting forum is anything to go by.

New Zealand on Air and the Office of Ethnic Affairs hosted the forum to ask: How will the changing demography of New Zealand be served and represented in the broadcasting media?

It brought together producers, writers and broadcasters from across the country to discuss the changing face of New Zealand, and what that change might mean for their industry.

According to many of those present, special effort was most definitely required to address the evolving demographic landscape.

British High Commissioner George Fergusson says there are some “fascinating challenges” in New Zealand. He quipped, “It’s not like Britain anymore.”

He said that Britain faces some of the same challenges faced in New Zealand, but that both countries “ended up at the same square quite differently,” referring to the varying diasporas within each nation.

Fergusson emphasised the need to serve the diasporas at least as much as the mainstream.

Open media
As well as the British High Commissioner, the forum was addressed by the BBC World Service’s Murray Holgate, who was quick to say that he wouldn’t be reminiscent of Brits past, who also came to New Zealand and “talked a lot.”

“I’m not going down the route of saying what you should do,” he said

“What we have is a really advanced and open media environment that brings us a lot of challenges,” he said, bringing up the “c” word again.

He spoke of the competitive nature of broadcasting throughout the world.

“We used to be the window to the world to our audiences in this area [South Asia], which we no longer are, because the local broadcasters are bringing the world to their audiences now too.”

He made it clear that the issue was not just putting different coloured faces on the telly, or different accents on the wireless, but included addressing the “hideously white” nature of the BBC’s newsrooms.

“There are many levels at which discrimination operates. It’s part of human nature to emphasise differences rather than things in common.”

To try to alleviate this, the BBC has implemented a policy in recruiting that says if there is a candidate who is of an ethnic minority, it must be proven why that person cannot have the job.

Policy success
He says this policy has been a success so far.

“As a consequence, certainly at the lower levels of the BBC, there is a far better spread of minorities. At the management levels the BBC is still rather hideously white, it has yet to travel up the organisation.

“At World Service on the other hand, many, many of the top jobs are from the target audience. It has allowed us to be more successful, in a world which is changing very rapidly and which could leave the BBC very isolated, it has allowed us to compete. Rather than seeing different ethnicity as a cost, it is actually seen as revenue for us, something that has value,” he added.

Holgate says one of the many advantages of having diversity in the staff at the BBC World Service is in having your target audience in the building. He believes a lot of time has been saved in having people in the know within the organisation.

He explains by using China as an example. He says that many of the FM radio frequencies are used as travel stations, where the traffic situation is updated, sometimes 24/7.

“Radio has taken on a whole different meaning in Beijing than say, in London. Again, if you haven’t got the people there, you’re not going to know this. You can sit there pumping out your shortwave until you’re blue in the face, and nobody’s listening to you,” he says in his polished blue-blooded accent.

When it comes to the World Service, Holgate believes one of the most important things to think about is language.

“We broadcast to linguistic groups,” he said, “we tend to leave the ethnic group out of it.

“We are broadcasting in a language because that language is about communication,” he added.

Culture preservation
Jim Blackman, chief executive of Triangle and Stratos, says: “As New Zealand changes its face, there is a need to focus more keenly on the preservation of culture, and the preservation of language.”

But he also had some choice words for the forum attendees, and perhaps its organisers.

He relates his thoughts when first asked to partake in the forum.

“I thought; how come cultural diversity has become the new black? After all we’ve been doing it for the past ten years. Not only in Auckland, but also over the past 18 months, nationwide, on Triangle Stratos.”

Blackman says: “The problem with ethnic broadcasting is that it’s not commercial, it’s not mainstream enough for the mainstream people because there ain’t no money in it sunshine.”

Jim added that the challenge facing all small channels over the next few years is the switch to digital broadcasting, which has a huge cost attached to it.

Radio, a medium that doesn’t have the same costs as television is arguably faring the best of the two, due to the reduced cost in setting up a station.

Dozens of niches
Terri Byrne from Planet FM says: “The market, or audience as I prefer to think of it, has splintered into dozens of niches.”

She says this split has benefited radio in New Zealand, by giving rise to some of the highest per capita numbers of radio stations in the world.

“Auckland with 50 stations has more than New York or London,” she says.

Planet FM is an access radio station, which broadcasts in more than 50 languages, all made by people of those language and ethnic groups.

“Minority is mainstream, and in 2020 will be more so,” said Byrne.

She quotes Bob Geldof: “The future belongs to those who make their own media.”

