Introducing Media Insider by Shayne Currie

Start reading now from $1 per week [The New Zealand Herald]( [Media Insider]( [Miriyana Alexander] Shayne Currie Editor-at-Large Hi {NAME} I’ve recently stepped into a new role as Editor-at-Large after eight years as NZME managing editor and before that, stints as NZ Herald and Herald on Sunday editor. With my new role comes a new weekly column, Media Insider - packed with exclusive news from across the media industry. I’ll have all the latest insights from the worlds of journalism, marketing and advertising and I’ll be speaking to the newsmakers of the news and media industry. To read the column and other Herald Premium stories, [subscribe now for $1.50 per week]( for your first 12 weeks. You’ll find an excerpt from last week’s column below. I discuss why the Today FM closure is set to get a whole lot messier for MediaWorks, The Platform’s rich-list owner speaks out about Reality Check Radio, we highlight the Voyager Media Awards finalists, Stuff scrambles to announce its own news, there’s a potential new owner for an iconic magazine title, and a bonus Succession reader poll. I’ll be back tomorrow with [the latest from Media Insider](. Top lawyer called in as Today FM closure set to get a whole lot messier for MediaWorks The sudden, very messy and very public closure of Today FM is set to get even uglier, with a large group of embattled staff planning group legal action against MediaWorks. A top Auckland employment lawyer has been called in and Media Insider has been told at least 20 staff are likely to be involved in the fight. It comes as a newly leaked document reveals more high-profile MediaWorks names have been told their roles are proposed to be disestablished. While Today FM hosts such as Tova O’Brien, Duncan Garner, Rachel Smalley, Pauline Gillespie, Mark Richardson, Lloyd Burr and Leah Panapa lost their jobs virtually immediately – the station was taken off-air, and they were given just three hours to give feedback – the work of other newsroom staff, including newsreaders, journalists and sub-editors, continued. Their work appears on the hour on most of MediaWorks’ music stations, such as The Breeze and The Rock. On Tuesday, however, those newsroom teams were taken through a separate proposal in a process that gives them a longer consultation and feedback period – a week – but with no less devastating impact. That change proposal, marked confidential and not for distribution, reveals four reasonably high-profile newsreaders would lose their jobs – Carly Flynn, Trudi Nelson, Angie Skerrett and Bridget Hastie. Nine journalists – Caitlin Ellis, Craig Norenbergs, Delphine Herbert, Emma Stanford, Hannah Filmer, Kate Gregan, Monique Steele and Nigel Yalden – have also been told their roles are being disestablished. [Sports journalist and broadcaster Nigel Yalden.]( Sports journalist and broadcaster Nigel Yalden. Photo / Peter Meecham While the company is creating a range of new roles for which the journalists can reapply, the overall net effect is the loss of around eight jobs, in addition to about 30 lost roles directly associated with Today FM. None of the newsreaders would be eligible for the new roles, according to the document. The document says with a predicted recession, the immediate outlook “does not look promising” and the company’s operating model and expenses need to change: “64 per cent of our costs are labour related and we have had to make the difficult decision to review our operating model and reduce our entire workforce to ensure that we remain efficient, effective and resilient,” says the document. Multiple sources have confirmed lawyer Charlotte Parkhill has been hired by former staff to coordinate group legal action against MediaWorks. Parkhill said she could not comment, nor confirm she was even involved. In any such cases, lawyers would need the approval of their client to comment, she said. It is understood a range of staff – Media Insider has been told at least 20 – are involved in the planned action, covering all disciplines, including hosts, newsreaders and journalists. Their legal action is expected to cover a range of claims: the way staff were advised and told of the initial meeting; the consultation and feedback period (or lack thereof) after being told their jobs were proposed to be disestablished; the hurt and humiliation as it all unfolded live on air; and a likely dispute over the payout of fixed-term contracts. Under New Zealand law, they have 90 days to file a grievance. MediaWorks would not answer an extensive list of questions. It did, however, reiterate that the announced departure this week of another top executive, chief people officer Paula Williams, was unrelated to the closure of Today FM. “Paula had been discussing her planned move since mid-March and formally resigned on 27 March,” said a spokeswoman. The Platform’s rich-list owner takes a swipe at Reality Check Radio Some of those left devastated by the Today FM closure are set to be snapped up by Sean Plunket’s online audio station, The Platform. Miles Davis this week filled in for Michael Laws, following the death of the former politician’s father, and it is understood Leah Panapa is being lined up to join the station, with a view to extending its broadcasting hours beyond 4pm on weekdays, and to add more diversity to the daily line-up of Plunket, Laws and Martin Devlin. The rich-list owner/backer of The Platform, Wayne Wright jr, told Media Insider this week that he was pleased with the way the brand was performing and he was not seeking further investors. He confirmed that while he had been approached by potential partners, there were two clear rules which normally saw that interest ease off. One was the clear principle, he said, that Plunket was CEO and editor-in-chief and owners would have no influence on editorial content; and the second was that the Wright family was in it for the long-haul with no exit strategy. “That really narrows down investment candidates.” He said the Wrights wanted to build a family legacy business for the importance of free speech and robust debate in New Zealand. He said listenership was growing, according to metrics provided to him by Plunket. This included app downloads and social media engagement including video views on the likes of YouTube. “I’m personally not on social media, so there’s a bit of ignorance. We seem to be crushing it.” The Platform lost two of its staff – Paul Brennan and Rodney Hide – to Reality Check Radio, the new brand set up by anti-establishment and anti-media group Voices for Freedom. That business has been supported by its own expensive marketing campaign, including billboards featuring Brennan, Hide, former TVNZ star Peter Williams, and Chantelle Baker. “I think they are occupying a different space,” says Wright. “It seems to me there’s a number of broadcasters sitting on a continuum from far left to far right. In my view, Reality Check Radio has a limited audience. They talk about issues with a narrow bandwidth – vaccines, mandates and conspiracy topics.” The Platform, he insisted, was covering more of the news of the day with more diversity and open debate. “In my view, Covid has passed us by, particularly with mandates… that’s so yesterday.” [The Platform CEO and host Sean Plunket]( The Platform CEO and host Sean Plunket. Photo / Supplied I caught up with Wright - a big fan of Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking and Heather du Plessis Allan - on the phone as he was shopping at Mitre 10; several weeks ago, over lunch with The Spinoff’s Duncan’s Greive, he gave an extensive interview on how his investment in The Platform came to be. The rich-lister and his family, estimated by NBR to be worth about $360 million, have invested a likely seven-figure sum into The Platform. Plunket came to him seeking partial investment, expecting he’d be among a list of 10 or so other backers. “We huddled together for a couple of minutes, and we came back and said, ‘Sean, we’ll do the lot’,” Wright told Greive. “His jaw just dropped.” [Continue reading]( Along with the [Media Insider column](, you’ll get more business insights, in-depth analysis and investigative journalism on a wide variety of topics and get access to subscriber-only exclusive features such as our Premium newsletters and e-editions. Best wishes, Shayne Currie [NZ Herald]([NZ Herald]( [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [Twitter]( [NZME] Download the NZ Herald app to get real-time news and updates [App Store]( [Google Play]( Private Bag 92 198, Victoria Street West, Auckland 1142 Copyright 2023, NZME Publishing Limited [nzherald.co.nz]( [My Profile]( |[Help & Support]( |[Terms of Use]( [Privacy Policy]( | [Contact Us]( | [Unsubscribe](