Posted Tuesday 26 Jul 2011
Recently the TVNZ charter was dropped, meaning that TVNZ is now operating as a fully commercial entity. The Screen Directors Guild of New Zealand has continually argued the benefits of the charter and a channel dedicated to public broadcasting and is disappointed with this latest development. SDGNZ President Peter Bell says "The National Government has presided over the systematic dismantling of Public Broadcasting in New Zealand. Hopefully its destruction will be short-lived and central government will again see the worth of having a public broadcasting channel in New Zealand, as every other western democracy does. We urge Minister Jonathan Coleman to fight the good fight for the industry. The recent phone hacking scandal in Britain is a prime example of why we need a strong non-commercial impartial public broadcasting channel." The SDGNZ will continue to push for the government to make a place for public broadcasting on New Zealand television.