“New Zealand is fabulously diverse, and when what was once mainstream media catches up with that it will hand over the tools, relax the editorial control, embrace the new aesthetic and discover the riches already being expressed in a thousand ways,” she added.

She says Planet FM’s philosophy is about giving cultural groups a channel for expression, what she sees as the true definition of what public broadcasting is. As Leslie Rule (US academic and commentator) puts it: “It’s now more about broadcasting the public”.

Byrne’s hopes for the future are clear.

“It will not be about “them” becoming like “us”, and hopefully by 2020 it will not even be about “them” explaining themselves to “us”. Hopefully it will be about all of us discovering who we are as a nation.”

New settlers
Julia Parnell, producer of TVNZ programme Minority Voices, a show that focuses on new settlers to New Zealand, talked about some of the motivation behind the show. What did they want to find out from the people they featured?

“We asked them; “What do you want to say both to your own communities and to wider New Zealand?” “What do you think people need to know about you and your experiences settling here?”

She added: “The fact is, these people already know what they need to assimilate. They know exactly what wider NZ needs to know about them. They know how to live in NZ, they just need to be heard.

“Once we understand the needs and dreams of new New Zealanders, the “other” will become the “familiar” in New Zealand broadcasting. And from there true diversity will come.”

Keynote speaker Shaun Brown of SBS Australia opened his comments to attendees with a compliment.

“In my opinion, New Zealand is, in at least some respects, ahead of Australia in confronting and debating the issue of diversity in programme making.”

His comments were met with surprise by some people in the audience, who recall his past views of ethnic diversity in the media while news executive at Television NZ, which were somewhat different from those he expressed last week.

Browning era
Bharat Jamnadas of Asia Downunder remarked that we had witnessed “the browning of Shaun Brown!”

“Perhaps he realises the meaning of his surname now,” he laughed.

Brown’s history in New Zealand broadcasting aside, what he said on Thursday was acknowledged positively.

“Seeing indigenous faces on our screens and experiencing indigenous stories should be an incidental part of our television consumption – not something that is token or categorised as ‘special event’ television, or something that is the exclusive domain of public broadcasting,” he said.

Brown also pointed out the importance of SBS as a public service in the Australian media landscape.

“Prior to SBS, diversity or foreignness was presented as unpronounceable, unpalatable or incomprehensible in the Australian media landscape. Some would argue that the broader Australian media has done little to correct this imbalance.

He said that diversity in the newsroom was also an issue.

Behind the scenes
“I can acknowledge that behind the scenes we are open to criticism for not having enough cultural diversity in our management and programming teams.

Brown is not a fan of quotas, saying they can produce “artificial results” or give the impression that staff appointed in this manner “have not got there on their own merits.”

“However,” he adds, “people in leadership positions both in New Zealand and Australia can and must do more to foster talent in the independent production sector and to entice talented people from indigenous and multicultural backgrounds into the broadcasting sector in a range of roles.

“Diversity in our industry must become just as important and front of mind as diversity on our screens.”

Tapu Misa, New Zealand Herald columnist and chair of one panel of speakers, remarked: “There is a danger of talking too much among ourselves” in terms of narrow broadcasting that isn’t aimed at a mainstream audience.

Arguably, her comments can be transferred to the people who attended and listened to each other talk of the virtues of ethnic diversity in the broadcasting industry.

In a demographic that’s constantly changing, this is no easy feat. But the challenge has been laid.

Jessica Harkins is a postgraduate Bachelor of Communication Studies (Honours) student on the Asia-Pacific Journalism course at AUT University. Pictures of Tapu Misa and NZ On Air's Anna Cottrell (top) and SBZ's Shaun Brown are by Del Abcede (PMC).

BBC World Service
Cafe Pacific on the 'browning of NZ media'
Minority Voices
SBS Australia
Tapu Misa's New Zealand Herald articles

Planet FM - from minority broadcasting to mainstream

By Terri Byrne

In 1987, the Auckland Ethnic Council founded a radio station that would:
- allow non-English communities to hear their languages, their news, music and literature that
- would represent their culture, values and beliefs, and
- would allow them to have a public presence in a land they had lived in for decades if not generations.

Today that station is 22 years old and the most diverse medium in the country. Planet FM has full schedules, broadcasting in 50 languages, all made by the language groups concerned. It is multicultural and cross-cultural. Radio represents 42 percent of the media day. It is portable, intimate, comparatively inexpensive to make and always free-to-air.

