Stuff refusing to run ads on the Treaty

Hobson’s Pledge reports:

We attempted to book the Sunday Star Times, The Post, the Christchurch Press, and The Southland Times. It would have been a tidy sum of money for the financially beleaguered media outlet…

Our ad was very simple. Just words on a page communicating what is at the heart of the debate – equal rights. Vote for the Bill for equal rights. Say no to the Bill, say no to equal rights. 

Stuff has the right to refuse to run advertisements they don’t like. And we have the right to make a judgement about why Stuff is doing so.

It is no coincidence that almost all advertisements turned down by legacy media such as Stuff and the Herald are advocacy advertisements from centre right groups.

The media say they are so poor that they need the Government to pass a special law to bail them out, yet they turn down legal advertisements.

It is puzzling to me why this National-led Government is trying to pass a special law to force successful Internet companies to fund legacy media companies. Not only is it against core National principles of belief in markets, it is also practically one of the stupidest things they could do. Why would you reward legacy media companies for turning down advertisements from centre right groups? Doing so will merely create an even more hostile environment for the parties of Government.