The government must make it absolutely clear to the Board of TVNZ that it will not tolerate political interference in any aspect of TVNZ news and current affairs, Green Party Broadcasting spokesperson Sue Kedgley said today.

Ms Kedgley said the Chairman of the TVNZ Board, Dr Ross Armstrong, appears to have overstepped the mark in his recent comments about the departure of News and Current Affairs head Mr Paul Cutler from the organisation.

In making these comments, Dr Armstrong was in danger of eroding TVNZ's ability to fulfil its obligations, spelt out in the recent public service charter, to provide an impartial and independent news and television programming service.

The government cannot impose obligations on TVNZ to provide independent, impartial news and current affairs programmes on the one hand, without guaranteeing TVNZ's freedom from political interference on the other hand, and this should have been spelled out clearly in the charter, Ms Kedgley said.

"Political interference in the editorial and programming decisions in TVNZ is intolerable. It will not only erode leadership and morale within the organisation, but it also strikes at the integrity and heart of the organisation."

Ends

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Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>