Like a lot of people, #NewsHub's closure has got me thinking about media funding again.

The Public Interest Journalism Fund was NZ$55m over 3 years. Round it up to 60, and round the population down to 5 million and that's $4 per kiwi per year (20÷5). Less than a coffee or a beer.

A small price to pay to help keep hundreds of journalists employed, not to mention freed up to work on public interest projects, instead of whatever clickbait brings in advertising for their employers.

(1/5)

#PIJF

Some people were suspicious of the PIJF because it came directly from the general budget. Making a big chunk of income for the news media industry subject to budget decisions by the government of the day. Fair enough.

So what if the government subsidised public interest media production in Aotearoa - not just journalism - by charging telecos a levy of $1 a week on all net connections? With the money ring-fenced and administered by an autonomous NZ on Air type funding body (NZ Online?).

(2/?)

I couldn't find exact numbers for net connections in NZ with a quick web search. But including both mobile contracts, and fixed line connections at both homes and commercial premises, there's probably one for every person in the country.

Let's use a conservative estimate of 3 million connections across the country. A levy on those of $1 a week, or $52 a year, would provide just over NZ$150 million per year in public interest media funding. More than 7 times the yearly size of the PIJF.

(3/?)

People struggling with the cost of living might balk at $1 a week but keep in mind they may not be the ones who have to pay it.

Unlike the old TV license, this isn't a levy on the owners of net-connected devices. It's a levy on companies that provide access to the net. Yes they'll do their best to pass it on to customers. But as players in one of NZ's few truly competitive markets they can't just set prices. If even one company absorbs the cost to gain competitive edge, most will follow.

(4/5)

Another way for telecoms companies to get some of the money back would be to employ local media producers to work on public interest projects, and apply for funding from NZ Online (or whatever it's called). The value of a net access service is massively subsidised by the producers of all the works that a net connection gives customers access to. Why shouldn't the companies who sell net access help to fund the production of some of those works, one way or another?

(5/5)

'What’s Really Killing the News Media?'

"... it was this over-reliance, this extreme dependence, on advertising revenue, and indeed this extreme commercialisation."

#VictorPickard, Professor of Media Policy and Political Economy, University of Pennsylvania2024

https://techwontsave.us/episode/205_whats_really_killing_the_news_media_w_victor_pickard

#podcasts #TechWontSaveUs #NewsMedia

@Daveosaurus
> The news media have ALWAYS been dependent on advertising revenue.

For as long as there's been systematic archiving of it, perhaps. But if you listen to the podcast episode, Victor gives an overview of the history of news media commercialisation just before he makes that statement.