Sadly though, this public broadcasting service is not adequately funded. The major constraint on its content is the need for the programme makers to pay to air their material.

One of our hopes for 2020 or much sooner is that those with the least ability to pay are no longer the only ones who have to pay for media that’s relevant to them.

Currently the station is obliged to choose those who pay, rather than those with the best ideas or the most needed content.

However, they are often the same thing and the programmes are vigorously supported by their contributing communities, with research revealing figures between 60 and 80 percent of targeted communities listening to their shows.

Around today’s forum I hear a lot of references to “mainstream” media, which I believe is an increasingly dinosaur concept.

Already SKY brings 80+ channel options to 50 percent of NZ households, there are another seven free-to-air and two digital-only TV channels and a range of regional channels. A number of our broadcasters have satellite dishes to pull in own-language television.

There are 212 radio stations in NZ and Auckland, with 50+ radio stations has more than New York or London. The commercial stations run an array of brands over about 140 stations. The national public broadcaster is on frequencies throughout the country including for a select minority on Concert FM. There are 11 community access stations nationwide, as well as student radio stations and countless LPFM stations.

About 60 percent of NZ homes are web-connected, more than half are broadband connected. The online population of this country is equivalent to 85 percent of the population.

So the market – or the audience as I prefer to think of us – has splintered into dozens of niches.

Minority is Mainstream and in 2020 will be more so.

To quote Bob Geldof, a man who has led the way in many areas of media:

“The future belongs to those who build their own media.”

We’re delighted that Planet FM is ahead of the curve on all this.

• We recognise the hundreds of niche broadcasters and their listeners …
• We facilitate the making of their own media
• We do not exercise editorial control, ensuring freedom of cultural and social expression…
• We support local.
• And we ensure their productions are archived for on-demand, online listening 5 minutes after broadcast – along with a range of other multi-lingual information services for settlers.

It is our belief that in 2020 we’ll all be shopping for our media on multiple platforms and the content will often be of our own devising rather than from a schedule devised for advertisers
addressing matters deemed relevant by programmers with a narrow cultural focus.

Already music radio is an iPod, but informational, entertaining and community-enabling content is flourishing.

Already NZ is fabulously diverse and when what was once mainstream media catches up with that, it will:

• hand over the tools,
• Relax the editorial controls,
• Embrace the new aesthetic
• And discover the riches already being expressed in a thousand ways.

It will not be about “them” becoming like “us” or hopefully by 2020, it will not even be about “them” explaining themselves to “us”. Hopefully it will be about all of us discovering who we are becoming as a nation.

And we should not imagine that only non-English audiences are interested in so called “ethnic” content. Māori Television attracts between 50 and 70 percent non-Māoriviewers.

In discussing the aging of PBS’s demographic with Gareth Watkin, Leslie Rule at KQED in San Francisco says:

“It’s about changing the idea of what public broadcasting is. It’s now more about “broadcasting the public."

This will require funding policies that are about where we are headed, rather than where we’ve been. Policies that promote equity of access to services.

Government agencies with responsibilities to non-English populations will take a leaf from the efforts of our Pacific people and make it mandatory for information campaigns to be extended - so if cervical screening is best understood in Farsi or Russian it is aired that way, that Tamil and Arabic communities are alerted to social policies, that education projects are broadcast in Tagalog and Amharic.

In 1975, SBS Radio came into being as a three-month experimental service to explain Australia’s new healthcare system. Now, independent audience surveys of Australia’s largest language groups show that for the majority, SBS Radio is their primary source of information about government and community services.

The Australian government spends in excess of $20 million of Vote Broadcasting on non-English radio and more again in information campaigns.

The least we can do is add existing multilingual broadcasters to government agency advertising budgets.

Terri Byrne is broadcast manager of Planet FM, run by Access Community Radio Inc. It was an address delivered at the NZ On Air seminar on diversity - "Screen and Heard: NZ Broadcast Audiences in 2020" in Auckland on 4 June 2009.

Pacific Beat producer calls on ethnic groups to 'break into' mainstream

Thakur Ranjit Singh: Pacific Media Centre

Ethnic communities need to break into the mainstream media by telling inclusive stories and giving the message that Pacific people are part of New Zealand, says a leading television producer.

Stan Wolfgramm, producer of Pacific Beat Street, says his own German, Tongan and Cook Islands heritage prepared him for a balancing act of operating in a commercial as well as a cultural environment.

