NZ On Air and RNZ announce collaborative approach to public media funding

Here's some interesting news, hot off the press! Radio New Zealand and NZ On Air have teamed up to pilot a collaborative approach to commissioning public media for Kiwi audiences. A $6 million Joint Innovation Fund will allocate contestable funding to projects in three separate categories: Signature Projects for major productions of interest to a broad audience; Growth Audiences with content for M?ori, Pacifica, regional and younger audiences; and Diverse Journalism for news, current affairs and factual content. Under the Memorandum of Understanding announced today, funding decisions will be made jointly with the large majority of the allocation being committed to projects sought from and delivered by independent content creators. RNZ will be the primary delivery platform for all projects, while NZOA will manage the contestable RFP and application process through its online application portal. Initial requests for proposals (RFP) will be published in September and October with an expectation that the first projects will be in production by the end of the year.