There is one reason majorly ignored in the mainstream discourse about the financial struggles of the New Zealand media

Recently, commentators have written a lot on why they think Mediaworks is for sale, and why, Stuff New Zealand, couldn’t find a suitable buyer after being in the market for a while.

No one can deny the two main reasons being put forward – total (almost) monopoly of Google and Facebook in terms of digital advertising revenues, and the gross subsidisation and unique business models (if we can call it that) of state-owned media organisations in New Zealand. [Competition from big international players like Netflix, Amazon Prime etc., which produce content, is another factor, but as they don’t do journalism per se, I am not mentioning them.]

But in my mind, there’s a third and equally important factor, which is the failure of mainstream New Zealand media to acknowledge, appreciate and cater to anyone except the majority Pakeha community till now. Apart from a token mention of celebrations such as Diwali and Chinese Lantern Festival, any story about multicultural communities in the main media organisations tend to be “negative” invariably, if at all they get a mention.

And I say this with experience, having launched two newspapers – The Migrant Times (TMT) and Multicultural Times (MT) – in my five years of stay in Aotearoa New Zealand, which over the course of 27 issues and three years, have covered the news, views, struggles, successes and celebrations of over 80 plus ethnicities calling this country their home now.

Here, I acknowledge that like any media entrepreneur my journey has also been full of ups and downs. TMT was a great success, which prompted me to move to Auckland to launch the national version of TMT, as MT, which due to some internal issues of the company hasn’t been such a success, and is not publishing any more. But the market, the audience, the stories, and the business, is all there for someone who is able to appreciate the changing nature of New Zealand, and is willing to change with it.

To take my argument further, let’s look at few data points.

• Recently released figures of Census 2018 tells us that almost 30% of the country’s population is non-European now. If we just take the three main Asian ethnicities – Chinese, Indians, and Filipinos – 2/3rd of whom live in Auckland, they make up about 25% of the city’s population. To ignore one-fourth of the country’s biggest city’s population, that too for a business which is essentially in public interest and runs on public support, is a recipe for financial failure, I dare say.

• A question can legitimately be asked – “But why should we cater to these communities, as they don’t matter financially”. This assumption is incorrect, on two counts.

Firstly, while there’s a difference in income levels – as per NZ Stats June 2019 quarter figures, European median weekly income ($1,060) is almost $100 more than Asian ($959) – this gap is reducing every year. This is due to the aspirational nature, and emphasis on achieving social mobility through education, in the multicultural communities.

Secondly, due to discrimination in securing a job in the New Zealand market, majority of migrants turn to entrepreneurship. And all of us know, salaried class doesn’t bring in advertising revenues. Business class does. So migrant businesses are where lies the untapped advertising dollars.

In summary my point is – mainstream media in New Zealand is struggling because, as one CEO said, consumer behaviour is changing. What he failed to say was that the consumer itself is changing. And to add to what Spinoff says – it is young, urban, earning, and increasingly multicultural.

– Gaurav Sharma, has recently joined The Indian News as Associate Editor. He is the founder and editor of The Migrant Times, and Multicultural Times.