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Photo: RNZ / ROBERT WHITAKER
Comment – One hundred years ago, the New Zealandes had their first chance to connect with a revolutionary form of mass communication – a national radio service.
New Zealand’s radio transmission company, formed in 1925, launched the foundations for what became RNZ.
It was a century proud to keep the Kiwis connected, informed and entertained in the good and bad times.
When we mark our 100th anniversary, the challenge remains to serve New Zealand’s audience with useful information they can trust.
We are marking Marco with the launch on Sunday of Centenary Scholarships, to be granted to five of the best journalism students in the country.
Scholarships, in the amount of up to $ 8000 each, will cover one year study rates and will be administered by the five main journalism schools. RNZ will also provide guidance, training and a chance to intern in the newsrooms of an RNZ.
Scholarships signal our confidence in the lasting importance of news and current affairs in tumultuous times.
2025 is not an easy time to be a journalist, but the work we do more matters than ever. The world is swimming in content and opinions. Verified reports and informed analysis practiced by trained journalists working under industry codes help people understand all this noise.
Our industry has been radically reformulated since 1925. Newspapers ruled the perch at that time. The incipient radio company was a beginner and a start-up. Politicians in the 1920s saw the potential of the radio, with their range and immediate delivery, both with arousal and nervous – and believed that it needed rigid regulation.
The 1924-25 annual report from the Courier and Telegraph Department said the radio company was formed with “a view of the establishment of a first-class radio transmission service.” The five hundred watt stations were created in the four main centers, knitting the country in a completely new way.
The report said that stations “can be used only for educational, informative or fun issues.” In the first year, there were only 5000 license holders throughout Motu. In 1931, radio hearing had grown 12 times and was entangled in the fabric of New Zealand’s life.
RNZ is proud to have this challenging and pioneering spirit in our DNA.
Today we operate in a sector characterized by strong freedoms of the media, but also by fragmentation, personalization and endless choice. Global platforms dominate our attention and data.
In important ways, this was extremely liberating for people, but it had a cost for diversity, amplitude and depth of local media.
The decline in progress in jobs in journalism is deeply worrying. Fewer stories are being reported and public confidence in main institutions – including the media itself – is in decline.
Over the past two years, two major newsrooms have been closed and the variety of media options for New Zealandes has decreased.
It is not RNZ’s work to correct these systemic problems. But as a public service from Cornerstone, we are responding, adapting and helping where we can, through our coverage, content sharing and through projects such as the local democracy report service.
We take seriously the responsibility of being publicly funded, non -commercial and independent. We understand that this comes with the obligation to provide high quality reliable news, audio and video for as many New Zealandes as possible.
So how is the future for RNZ?
Our services will be distinctly from New Zealand. We will be increasingly digital as we continue to make excellent transmission. We will be where people want and need to be, including by sharing our content with other points of sale.
High quality work will be our trademark, as we strive to achieve the best standards of precision and justice. When we make mistakes, we will correct them quickly and openly.
We will celebrate and explore our arts and culture and provide information life lines in times of crisis. Let’s train our talented team that will reflect the diverse nation we represent.
Maintaining and building public trust will be our priority, being responsible for the public as citizens in our vibrant democracy.
We will also be impartial and tirelessly independent.
The RNZ letter gives us a wide mission of “informing, entertaining and enlightening”, free of interference. This freedom is precious. Public media is an investment in the strength of our democracy and is more relevant than ever.
Here is the next 100 years.
* Paul Thompson is the executive director and editor-in-chief of RNZ. He is also the president of the Public Media Alliance, representing public media organizations around the world.
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