$55 million for left leaning journalism

Stuff reports:

The Government is putting another $55 million into public interest journalism in the next three years to ensure communities are kept informed on issues that affect them.

The Minister for Broadcasting and Media Kris Faafoi, launched the fund on Friday to support democracy and ensure New Zealanders had access to trusted information.

The vast bulk of this will go, I predict, on projects that only include a leftist worldview of the issue.

NZ On Air will administer the contestable fund, which will be for projects that media outlets can demonstrate fill a public interest service and which would otherwise be at risk or not produced.

The Government of course appoints the NZ on Air board.

With state funded media becoming so dominant in New Zealand, we should demand greater independence from the Government of the day.

I believe directors of all state broadcasters, and NZ on Air, should be appointed by an independent Commission, whose members are in turn appointed only with the concurrence of the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. That way you would not have politically aligned people appointed.