“Is it crazy to think that state-funded news should have a responsibility to cover our arts?” 

This is me, at 10:29am today, on the phone to Dr. James Wenley, theatre academic, practitioner, critic, and co-author of the New Mirrors report on the art and culture media ecosystem. Yesterday, Radio New Zealand confirmed cuts to its arts coverage, though it led the announcement with the closure of its youth platform. One of the two Culture 101 presenter roles, currently held by Mark Amery and Perlina Lau, will be cut, as will the long-standing At The Movies film review segment with Simon Morris, and The Sampler, Tony Stamp’s show reviewing the latest album releases in the country.

“It's really not crazy,” Wenley said, and then pointed towards something far more solid than the churning in my gut – the Radio New Zealand Charter. The third purpose in the charter is that RNZ “fosters a sense of national identity by contributing to tolerance and understanding, reflecting and promoting ethnic, cultural, and artistic diversity and expression.” To achieve its purposes, the charter says RNZ “must endeavour to provide services of the highest quality, which… stimulate, support, and reflect the diversity of cultural expression, including drama, comedy, literature, and the performing arts”. Later there’s points about stimulating New Zealand music and reflecting New Zealand’s cultural identity. To Wenley, the cuts to arts coverage undermine what is laid out in the charter. “Artistic diversity is part of what they are funded to do,” he says. 

Arts coverage on RNZ’s online platform (which is expanding its reach as radio diminishes) is already threadbare. It was grouped with wellbeing, relationships, food, and lifestyle under a “Tauoranga - Life” section, styled in soft colours and wavy lines, earlier this year. The section is packed with syndicated content, produced overseas and sourced through wire subscriptions – cheap and easy. There are some good local arts stories, but there does not appear to be a dedicated reporter. On the home page, there’s a lot of politics, economics, crime, sport and business.

The cuts to arts coverage are part of a review into how RNZ covers music, arts and culture, and how it reaches audiences. “As a publicly funded media organisation, RNZ has a responsibility to assess and ensure all parts of the organisation are performing in a way that delivers for our audience and serves the public interest,” said an unnamed spokesperson. The changes follow a few rocky months at the broadcaster, with funding cuts to the tune of $4.6m a year (around 7 percent) and an independent review some called “scathing”. 

It’s part of a pattern that Wenley identified in the New Mirrors report in 2023. When times are tough in the media, as they certainly are right now, it’s arts and culture coverage that gets cut first. It’s baked into the New Zealand psyche that arts, and coverage of arts, are nice-to-haves and there’s an implication that readership numbers suggest their coverage isn’t a strong business case. But, RNZ’s charter says it should “provide programmes which balance special interest with those of wide appeal,” and “take account of services provided by other broadcasters”. The New Mirrors report found that arts coverage in Aotearoa was at a critical tipping point, and since then there’s been “further erosion,” says Wenley. To me, this is something that should be taken into account, and if any media outlet owes audiences things beyond what commercial incentives dictate, it's state-funded media. Not all value can be measured by numbers.

“It's unsurprising, but it is grim, that at Radio New Zealand, the arts and culture aren't seen as places that are like a backstop that we would make sure to support and continue – even through having to find financial savings,” says Wenley. Apart from being publicly funded, Radio New Zealand is mainstream, free and generalist, and so an important platform for this coverage, so that it’s not seen as niche or elite. Wenley says arts coverage is an area that needs investment not just because it’s a critical part of a thriving arts and culture sector, but because it's part of being a “healthy society and culture that can reflect back on itself and look at art to tell stories about how we understand ourselves and our communities.” 

The arts are not a nice-to-have. Neither do they tend to be viral money-makers. But they are a way of articulating and understanding ourselves and our country. The Radio New Zealand Charter recognises this, and in my and Wenley’s reading of it, the responsibility is there for RNZ to create high-quality arts coverage. The cuts announced yesterday are at odds with this.

Contribute to arts coverage!

That being said, The Big Idea is a platform dedicated to covering the arts in Aotearoa. We are tiny – the editorial team is me, four days a week, a handful of freelance writers, and a hand here and there from other staff members. I’m putting a call-out to all writers who may want to write for us (we pay). We are in a time of change, so I’m curious about what writers around the country are thinking about and want to cover. Get in touch! 

News on the wire

Rana Hamida, and others on the Global Sumud Flotilla, "abducted" by Israeli forces

Tāmaki Makaurau-based singer, dancer, DJ, actor and producer Rana Hamida has been on the flotilla hoping to create a humanitarian corridor to Palestine. Last night the ship was intercepted and boarded by Israeli Occupation Forces in international waters. Then, Rana Hamida and her NZ companions Youssef Sammour and Samuel Leason have posted pre-recorded messages on social media saying that they have been abducted. Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, said that the activists will be deported once the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur finishes on Thursday. We hope for their safe return and ask that the New Zealand Government take action to ensure it. 

