A Taxpayers’ Union – Curia Poll has revealed that 55% of New Zealanders are opposed to taxpayer money being used to fund struggling private media companies, with just 29% in support.

Labour voters were the only demographic in support of media bailouts (+7% net support), while those aged under 40 were split evenly. A majority or plurality in every other demographic opposed taxpayer-funded media bailouts.

Voters were asked “You may have heard reports about the proposed closure of Newshub. Would you support or oppose taxpayer money being used to fund struggling private media companies?” 

Commenting on the poll, Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, said:

“It comes as no surprise that taxpayers are unwilling to reach into their own pockets to fund media organisations that they are increasingly becoming disillusioned with.

“We know from our previous polling that taxpayer-funding of private media undermines perceptions of independence. With trust in the media already in free-fall, the worst thing the government could do is step in with taxpayer money to bail them out.

“All businesses must deliver a service of value to get money from their customers. If the government stumps up with taxpayer-money there is no incentive for these companies to change their business model into something consumers trust and value more.

“We should allow those companies that aren’t providing a service people want to fail so that new companies who do create value can take their place.”

NOTES:

The scientific poll was conducted by Curia Market Research and commissioned by the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union. As is well known, but for full disclosure, David Farrar co-founded the Taxpayers' Union and previously served on its board. He is also a Director of Curia Market Research Ltd.

The Taxpayers’ Union – Curia Poll was conducted from Tuesday 02 April to Thursday 04 April 2024. The median response was collected on Wednesday 3 April 2024. The sample size was 1,000 eligible New Zealand voters: 800 by phone and 200 by online panel. The sample selection for the phone panel is from those who are contactable on a landline or mobile phone selected at random from 15,000 nationwide phone numbers plus a random selection from an online panel (that complies with ESOMAR guidelines for online research). The results are weighted to reflect the overall voting adult population in terms of gender, age, and area. Based on this sample of 1,000 respondents, the maximum sampling error (for a result of 50%) is +/- 3.1%, at the 95% confidence level. Results for sub-groups such as age and area will have a much higher margin of error and not seen as precise.

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