Stuff‘s Editor in Chief, Patrick Crewdson, has written a classic ‘explaining is losing’ editorial about why Stuff‘s editorial integrity is intact despite taking millions in state subsidies:
If you want an example of the independence of Stuff’s journalism, you’ll find it in Stuff Circuit’s documentary Life + Limb, which revealed 17 casualties connected to New Zealand firing ranges in Afghanistan.
Like all Circuit’s celebrated and award-winning documentaries, it was made with NZ on Air funding. That’s relevant now because the announcement of the $55 million Public Interest Journalism Fund has provoked questions about whether state funding could make Stuff – and other media outlets – beholden to the government.
Stuff
Interesting that he raises the PIJF, the government slush fund for ‘journalism’. Let’s look at their requirements for funding. First of all we need to bypass Stuff’s dishonest linking to their own story about the fund and go to the source. These are the General Guidelines for funding:
Wonder no more as to why Stuff is browning up their publications and grovelling to Maori perspectives. It’s all because any applications for funding MUST have ALL of the things stipulated. So their claims of independence from government policy are rather hollow and shallow. The funding requirements means absolutely everything that gets funded has a browning effect on the output.
The eligibility to apply is even more draconian:
No commitment to pandering to Maori means no funding. The fund is tainted from the get go. Again, this explains the contortions Stuff is currently performing, shoving Maori this and Maori that down our throats. It’s all so they can qualify for PIJ funding.
Here’s the short answer: absolutely not. Our journalism will remain free from political or commercial influences, as our company charter enshrines. Stuff’s sources of revenue do not affect the impartiality or objectivity of our journalism, the investigations we undertake, or how we scrutinise the powerful.
Stuff
Cough, cough, bulldust. You are already compromised by adhering to the government’s draconian stipulations as to what can and cannot be funded. And that’s before we mention Stuff‘s doctrinaire approach to climate change articles and debate.
Then just plain lies:
We’re sometimes accused of being either toadies or foes for the government of the day. In truth, we’re not politically partisan. Media outlets overseas – notably in the UK – will endorse or align themselves with particular political parties. We don’t. New Zealand is too small for a mass-market product such as Stuff or any of our newspapers to support a political party and still attract a general audience.
Stuff
Frankly speaking, that’s just horse dung. We just have to point to Patrick Crewdson’s own pontifications when it comes to climate change to realise that Stuff is about as far from unbiased as it is possible to be, and in actual fact is absolutely biased against contrarian yet well-researched and peer-reviewed views.
And to just reinforce how loaded the PIJ funding is, and how out of touch with reality Patrick Crewdson is, just look at the assessment criteria:
That’s right, the assessment criteria enforce the goals and definitions as outlined above and entrench apartheid journalism into the funding. Only those by Maori, for Maori journalism projects, will be funded and only those from organisations that have prostrated themselves before the Treaty, and taken a knee to government propaganda guidelines.
Patrick Crewdson has been far from honest, he’s just been explaining away and justifying just how compromised Stuff has become in order to sup from the government trough.
In order to get funding they have to push a certain <cough> separatist <cough> narrative. That’s corruption right there. Shame that Patrick Crewdson can’t see it even though it sits right under his nose.
Who would you trust? A media organisation that jumps through brown hoops to slant their offerings to suit government policy? Or a truly free and frank media organisation that is beholden to no one except its audience, like The BFD?
Just stop supporting Stuff. Stop reading their site, stop falling for their clickbait and stop buying their newspapers.
Support New Zealand’s only truly free and frank media organisation. We don’t take government funding, and are almost entirely funded by our subscribers. Join today and help us take the fight to government shills like Stuff.
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