by Sue Kedgley
Obscene is the only word that springs to mind when contemplating the $830,000 salary of the Chief Executive of TVNZ Rick Ellis.
Perhaps it could be justified in some purely commercial enterprise. But TVNZ is supposed to be a public service broadcaster, which puts the public interest ahead of commercial profiteering.
How can New Zealanders seriously believe TVNZ is financially struggling, and support TVNZ, when the Chief Executive is earning $830000? That’s three times the salary of the Prime Minister! And how will the staff of TVNZ feel (those that haven’t been made redundant already) about their salary freeze, in the face of the Chief Executive’s absurd salary and bonus.
When appointed to TVNZ in 2006 – then broadcasting Minister Steve Maharey – said Mr Ellis brought a “wealth of experience” to the job. Now Mr Ellis is rich in more than just “experience”.
Whatever happened to the TVNZ Remuneration and HR Committee set up a few years ago to review the perks, bonus payments and obscene salaries being paid to some of TVNZ’s top earners? According to the TVNZ’s annual report it met once – presumably to have a cup of tea and rubber stamp the salaries of the 168 staff earning more than 100K at TVNZ.
Why should the Chief Executive of a public service broadcaster get hundred thousand dollar bonuses a year? This committee needs to front up and explain the logic behind their decisions and the public need more accountability around this issue than a paragraph or two in the back of TVNZ’s annual report.
No doubt the people responsible for devising the TVNZ7 ads featuring Bill English will be among the recipients of some of the higher salary bands at TVNZ.
I am referring here to the ‘creatives’ who thought up the concept rather than the people who actually made the ads.
The workers who made the ads will probably be just happy to have a job during the recession and will most certainly not be on any of the 100K+ salary scales of which 168 TVNZ staff qualify for.
The Bill English ads themselves have been hugely successful in that everyone is now talking about them.
But the cost is the reputation of TVNZ’s news and current affairs.
When I saw the ads I immediately thought they were a party political broadcast.
To me the ad looks like propaganda, not an impartial advertisement for a current affairs series.
It obviously breaches the TVNZ Charter (which still governs TVNZ until such time as TVNZ’s legislation is amended) which requires TVNZ to maintain high standards of editorial integrity, and to ensure that current affairs is impartial, independent etc.
TVNZ also has an obligation under the Broadcasting Act to ensure its current affairs programmes are fair and impartial. Obviously this doesn’t extend to promos, but this promo – or rather propaganda – has certainly cast doubt on the impartiality of the current affairs series it is promoting.
It is simply wrong for a shareholding Minister of TVNZ to be fronting this add in the first place. Allowing English’s office to consult with the broadcaster about the promo and the content of the promo raises further questions.
Perhaps TVNZ lost its objectivity and balance, in its desperation to secure funding from the Government in the next few years. TVNZ6 and 7’s funding is uncertain after the next couple of years. When one has to go cap in hand to the shareholding Ministers asking for ones job, I guess it doesn’t hurt to have Bill English happy.
If National’s main blogging cheerleader considers the whole idea a little hard to stomach then one starts to wonder just how far TVNZ executives will go to fight for their salaries at the expense of the editorial integrity of New Zealand’s largest public broadcaster.
Published in Featured | Society & Culture | THE GAME by Sue Kedgley on Wed, October 28th, 2009
Tags: CEO pay, kiwiblog, TVNZ, TVNZ charter
More posts by Sue Kedgley | more about Sue Kedgley
on the trolls and those who are unable to keep on topic
Meanwhile – we all gotta tighten our belts etc…what a whirling furphy!
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Some good points Sue, Ellis is nothing more than a public servant, there is no way he should be paid that amount of money.
The best thing the gutless Nat’s could do with TVNZ and RNZ is to sell them, we do not need state TV or state Radio, the last nine years shows how state broadcasters can be controlled by left wing governments and I for one do not want to see that happen again.
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BB
Agreed that Ellis is just a public servant, as is the Prime Minister.
As for your comment that “we do not need state TV or state Radio, the last nine years shows how state broadcasters can be controlled by left wing governments” …
Bill English represents a left-wing government?
