The changing media landscape from having a public duty to inform its citizens, to simply turning a profit has had what some would label disastrous effects on traditional media formats. Changes have been so prevalent that the average media consumer may not expect to view strictly informative news content beyond the traditional 6pm news bulletin. The days are particularly numbered, albeit over, for current affairs journalism as strictly informative. It is evident that most formats in New Zealand and overseas have become what is labelled by theorists as "infotainment."
The term infotainment refers to media programming that mixes informative content with that which is entertaining, which often considered two separate genres of television content (Otto, Glogger, & Boukes, 2017).
Infotainment can be considered a response to ratings, and supports advertising as the consumer's buying mood is retained (Melinescu, 2015). What this refers to is the way in which softer news content, which is often found on the modern current affairs show, uplifts the viewer after the 6 o’clock news and allows the viewer to feel like buying what is advertised to them. Thus, infotainment formats of current affairs may be more successful than hard news because they have the opportunity to be more profitable.
Current affairs is an umbrella term used to describe programming that is separate from the news, yet still seeks to inform an audience about current events (Baker, 2006). However, this genre of television in New Zealand has had a history of changes due to factors such as deregulation and TVNZ’s move from a public service oriented Crown owned enterprise to a profit driven media driven enterprise. Explanation of the history of current affairs programming in New Zealand from 1984-2004 from Baker (2006) can be found below.
Why is it important for current affairs to inform in an adequate manner?
The answer is that the purpose of journalism depends on it. Ceron (2015) points out that the media is the essential method for the public to gain knowledge about political issues in order to make informed decisions. Thus, it is important to hold any programme that claims to be "current affairs" accountable to adequately inform the general public.
It is imperative to acknowledge the view of Ekstrom (2002), who argues that in order for television journalism to be successful, it has to be simplistic in nature to get the information across to the viewer.
But what impact does this have on the viewer, does it just result in a less informed public if current affairs television is their most consumed journalism coverage?
Context, corporation, and current affairs: New Zealand and current affairs journalism
The change from strictly informative journalism in current affairs can be attributed to two areas: the change in audience demand, and the increasingly profit driven areas of media institutions (Baker, 2006).
Although the prevalence of infotainment is not limited to the New Zealand market, over recent years corporate pressures have seen rapid changes to current affairs media in NZ. Of particular importance is the changes in prime time current affairs programming following the axe of TV3's Campbell Live (Myllylahti, 2015). The prime-time show on TV3 was hosted by John Campbell, who was notorious for his hard-hitting journalism, and often shined a light on socio-economic issues of lower income New Zealand.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kxd4uCEymYE
However, ownership changes for the company that owns TV3, MediaWorks, put Campbell’s show at risk. In fact, an American hedge-fund company named Oaktree Capital acquired 77.8% of the company in 2015. Coincidentally, or arguably not, the beginning of 2015 also marked the year when Campbell Live was axed from the network (Myllylahti, 2015). This was despite a petition from viewers with 90,000 signatures to keep it on the air (Myllylahti, 2015). Despite the rally of public support behind the programme, it last aired on May 31, 2015 (Myllylahti, 2015).
The replacement programme Story was put in Campbell Live’s place, hosted by Heather Du-Plessis Allan and Duncan Garner. Heather in an interview prior to the show’s premiere offered an interesting perspective about current affairs:
"I think entertainment is part of news now, but it’s about striking balance. (…) But we don’t want people to tune in and be bored because you’re just so dry."
Story attempted to achieve this, but it failed to rate high enough to be a profitable asset for MediaWorks, and it was axed at the end of 2016 ("Current affairs show Story to be axed by MediaWorks, 2016).
Currently, New Zealand television has two prime time current affairs shows, TV One's Seven Sharp and The Project (Kilgallon, 2017).
Seven Sharp and
Mike Hosking:
How informed are we?
Seven Sharp and Mike Hosking: How informed are we?
A common cause for criticism of current affairs in New Zealand is TV One's Seven Sharp.
Seven Sharp is currently New Zealand’s highest rating current affairs show, attracting an average of 400,000 viewers per evening (Kilgallon, 2017). It debuted on Februrary 4th, 2013 after the cancellation of TV One’s previous current affairs show Close Up ("The Diary: Seven Sharp-out to redefine cutting edge", 2013). Although it debuted with a panel of three presenters, Toni Street and Mike Hosking are the current hosts. In its inception, the show was pitched as a fresh take on current affairs and aimed to incorporate social media feedback from viewers (“The Diary: Seven Sharp-out to redefine cutting edge”, 2013).
