A Government rescue package is on the way to help struggling media organisations, as the Covid-19 pandemic sees a significant drop in advertising revenue across New Zealand's journalism industry.
Broadcasting Minister Kris Faafoi said today: "We are developing a short- and long-term package to deal with the challenges (the media companies) have identified."
When asked when the package would be released, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said at her daily Covid-19 press conference that they were "working on tight timeframes because we do see the issues facing media now".
"It will be considered shortly by Ministers.
"There will be more than one tranche. There are some things we want to do with immediacy, but there are some longer-term work that will be at a larger scale further down the track."
Mr Faafoi, was earlier asked by chairman of the Covid-19 select committee, National leader Simon Bridges, if he was looking at bailing out particular organisations or considering strengthening the overall media environment.
The minister said in the short-term they were eyeing transmission costs, the direction of Government advertising spending and ways to give media certainty of cash flow.
In the long term, Mr Faafoi was making decisions on the principle of incorporating "different voices" across the media industry to ensure its longevity - "because I think of the very important function media play, especially in a time like this".
He said, "keeping as many people in jobs as we can" and looking at "what the future of journalism is" needed to be taken into account.
The sustainability of the current form of New Zealand media was in question, but the function of journalism was not, he said.
"Post-Covid, there's more of an appetite that the Government can possibly step into that space."
Earlier, the committee heard from former NZ Herald editor-in-chief Gavin Ellis, who painted a stark picture of the current state of media after the destruction of the coronavirus.
"We are really in an existential crisis here," Mr Ellis said. It comes a day after NZME confirmed it was cutting 200 staff and asked workers to take a 15 per cent pay cut for 12 weeks.
The outlook was bleak already at the beginning of the lockdown, with Bauer Media Group announcing it was closing its New Zealand business, Mediaworks employees asked to take a 15 per cent wage cut and NZME taking Radio Sport off-air.
"Advertising is absolutely in freefall," Mr Ellis said. "No medium is exempt from that."
"These aren't normal times and news media are not normal enterprises. They're not too big to fail, but they're certainly too important to fail.
"All media are reporting dramatic loss of cash flow," he said, adding that concern lay around that flowing into the period after the lockdown ends.
His recommendations were for Government to help recover some of the reduced cash flow through means such as diverting Government advertising spending to New Zealand media, suspending regulatory costs for broadcasters and allowing proposed merges.
He also recommended a change of tax status for media, potentially mirroring the L3C US model (low-profit limited liability company), and for a long-term "total rethink" of the industry, with replacement of "outdated ownership models".
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