Level 2
119 Ghuznee Street
P O Box 9744
Wellington 6141
New Zealand
[email address]
www.nzonair.govt.nz
Tel: 04 382 9524
Fax: 04 382 9546
24 March 2022
Chuck Schooner
By email
: [FYI request #18811 email]
Tēnā koe Chuck,
Official Information request and response
Thank you for your request under the Official Information Act (“OIA”) dated 8 March 2022 which has
been transferred and received by NZ On Air on 14 March 2022 from the Department of Prime Minister
and Cabinet
You have requested:
1. terms of service for any news/media organisations that received money from the public
interest journalism fund and/or conditions that were associated with receiving money
Regarding point 1, information pertaining to funding agreements is publicly available on our website. We
have funding agreement templates that outline terms of services for anyone receiving Public Interest
Journalism Funding. This information is available
here. Please refer specifically to page 7 and 8 of the
draft contracts – titled ‘Your Obligations’.
2. any and all communications/emails relating to content that can and can't be published in
accordance with receiving money from the fund
Regarding point 2, please see our response to point 1 for standard information issued at the contracting
stage. We decline your request regarding specific communications/emails relating to content that can
and can't be published under Section 18(e) of the OIA as this information does not exist.
3. topics that can and can't be reported on
4. any narratives that are required to be reported on
Regarding point 3 and 4, please note our charter, th
e Broadcasting Act 1989. Under Section 4(1) the
responsibility of broadcasters for programme standards is set out. Regarding NZ On Air, please note
under Section 42 once funding has been approved, NZ on Air has no editorial input. Therefore, cannot
restrict topics or narratives of reporting.
As stated in our funding agreements with recipients:
“…the editorial control of all Content is entirely at your [funding recipients] discretion.”
Connecting and reflecting our nation
Content must meet standards outlined under the Production Activity section on page 7 and 8 of our
funding agreements which include legality, technical quality, media standards, and community standards.
5. any and all directives to a media outlet if a report was published where are warning was sent
to the media outlet (if at all)
Regarding point 5, we decline your request regarding directives to a media outlet and keywords that are
not permitted under Section 18(e) of the OIA as this information does not exist.
6. keywords that are not permitted in our media and a copy of the “writing guidelines” for the
personnel placed in non state owned media organizations .
Regarding point 6
, the General Guidelines published on our website outline examples of topics that are
and are not considered in the assessment process to be public interest journalism. As referred to in all
our PIJF agreements, we have no editorial control over the content we fund but require all content to
abide by standards of legality, technical quality, media standards, and community standards.
For further context, these journalistic standards are outlined on the websites for th
e NZ Media Council
an
d Broadcasting Standards Authority. In addition, please see the best practice international guidelines as
outlined in the “Don’t Cross the Line” rules in
YouTube’s Community Guidelines. Any complaints
regarding content can be directed to those bodies. Processes for complaints are outlined on their
websites.
For your information, funding provided by NZ On Air for all successful projects is
searchable on our
website. You can als
o sign up to receive our regular industry newsletter via our website.
You have the right to refer this response to the Ombudsman if you are dissatisfied with it. More
information on how to do this is
here. NZ On Air proactively releases information in accordance with the
Government’s commitment to the Open Government Partnership National Action Plan. This includes
publishing responses to requests for information under the OIA. Please note that this response (with your
name removed) wil be published on the NZ On Air website shortly and will remain on our website for 12
months.
Thank you for your interest in our work.
Yours sincerely
Sharon Kerry
HEAD OF CORPORATE SERVICES
Connecting and reflecting our nation