Hosking in particular faces constant criticism for apparent political bias. It is worth noting before analysis of this that the show does encourage the sharing of opinions from the hosts: a one minute segment is offered at the end of the programme for each host to share their thoughts on a particular topic. It is important to acknowledge that this format lends itself to soft news, and can be associated with a political bias because the opinions are not objective news commentary (Reinemann et al., 2011, as cited in Otto, Glogger & Boukes, 2017).
Mike Hosking on the Paris climate change agreement
Hosking came under fire most recently in August 2016 when he was accused of being “too partisan”, because his opinions are typically more conservative. Viewers on social media have even labelled him as an obvious National Party supporter:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XY-JFgRexgU
It was reported that 22,000 people signed a petition for Hosking’s removal from the show because viewers felt his apparent political views were too obvious (Van Beynen, 2016). However, the petition had little impact, as TVNZ officials ignored it and defended the right for presenters to share their opinions:
“Seven Sharp focuses on the conversations of the day and presenter opinions are an integral part of the show. We don’t expect everyone to agree with every view expressed in our programming, but support the right for individuals to have and express their personal views – petitioner and presenter alike.” (Van Beynen, 2016).
The show has also been accused of shying away from political discussion, and glossing over important issues (Bhatt, 2017).
Seven Sharp can thus be considered an example of where infotainment has the opportunity to fail to properly inform the public. A critical analysis by Duncan Greive of Seven Sharp’s 2017 debut points out issues with the show’s content, noting that it ignored major news stories such as President Donald Trump’s inauguration (Greive, 2017). Specifically, the lead story was a news item about a note sent home in a child’s lunchbox in Australia critiquing the healthiness of the food included (TVNZ, 2017).
However, Seven Sharp has no reason to change anything: as Greive (2017) acknowledges, the show appeals adequately to the values of middle New Zealand.
It can still work: John Oliver and the balance of information and comedy
Despite the prevailing opinion that true journalism cannot be both informative and entertaining, the success of The Daily Show, and Last Week Tonight beg to differ. Although they are both respectively late-night shows, their content is fit for comparison because they cover mainly current political news.
What have they done differently which New Zealand media has not?
Oliver and his predecessor Jon Stewart (The Daily Show) have hinged on a blend of comedy and informative political commentary. Unlike Seven Sharp, the shows base themselves on staunch political commentary (Luckerson, 2015).
HBO's Last Week Tonight with John Oliver has become an important part of current affairs television worldwide. The show blends factual accounts of political issues in the United States and worldwide, whilst simultaneously throwing in satirical comments for good measure (Luckerson, 2015). Despite the comedy present, the show has achieved something which NZ current affairs programming has largely failed to do: appeal to a younger audience and create real impact (Luckerson, 2015). Oliver’s successes include his net neutrality story, which had such an impact that it resulted in the reversal of government policy in the United States (Last Week Tonight, 2015).
However, Oliver refuses to label himself as a journalist, preferring to be labelled as a comedian instead. It is easy to dismiss comedy as dumbing down serious news topics, however Young (2006) as cited in LaMarre, Landreville and Beam (2009) argues that the use of comedy in these shows actually requires the viewer to pay attention and process the information behind the jokes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lFoyDOi-Ww
Shapiro (2014) defines journalism as that which "comprises the activities involved in an independent pursuit of accurate information about current or recent events and its original presentation for public edification" (p. 561)
Where do we go from here? Responding to the wants of audiences
A new show was added in 2017 to current affairs line up, replacing Story. The Project debuted on the 20th of February, basing itself off the successful format on Australian television fronted by Rove McManus (Greive, 2017). Where Story failed to attract ratings, The Project appears to be seeking a middle ground. The show is currently hosted by Josh Thomson, Jesse Mulligan and Kanoa Lloyd (Kilgallon, 2017).
As can be observed in the first episode , Lloyd reads a news bulletin prior to the main stories (Greive, 2017). This is an interesting feature to note, because it is similar to the 6pm news, and it reflects to the viewer an informative element, albeit a slightly less formal one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5xsc8fm1Qw
It appears to be waging a ratings war with rival Seven Sharp, achieving a competitive amount of 144,000 viewers in it's fourth week, compared to Seven Sharp's 415,000 (Kilgallon, 2017).
Nonetheless, The Project responded to the demand for innovative current affairs that attempts to achieve the right balance between information and entertainment. Time will tell how New Zealand audiences will respond, particularly in terms of coverage of the 2017 general election.
