Hamilton Public Meeting - Wednesday 21 July 2004

About 150 people attended TVNZ's first TalkTelevision public meeting in Hamilton on 21 July.

The meeting was the first in a series of public meetings designed to give viewers the chance to meet members of TVNZ management in person, learn about what TVNZ, as the country's public television broadcaster, is doing and to ask any questions about TVNZ or our channels.

These TalkTelevision meetings will be held in a number of venues around the country on a regular basis.

The inaugural Hamilton meeting was held at Waikato Stadium and a wide range of topics were covered.

The following is a summary of the questions asked and the answers given.

Q. I felt the coverage of the war in Iraq was not balanced and that people with alternative views were not given the airtime they deserved. Also, the footage was very American which was one sided. Why was this?

A. The news sources we used were all combatants of the war and while we did put our own journalists in there from time to time we were worried about them being embedded on a military basis, not to mention the situation was very dangerous. We tried extremely hard to give independent coverage with as little propaganda as possible. We used BBC footage that provided a challenge to US views and gave an alternative viewpoint.

Q. The church can make a meaningful contribution to good television debate. Does TVNZ have any plans to put more of that kind of programming on?

A. We are reviewing our religious programming very soon. TVNZ is very aware of the need to cover all aspects of New Zealand life.

Q. New Zealand is a very agricultural country yet there aren't many, if any, agricultural programmes on television . Do you have any plans to do anything about that?

A. Yes. Farming is a very important part of this country and TVNZ will launch a new farming and agricultural programme next year.

Q. There's far too much sex and violence on television . What are you doing about it?

A. We understand what you are saying however there is a strong audience for programmes such as The Sopranos and we need to cater to a broad spectrum of New Zealanders.

Q. Much of your news is Auckland focused. Are there any plans to bring more regional coverage to air?

A. The Holmes show and ONE News do cover stories from around the regions and we have reporters in a number of locations outside Auckland including Hamilton, Rotorua, Napier, Hawke's Bay, Manawatu, Christchurch and Dunedin. From time to time we think about doing regional programmes. The problem is that while people say they want regional programmes the fact is they don't rate particularly well. Regional coverage is also a very expensive exercise. It's something we will continue to consider.

Q. There is a huge amount of advertising during children's programmes. Why can't there be less, maybe even none at all?

A. TVNZ is very conscious of this issue and we have stringent guidelines in this regard. We do reduce the levels of advertising on weekdays and on Sunday mornings both channels are completely commercial free.

Q. Do you think TVNZ's role is to reflect society or actually inspire people?

A. Yes, we do have the job of trying to inspire people. We do that by covering as many stories about incredible New Zealanders as possible but we need to be careful not to go too far down the track of social engineering or propaganda.

Q. Why are some of your reporters so aggressive? Some don't give the people they are interviewing the chance to be heard.

A. There are many different reporting styles and yes, some of our reporters do have to become aggressive to get their questions answered. Interviewers need to have a number of 'weapons' in their 'armoury' to elicit the truth.

Q. This TalkTelevision is a great initiative that allows TVNZ to gather feedback however do you have an ongoing mechanism to receive feedback?

A. TVNZ is really trying to get as much feedback as possible and TalkTelevision is just one initiative. We have a feedback mechanism on our website, and we run a number of symposia about different issues and we do receive a high number of letters and emails. We are always open to new ideas on how to best achieve this.

Q. You say you want to increase local content from 35 percent to 50 percent. Does that mean we'll just get more repeats?

A. No. Obviously there is a need to repeat some shows so more people get to see them but increasing local content is about commissioning, producing and airing more shows made by New Zealanders for New Zealanders. We are totally committed to being the 'home place' where New Zealanders see themselves richly, fully and compellingly presented.

A big thank you to all those who attended the Hamilton event to make it the huge success it was and TVNZ looks forward to meeting you in your place soon.