Human Resources

Part man, part wheel, part wandering minstrel, part travelling salesman Delaney Davidson has been announced as the music director of the 2025 APRA Silver Scroll Awards. He will be responsible for all performances throughout the ceremony on 29 October.

Trend report

Apart from the hoards of young people wearing my wardrobe from 20 years ago, a Y2K throwback club night tomorrow at Double Whammy! confirms that Y2K is still in.

Sculpture vandalised and dumped in Rotorua

An award-winning sculpture by Northland artist Susan Dinkelacker that was stolen from the Sulphur Lake Sculpture Trail months ago has turned up in a sorry state. The carved wooden figure of a woman has been drawn on, and the artist says the damage is likely irreparable.

A rare chance to step inside an Athfield 

Hunt House, a Sir Ian Athfield original from the 1970s, has come up for sale. If you’re anywhere near Korokoro, it's worth visiting an open home – not because I think you have a million bucks, but because the chance to see this particular vision of a home may not come up again for decades.

Migrant Maharanis release third issue

A zine dedicated to the South Asian diaspora in Aotearoa released their third issue last Friday with a party at Samoa House Library. This time around, they asked their community for submissions around the theme Futurisms.

The nation still froths for Dave Dobbyn

In August Sir Dave Dobbyn announced his Selected Songs regional tour, with five stops in October and November this year. Due to huge demand he’s announced an extra stop at Kirikiriroa in January next year. I get the feeling there’s more to come.

And Jacinda Ardern

The documentary Prime Minister has achieved the biggest box office opening ($417,000 after one week) for a NZ documentary since 2018. Chasing Great, the 2016 documentary about Richie McCaw by the same filmmaking team, is still the highest-grossing local documentary of all time.

Martin Poppelwell shows in Whanganui 

His exhibition Unbroken is open from tomorrow till 1 November at Ann Parker Gallery, 20 Drews Avenue, Whanganui. The new pieces may surprise you, with Poppelwell saying, “I force myself to contradict myself in order to prevent myself from conforming to my own taste,” by way of explanation.

Rising stars of the Aotearoa screen industry unveiled

And the NZ nominees for this year’s Show Me Shorts awards are:

Best New Zealand Film: Jason Taylor, Allan George (Mirumiru) Laura Ganotis, Arthur Gay (When the Geese Flew), Raymond Edwards, Lindsay Gough (Ace).

Best Music Video: Jermaine Leef, Piotr Kwasnik (Mau Moko, Alien Weaponry), John Ross, Tali Enjalas Jenkinson (Hold Me, Vallé), Marlon Williams, Jessica Todd (Aua Atu Rā).

Best Actor: Brit O'Rourke (Are You Still There), Dahnu Graham (Flagfall), Katlyn Wong (Chrysanthemum).

Best Director: Allan George (Mirumiru) Arthur Gay (When The Geese Flew), Liam Ngahina Joseph Maguren (The Charm Of The Magpies).

Best Editor:Joe Lonie (Flagfall), John Ross (Hold Me, Vallé), Kerri Roggio (Are You Still There).

Best Cinematographer: Adam Luxton (Growing Still), Dave Garbett (Ace), Tammy Williams (Open Looks)

Best Screenplay: Alex Farley (Wild Nights, Wild Nights!), Arthur Gay, Rali Chaouni (When The Geese Flew), Michele Powles (Growing Still).

The Aotearoa Alternative Awards are back

The Student Radio Network and Irirangi Te Motu | NZ On Air will proudly crown the winners on the 8 November in Te Papaioea Palmerston North. The awards celebrate emerging local musicians and the volunteers who keep stations humming, and honestly, it looks like it’s going to be a rad party.

Further reading, watching and listening

We sent journo Eda Tang to Asian Diaspora Dialogues on Saturday. Here’s the most important things she heard.

Claire Mabey considers who is able to write a novel today, and along the way asks that we stop thinking of creative work as a nice-to-have. A must-read on The Spinoff.

Quishile Charan reflects on the histories and world-building behind her textile works.

Jeremy Mayall, one of the leading forces behind Creativity Belongs Here explains why local body elections are so important for the arts.

If you need to laugh, fair enough, Tom Sainsbury and Chris Parker’s Stake Out from 2017 is now free to watch on NZ on Screen.

As classical musicians prepare to perform against the backdrop of the Southern Alps, Jo Mills reflects on the place of the wild in our creative lives.

Over on AudioCulture, Michael Larsen revisists ten earworms from the 80s. A few icons in there!