Editor of The Spinoff and television critic for The New Zealand Herald Duncan Greive believes The Project is the best recent attempt of current affairs in New Zealand (Bhatt, 2017). Greive also argues that current affairs television needs to have a point of difference in terms of the way news is reported in order to be successful (Bhatt, 2017). The infotainment format that The Project presents can thus be considered a response to the demands of the viewer; they want something that the 6pm news bulletin cannot deliver for them. As put by Greive in his interview with 95bfm:
"Audiences vote with their remote" - Duncan Greive (Bhatt, 2017). Click to listen to the full interview on 95bfm
It can be argued that current affairs media's role cannot be considered as one that strictly informs, rather for decades it has had the role of following the formality of the 6pm news with personal context and informal discussion about current events. Infotainment can thus be argued as an inevitable shift in the news landscape; the reason that shows Seven Sharp rates so highly is because the format and relaxed presentation of current affairs appeals to the average consumer.
References:
Baker, S. (2006). The Changing Face of Current Affairs Programmes in New Zealand, the United States and Britain 1984-2004. Communication Journal Of New Zealand, 1-22.
Baym, G. (2005). The Daily Show: Discursive Integration and the Reinvention of Political Journalism. Political Communication, 259-276.
Bhatt, J. (Producer). (2017, February 23). 95bfm [Audio podcast].
Broken Season. (2015, June 19). Hannah Tamaki Interview With Campbell Live: Church's Stage Donation.[Video file] Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kxd4uCEymYE&t=12s
CBS This Morning. (2015, October 30). John Oliver: I'm not a journalist. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lFoyDOi-Ww
Ceron, A. (2015). Internet, news, and political trust: The difference between social media and online media outlets. Journal of Computer‐Mediated Communication, 20(5), 487-503.
Current affairs shows Story to be axed by MediaWorks. (2016, November 8). Retrieved from Stuff.co.nz: http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/tv-radio/86234709/Current-affairs-show-Story-to-be-axed-by-MediaWorks
Greive, D. (2017, February 10). Duncan Greive: Seven Sharp could be so much more-but it's not. Retrieved from The NZ Herald: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=11797606
Greive, D. (2017, February 21). Duncan Greive: Why The Project NZ is a quiet landmark . Retrieved from NZ Herald: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=11804614
Harvey, K. (2015, August 2015). Story presenters: we don't want to be Campbell Live. Retrieved from Stuff.co.nz: http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/tv-radio/70880977/story-presenters-we-dont-want-to-be-campbell-live
Kilgallon , S. (2017, March 24). MediaWorks boss: Project is here to stay and will win ratings war . Retrieved from Stuff.co.nz: http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/tv-radio/90799850/MediaWorks-boss-Project-is-here-to-stay-and-will-win-the-ratings-war
LaMarre, H. L., Landreville, K. D., & Beam, M. A. (2009). The irony of satire: Political ideology and the motivation to see what you want to see in The Colbert Report. The International Journal of Press/Politics, 14(2), 212-231.
Last Week Tonight. (2014, June 1). Net Neutrality. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpbOEoRrHyU
Luckerson, V. (2015, July 11). How the 'John Oliver' Effect Is Having a Real-Life Impact. Retrieved from Time : http://time.com/3674807/john-oliver-net-neutrality-civil-forfeiture-miss-america/
Mana News. (2015, August 4). Mike Hosking interview with Hone Harawira Seven Sharp [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XY-JFgRexgU
MELINESCU, N. (2015). HOW MUCH IS INFOTAINMENT THE NEW NEWS?. PCTS Proceedings (Professional Communication & Translation Studies), 83-10.
Myllylahti, M. (2015). JMAD New Zealand Media Ownership Report 2015. AUT centre for Journalism, Media, and Democracy .
Otto, L., Glogger, I., & Boukes, M. (2017). The Softening of Journalistic Political Communication: A Comprehensive Framework Model of Sensationalism, Soft News, Infotainment, and Tabloidization. Communication Theory , 136-155.
Shapiro, I. (2014). Why democracies need a functional definition of journalism now more than ever. Journalism Studies, 15(5), 555-565.
TVNZ. (2017, May 23). Mike Hosking says Paris Climate Agreement a "rort" and a "scam". [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.tvnz.co.nz/shows/seven-sharp/clips/extras/mike-hosking-says-paris-climate-agreement-rort-and-scam
Van Beynen, J. (2016, August 4). Mike Hosking to stay on Seven Sharp despite 22,000 signature petition . Retrieved from Stuff.co.nz: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=11797606