He was speaking in a panel of television journalists and producers speaking about “finding the ethnic voice” at the diversity broadcasting forum in Auckland today hosted by NZ On Air in association with the Office of Ethnic Affairs.

Julia Parnell, producer of Minority Voices, said she sought to create programmes that provided opportunities to recent migrants, minorities giving their version of experiences in adjusting and settling in a new country.

She said her programmes allowed people to say what they wanted to say and to help them assimilate.

Her programmes were meant to be a springboard to promote cross-cultural understanding, assimilation and true diversity.

Bharat Jamnadas, senior reporter of Asia Downunder, said his programmes produced a magazine style, topical, relevant and entertaining - primarily targeted at the Asian communities but also to anybody wishing to get information on diverse people of New Zealand.

He said his programmes showed positive people stories with general interest.

'Freak stories'
They could easily be taken on board mainstream television programmes, but the networks tended to show “freak stories that may not be necessarily reflective of the Asian community”.

He said programmes needed to be more integrated, as ordinary stories about ordinary people should be part of the mainstream media and showed at prime time.

Jamnadas called for more diversity to be included in the mainstream media programmes.

Rachel Jean, head of drama in TV3, had ventured on making a drama series but ended up making a story on diversity depicting South Auckland, based at Otara Market, entitled, The Market.

She said drama was helpful in changing ethnic perceptions of people.

She criticised lack of funding and the programme being slotted late at night.

Her other drama, Ride with the Devil, involved a core Chinese cast and she said “true representation happens through drama”.

However, Jamnadas was critical of the programme, saying "it was too much of a stereotype with a Chinese boy racer as the lead role".

The panel argued that diversity ought to be incorporated in drama series and TV programmes.

NZ on Air was praised for organising such forums to air the views that would contribute to promoting change in funding policies to introduce more diversity in broadcast media.

Thakur Ranjit Singh is a postgraduate communication studies student attached to the Pacific Media Centre. Photo of Stan Wolfgramm and Bharat Jamnadas by Del Abcede.

Asia Downunder
Minority Voices
NZ On Air
Pacific Beat Street
Ride With The Devil
The Market

NZ media faces growing challenge over 'ageing, more ethnic' population

By Josephine Latu: Pacific Media Watch

The New Zealand media is expected to tackle some major changes over their audience base within the next 20 years due to a population transformation, says a leading demographer.

The director of the Population Studies Centre at Waikato University, Professor Richard Bedford, says the New Zealand population as a whole is not only growing older, it is evolving quickly in terms of ethnic diversity.

In fact, by the year 2021, current statistical projections show that the Asian population will have increased by more than 70 percent, the Pacific Islander population by 44 percent, and the Māori population by about 24 percent since 2006.

New Zealanders of European or “other” ethnic backgrounds (including from African and South American and other nations) are altogether predicted to increase by just below 6 percent in the same timeframe.

The number of people aged over 35 is also set to swell for all ethnic groups. Figures showed that between 2006 and 2021, those aged 35 and over will increase by 22 percent, compared to only about 5 percent for those under 35.

Professor Bedford presented his seminar as part of today’s forum on ethnic diversity in broadcasting, hosted by NZ On Air in association with the Office of Ethnic Affairs.

Titled “Screen and Heard, New Zealand Broadcast Audiences in 2020”, the event brought together decision-makers and leaders from various broadcasting backgrounds – including regional, mainstream and indigenous media - to discuss how the country’s changing demography will be served and represented on TV and radio.

Speakers included Minister of Ethnic Affairs Pansy Wong; managing director of Australia’s Special Broadcasting Service Shaun Brown; ethnic and English network manager from the BBC World Service, Murray Holgate; and Triangle TV chief executive Jim Blackman.

Professor Bedford added that despite the increase in ethnic diversity, “the reality of New Zealand’s population dynamics is that… the great majority is going to be older Pākehā descent people.”

At the same time, trends varied greatly by area and ethnic group. For instance, Dunedin and Hamilton had a disproportionately large population in their late teens and early 20s, reflecting the effect of universities.

Pacific Islander and Māori populations were also predicted to have a much younger population in 2021 than other groups.

'Finding the balance'
“The challenge [for media] is finding the balance in meeting the needs of these different communities,” he said.

Associate director of programming for TV3 Andrew Szusterman commented on the changing trends in demography, saying that as broadcasters, the media industry had to appeal to the broadest audience and reflect popular demand.

