Chris Lynch Media, Summarised by Centrist
The Government is facing accusations of manipulating news narratives after paying TVNZ and Stuff advertising fees to feature content from hand-picked experts in their news segments and platforms.
Thomas Cranmer, (not his real name) an online political commentator, first reported that the Government spent $200,000 between March 11, 2022, and November 26, 2022 with Stuff, as well as the $300,000 in November 2022 with TVNZ.
A TVNZ staff member told Chris Lynch Media it was standard practice for governments to advertise with media companies – “but channelling those advertisements inside of programming – on-air time – as news content in television shows was unorthodox.”
Simeon Brown said on Wednesday “it is very concerning that the Government appears to be using taxpayers funds to purchase advertising which purports to be news.