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Very much so. They are just tinkering at the edges. There is no appreciable difference between Labour and National.
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But a significant difference between those two old nags and the Fresh Greens!
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Or is that alright because he promotes global warming even when he should be warning farmers of a cold spell coming in early October!
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I was annoyed by the attitude of Eric Kearly, head of digital services when interviewed today on Morning Report over the English ads.He argued that the concerns of ‘politicisation’ raised were merely an ‘opinion’ or perception of the interviewer.I was offended by his rather flip manner and his unconcern and wondered if it was evidence of his unfamiliarity with NZ political culture( he sounded like an American or Canadian by accent).I’d be very concerned if American style ‘democracy’ via interest groups, paid ‘journalism’ and downright lobbying were to become further intrenched here. The response of English & Co shows that the horse is already bolting. The wealth gap clearly exacerbates the disconnect between senior state executives & politicians and the ‘man in the street’.
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I suppose the salary is another public sector CEO contribution to income inequality. Once these salaries are set by comparison with the private sector this will happen. The private sector rewards CEO’s for performance in delivering profits after initially paying a premium for getting the best CEO.
On this system income inequality can only grow. As these remuneration packages far far exceed inflation, and the rest of the workforces wages are to be held down by these CEO’s in delivering profits … often barely obtaining a CPI level wage increase in the good times and a pay freeze during the bad.
Of course the same politicians who offer to take a temporary pay freeze now, to show solidarity with public sector workers being asked to do the same, do so safe in the knwoledge they will get continued pay parity with the private sector CEO’s – meaning a large future increase (far in excess of the CPI). All that the public sector workers will get in future years is a piddling little CPI adjustments, which after the wage freeze years amounts to a real cut.
This system is the means by which income inequality grows in the OECD as wealth becomes internationalised via free trade corporatism. Inequality on such a global scale creates a class interest beyond democratic national state borders. Thus it is the end of local communitarianism (why else end adult education – but to attack localised social co-operative community), except where this is a way to manage populations – (say faith based provider charity being groomed to replace nation state society provision, a bit like a company union replacing a real workers union).
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And how will the staff of TVNZ feel (those that haven’t been made redundant already) about their salary freeze, in the face of the Chief Executive’s absurd salary and bonus.
Well the difference would be that he got a bonus for the previous year’s performance, while the salary freeze came much later.
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Dunno about the “fresh Greens” fly, there was a report on the radio this morning that said many Kiwi’s are suffering from Green fatigue.
It seems that your message is falling on deaf ears, Kiwi’s are no longer going to be conned into destroying our economy when any efforts we make in NZ will not make an ounce of difference to climate change.
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Kiwis, btw, are being conned faster than ever, as you well know Bro, by Key and his band of pretenders, who are conning the ordinary New Zealander into paying the rich for everything the rich desire and at the same time stealing our rights and liberties in case we start to kick up a fuss. When the fuss does start, I expect you to be true to your convictions, Bro, and call for Key and his cronies in Government and Business, to go.
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Fly
Where ever did you get the idea that I am a fan of Key and the Nat’s?
They are without doubt the most gutless bunch of sell outs (economically) I have seen in the house.
Having said that, yesterdays passing of tougher gang legislation is to be applauded and what a pity it was to see the Greens once again show more concern for criminals than victims……or is it more to do with Meyt and the Greens making excuses for Maori criminals again?
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Bro – you were bent over double promoting them before the election – couldn’t get enough of the Glorious John Key and his nasty crew. We told you and told you that he was not to be trusted and we were right (as I know you soon discovered).
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As much and as all I disagree most of what liberty scott says, I can agree with
Right on the button there! But I do not agree that selling it is the answer. We have a an extremely good public service radio network, I do not see why we cannot have a good public service TV network too.
The digital platform will bring some interesting changes, methinks.
peace
W
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libertyscott
TVNZ is owned by the public. So it is part of the public sector. And no I don’t think selling off SOE’s to the private sector will do anything to reduce income inequality in New Zealand.
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