Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

So here's the low-down on the Public Interest Journalism Fund.  55 million bucks dished out over a series of funding rounds, and all gone now. The fund's been wound up.  The company that owns this station won nearly $7 million in round one, another $3 million in round two, and a couple of top-ups after that.  In fact, all the major players, including the already publicly funded broadcasters, everyone, every outfit including some you've never heard was in the trough.  Let's remember the context —Covid— and the wave of redundancies that caused right through the commercial media.  Advertising revenue evaporated and some media companies were on the brink of failure.  Now, to get your hands on the money you had to agree to this:  "A clear and obvious commitment or intent for commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, including a commitment to te reo Māori."  On top of that, we had to commit to public interest journalism, data provision, New Zealand content, freely available online distribution, media standards and so on.