New Zealand's media faces a crisis. Newsrooms are being cut, journalists' wages and conditions are under attack and commercial pressures are seeing news quality sacrificed to improve corporate profits.
This isn't good enough - a well resourced news media is vital to the functioning of good communities and a healthy democracy. Without quality journalism, good technical support and decent media resourcing New Zealanders will not get quality and reliable news and that means the crucial decisions we make in our lives as citizens risk being uninformed decisions.
Help stop the decline of our media and our democracy by joining our campaign to take our media back. You can start by signing up to our site and putting a submission in for our review
Unions save 15 jobs at TVNZ but quality concerns remain
Posted June 6th, 2007 by epmu
The Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union and the Public Service Association have saved a quarter of the 59 news and current affairs jobs set to be cut by TVNZ, but remain concerned about the
EPMU members upstage media awards
Posted May 18th, 2007 by epmu
Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union members have taken the stage at the Qantas Media Awards to protest plans by their employer, APN, to outsource its subediting to Australian company PageMasters.
The protesting union members, who are mostly award-winning journalists, unfurled a protest banner and made a speech condemning the cuts.
EPMU delegate and New Zealand Herald reporter Simon Collins is one of the journalists protesting and says the continued cost-cutting in New Zealand's newsrooms will make journalism awards increasingly meaningless.
Unions and TVNZ conclude mediation
Posted May 11th, 2007 by epmu
Joint Media Statement - EPMU, PSA & TVNZ
The Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union, the Public Service Association and TVNZ have concluded mediation and agreed to a consultation process regarding the public broadcaster's proposal to reduce its workforce by 140 to 160 jobs.
The agreement between the unions and TVNZ will ensure that the restructuring process and its impact on union members are subject to the full involvement of the respective unions.
Deadline for TVNZ redundancies extended
Posted April 27th, 2007 by epmu
The Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union has won an extension of the consultation period and mediation over proposed cuts to 58 news and current affairs jobs at TVNZ.
The extension means the parties will be meeting for mediation next Friday as part of the EPMU's fight to save the jobs.
EPMU national secretary Andrew Little says the public broadcaster has shown scant regard for the opinions its staff or their unions.
A dark day for NZ news
Posted April 19th, 2007 by epmu
The Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union is considering launching legal action to stop APN from outsourcing its subediting - a decision confirmed today by the media giant.
The EPMU believes APN has failed to properly consult the union and its members over its decision to centralise and outsource its subediting operations to Australian- owned contractor Pagemasters.
EPMU national secretary Andrew Little says the move shows APN is more concerned about the bottom line than the quality of news it provides New Zealanders.
Media in crisis, say NZ journalists
Posted April 17th, 2007 by epmu
Journalists from news organisations across the country have condemned proposals to cut
editorial staff at TVNZ and APN at an industry meeting in Wellington.
The meeting also called for a major summit this year to address the growing crisis in the New Zealand media.
The resolution was passed unanimously by representatives of more than 5000 print and
media workers at the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union's Print & Media
Industry Council, which has been meeting yesterday and today to discuss the union�s strategy to fight the cuts.
EPMU condemns outsourcing, launches OurMedia! campaign
Posted April 13th, 2007 by epmu
APN's plans to outsource its newspaper and magazine subediting to an Australian-owned contractor will be met with strong opposition says the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union.
The EPMU, which represents New Zealand's media workers, put its case against outsourcing to the media giant and launched the OurMedia! campaign for quality news today.
TVNZ proposes to gut NZ journalism
Posted April 12th, 2007 by epmu
Media Release
TVNZ's decision to make nearly sixty news and current affairs staff redundant is a short-sighted move that poses a major threat to New Zealand journalism, say the unions that represent journalists.
The proposal includes the total closure of the news reference library, the closure of Wellington's 'Sunday' office, the closure of the Wanganui and Queenstown offices, a serious reduction of camera operators in Wellington and Auckland, and smaller cuts across almost every other news and current affairs division.
Attack on journalism is an attack on communities, says EPMU
Posted March 22nd, 2007 by epmu
Media Release
APN's announcement today that it will be outsourcing subediting and layout for its New Zealand newspapers and magazines will result in the loss of decent jobs and a drop in the quality of the news, says the union that represents journalists.
The outsourcing contract has been picked up by Australian company Pagemasters and is likely to cost more than seventy jobs around the country.
EPMU National Secretary Andrew Little says the cost-cutting exercise will have a major impact on the quality of our news.
