NEWSTALK ZB: PREACHING TO THE CONVERTED

 

Last week's radio survey revealed Newstalk ZB remains New Zealand’s top commercial radio station.  But its conservative views mean it's largely preaching to the converted.

ALTHOUGH AFTERNOON CO-HOST Simon Barnett once described Newstalk ZB as 'centre right', since the installation of the National-led coalition government it has been rather more right than centre. Dominated by a slate of hosts who make no secret of where their political loyalties lie, the news and talkback station has become a pivotal media supporter for the Government. In that respect, it operates much like Fox News in the United States, which acts as an uncritical cheerleader for Donald Trump and the Republican Party.

Newstalk ZB routinely praises and defends government policy while avoiding issues that do not show the government in a positive light. Meanwhile, interviews with various government ministers and MPs are friendly affairs, with little in the way of critical questioning. We haven't quite reached the point where drive time host Heather du Plessis Allan has invited Nicola Willis to explain what a great finance minister she is, but we're getting there.

Newstalk ZB has always been a conservative radio station, ever since Paul Holmes hosted its breakfast show from 1985 to 2008. But while it might have once made, at least, an effort to provide some kind of balanced commentary on occasion, it feels no such obligation now. Whether you're listening to Mike Hosking at breakfast, Heather du Plessis Allan at drivetime or to Tim Beveridge during the small hours of the morning, the pro-government message is unrelenting.

While Newstalk ZB might like to boast it is the top commercial radio station in the land, its job has been made so much easier since it is now the only game in town. Since the short-lived Today FM was abruptly closed in March 2023, Newstalk ZB has had the news and talkback field to itself.

At the time of Today FM's closure, Matt Mollgaard, the head of AUT's Screen, Audio and Journalism department commented: 'It's quite shocking in that sense, because we don't have any competition for Newstalk ZB - and it really does need competition because it keeps everybody honest, including RNZ.'

Without that necessary competition, Newstalk ZB grazes contently through the issues of the day, like dairy cows in a field, seemingly incapable of critically scrutinising the government. Not only does it make for soporific listening it provides a fictional depiction of New Zealand, filtered through a conservative lense. 

But Newstalk ZB's audience is largely old and conservative. The job of the station, and it which it does well, is to reinforce the conservative views and prejudices of its listeners. But talkback radio thrives on loud argument and high emotion, and there's not much of that to be found in merely cheerleading for the government. And there's only so many times that its conservative hosts can attack Chloe Swarbrick and the Green Party before it becomes ever more predictable and tedious. Newstalk ZB may well be the leading commercial radio station in the country, but it's unlikely to attract new listeners because it confines itself to preaching to the converted.



IT'S WORTH NOTING that when Newstalk ZB recently ventured into territory where it did have to face competition, it fell flat on its face. 

 

ZB Plus, was a news and opinion website launched by the station in September last year. With a range of conservative opinion writers, including former left-winger Chris Trotter and Newstalk ZB's Political Editor Jason Walls, it was designed to capitalise on the resources of Newstalk ZB.

NZME’s chief digital and publishing officer Carolyn Luey said that it would 'supercharge' Newstalk ZB.

'We saw a real opportunity for an extension of our offering with ZB Plus, which will provide subscribers with the chance to further deepen the popular content the network produces,' said Luey at its launch.

Nine months later, ZB Plus was no more, having failed to attract sufficient subscribers to make it a viable project.