“We try to represent the populace – it’s about being with them at the same stage,” he told Pacific Media Watch.

According to Szusterman, TV3’s target demographic was mainly 18-49 year olds, and popular shows such as Outrageous Fortune, Target and Moneyman appealed to such a broad age group.

However, the commercial focus of the mainstream trade also meant that some ethnically based shows such as bro’Town and A Thousand Apologies would not have succeeded even five years ago because there was too little demand.

This had since changed.

“[Commercialism] is not a criticism, but an actuality of mainstream media,” added Szusterman.

'Coffee-colour' mix
Meanwhile, regional broadcaster Triangle Stratos chief executive Jim Blackman saw the profit-driven element as a threat to diversity.

“As long as you have a commercial imperative, you’ll never see true representation – just lip service,” he said.

He called for more multicultural representation on a mix of programmes to reflect New Zealand’s “coffee colour”.

The latest edition of Pacific Journalism Review with the cover theme “Diversity, identity and the media”, published by the Pacific Media Centre, was also launched at the conference.

NZ Human Rights Commission principle adviser on race relations Samuela Sefuiva launched the edition, complimenting AUT for its contribution to diversity affairs.

Josephine Latu is contributing editor of the PMC's Pacific Media Watch. Bro'Town graphic from NZ On Air. Picture of Sam Sefuiva by Del Abcede.

NZ on Air
NZ Population Studies Centre
Office of Ethnic Affairs

Regional broadcasters criticise funding increase

By Josephine Latu: Pacific Media Watch

Regional broadcasters have criticised an increase in funding from NZ On Air as “not good enough” for small local television channels faced with heavy production and digital platform costs.

Jim Blackman, Triangle TV chief executive and chair of the Regional Broadcasting Association (RBA), said the reality of non-profit regional broadcasters’ needs was being seriously overlooked by government priorities.

“The total funding we get to divide among 13 or so regional channels, over a 12 month period, is equivalent to the amount spent on one 1½ hour long documentary on mainstream media,” he said.

“That’s how much regional broadcasting is worth to government.”

Blackman was speaking to journalists at the Pacific Media Centre during the association’s two-day annual general meeting today.

The association is conducting a day-long strategic planning review led by media consultant David Beatson tomorrow.

The broadcasters also want NZ on Air to defer a plan to change funding cycles to August until next year because the change would force an unplanned three-month budget “hole”.

While the $1.5 million subsidy coming from NZ on Air this year is a 68 percent increase from last year, Blackman said this was simply “not good enough” - especially with the costs of digital media.

“We’re being the very last to consider in the transfer to digital platforms,” he said, adding that some broadcasters’ futures were “not secure” because of inadequate funding from government.

NZ on Air’s community broadcasting manager Keith Collins defended the agency’s new funding regime but agreed to facilitate the association’s consensus for a delay in the new funding cycle.

According to Tararua TV’s Chrissie Staples, the amount from NZ on Air did not reflect the vital role that regional broadcasting played in the community through media diversity.

This was especially valuable in an industry where news values often revolved around “shock value and scandal”.

She said that the government “doesn’t seem to have the same passion” in bringing in positive stories or items about “ordinary New Zealanders” to media.

In contrast, non-profit regional television channels such as Triangle TV tend to have a stronger focus on community development and actively promote ethnic diversity in programmes.

In this area, Blackman saw mainstream media failing especially.

“The problem with mainstream media is that the reporting is not coming from the communities themselves,” he said.

As an example, he warned that while there were benefits in a mainstream Pasifika television channel – a key focus in October’s Pacific Islands Media Association (PIMA) conference - it may not be wholly in the interests of the community.

“Mainstream media will endure to provide an outlet with a commercial base which is self-serving,” he said.

Gradual development and partnerships with the local Pasifika community had to be undertaken first.

Station manager Tena Baker also said that as a Māori-focused channel, her team at East Coast TV found it doubly hard for her reporters to cover big events due to monopolisation by mainstream media.

She said even mainstream Māori Television often “blocked out” smaller community channels when covering high-profile affairs.

However, members also discussed the need to raise the profile and credibility of regional and community broadcasting by partnering with educational institutions in training and producing new material.

Pictured: Top: Regional Broadcasting Association chairman Jim Blackman at the PMC; above: East Coast TV's Tena Baker. Photos: Del Abcede.

Māori Television
NZ on Air
Regional Broadcasting Association