Director of the Better Public Media Trust Myles Thomas has been a long-time supporter of RNZ.
He remembers tuning in RNZ as a child when a wave of serious flooding hit the country. He tuned in to hear from reporters if family and other New Zealanders were okay - just like much of the country did during the Kaikoura earthquakes.
The trust, formerly known as the Coalition for Better Broadcasters, was established in 2012. Their main priority has always been to push for public broadcasters to get better funding.
Thomas admits the little bit of money allocated to RNZ is a great start and a testament to their work, but says more needs to be done.
Each year, New Zealanders pay $8 each in tax to fund RNZ. But countries like Australia and Ireland pay tax of at least $10.
The funding in Australia allows 25 national and regional stations across the country, including Triple J and ABC, to produce content on air and online.
Thomas says we’re the “cheap skates” in terms of public media, but an increase in tax money allocated to the broadcaster would enhance RNZ. He says it would not only allow the broadcaster to keep producing quality content, but would allow them to grow their regional offices.
After being forced to shut down offices during the funding freeze, Thomas wants to see more regional reporting and offices opening in the smaller regions; he believes more funding would eventually allow them to do that.
Paul Thompson says for now, the focus is on new technology and managing the new funding from the government. He says every dollar invested will get a really good outcome.
Since the Kaikoura earthquake, KD and her husband have continued to use RNZ to give them timely, accurate news, as do 579,400 other New Zealanders every week. So isn’t it about time their funding freeze is completely thawed?