Watch: Tearful AM hosts open show after shock Newshub decision

Author: Raphael Franks and Sam Hurley,
Publish Date: Thu, 29 Feb 2024, 7:11AM

AM hosts Lloyd Burr and Melissa Chan-Green have shed tears as they opened their show this morning, saying the past 24 hours have been ‘pretty tough’ following the shock announcement of Newshub’s looming closure.

The decision to shut down one of the country’s biggest news outlets by the end of June has left staff devastated, saddened and heartbroken. Up to 300 jobs are expected to be lost.

Wider reaction has included dismay at the loss of one of two of New Zealand’s 6pm news outlets, with several politicians, including the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, describing it as troubling for the country’s democracy.

The loss of the newsroom means the AM Show will also shut down, with hosts Lloyd Burr and Melissa Chan-Green speaking this morning of their grief at the announcement.

A tearful Chan-Green said she had been “so lucky to work here for the last 17 years”.

”It’s got me through some pretty dark times…I’m so lucky to work with all of you guys.”

She thanked those in the newsroom including those who stayed to put bulletins out after hearing “such awful news”.

“We care about what we do and we care about what you watch and we’re just so thankful to have your company,” she said to the audience.

Burr - who has only been in the role for a few weeks - said the news had been “pretty tough”.

It had always been the case at Newshub that “when the chips are down, we can get through it. We somehow push through it,” he said. “John Campbell once said that we’re tighter than a fish’s bum.”

Newshub also reported on its own demise during its 6pm bulletin last night, airing heartfelt coverage and comments from some of its journalists.

Presenter Mike McRoberts introduced the story with the following sting: “Going, going, not quite gone. The future’s looking bleak for Newshub.”

Newshub then reported comments from Warner Bros Discovery chief executive Glen Kyne, journalist Patrick Gower, and McRoberts’ description of news of the closure as a “bombshell”.

Mike McRoberts and Ryan Bridge leave a meeting where Newshub employees were told of the impending closure of the business in June. Photo / Dean Purcell

McRoberts said: “We’ve had cuts and survived cuts in the past, but to lose the whole news operation and entity so entwined in the fabric of our society here in Aotearoa, it’s absolutely heartbreaking.”

Senior Newshub journalist Michael Morrah covered news of the closure, saying the announcement yesterday morning was “completely out of the blue and utterly devastating for myself and all of my colleagues”.

Morrah said: “Many of us have worked together for decades. Management said there would be an opportunity for feedback on the proposal, although most I’ve spoken to don’t believe that will change anything.”

Presenter Samantha Hayes said: “This is not the story we thought we would be covering today. We’re all feeling it.”

Senior Newshub journalist Michael Morrah reported on the proposed closure of his own organisation. Photo / Dean Purcell

Morrah said the news was still “sinking in”.

“The most difficult part of all of this is that we’re all mates here at Three. We’re like a family. So to get this news today is just devastating.

“We’re all proud of the news service we provide and we’re passionate about news and journalism. And so today, with this announcement, it was pretty shocking. You had messages to myself and colleagues from family and friends, as well as our colleagues in other news media outlets like Stuff, the Herald, RNZ, so it is reverberating around the media landscape.

“This will change the entire landscape of journalism in the country.”

Paddy Gower (left), Karen Rutherford and Charlotte Foster leave Newshub offices after staff were told of a proposal to shutter the news business. Photo / Dean Purcell

Warner Bros. Discovery head of networks Glen Kyne announced the news during a meeting at 11am yesterday, starting by saying, “folks, this is awful”.

When McRoberts left the meeting, he told media the news was “heartbreaking”, and said, “We are a pretty good newsroom, if we can’t make it work who can.”

Staff then began leaving the meeting, many in tears and refusing to comment to other media outside. Some said they were going to the pub.

Following the announcement, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said it was “shocking and saddening”.

Melissa Chan leaves a meeting where Newshub employees were told of the impending closure of the business. Photo / Dean Purcell

Luxon said it was a “pretty tough day” for the more than 250 families of those working at Newshub, including dozens of high-profile presenters and journalists such as 6pm McRoberts and Hayes.

He said consumers were choosing to get their news through a variety of mediums and outlets and he was confident a “plurality of voices” in New Zealand would continue.

Luxon said he spoke to Newshub bosses before the announcement was made at the all-staff meeting.

He said he had wanted to understand why the decision was made and what that meant for staff.

“What was quite obvious to me is that Warner Bros Discovery is one of the largest global media companies in the world, $20 billion [market capital] I think, is what it’s worth, and as a result, they couldn’t make that business model work and so they’re having to face up to declining advertising revenues, also changing consumer habits, and that’s why they’ve come to the decision they have,” Luxon said.

Luxon said his discussion with Warner Bros Discovery had led him to believe there was nothing the Government could have done to change its decision.

Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters told journalists Newshub’s closure was a “disaster for this country’s democracy”.

Peters said he had personally considered whether Government changes were required for the media industry but he wouldn’t give his thoughts without the backing of his Government coalition partners.

Staff leaving the meeting, many in tears and refusing to comment to other media outside. Some said they were going to the pub. Photo / Dean Purcell

Act leader and Minister of Regulation David Seymour said it was a sad day for the local media industry and democracy, which needed a competitive fourth estate.

He said he had asked for advice around whether it was a level playing field between TVNZ and other broadcasters. Seymour added it might require TVNZ having to pay a dividend as other companies were expected to do.

Broadcasting Minister Melissa Lee also said she’d spoken with Warner Bros Discovery’s Kyne on Tuesday night, who had informed her of the announcement.

Warner Bros Discovery head of networks (NZ, Australia, Japan) Glen Kyne.

She said Kyne told her the Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill - which proposed to compel social media companies such as Facebook to pay for the local news content it used on its platform - wouldn’t have made a “single bit of difference”.

“There was nothing that could’ve actually helped,” Lee said, adding the failure came due to a lack of advertising revenue.

Lee later clarified that Newshub hadn’t specifically asked for financial aid.

Journalists at one of the country’s biggest media companies are devastated, saddened and heartbroken after an announcement yesterday that their outlet, Newshub, would close in a few months. Photo / Dean Purcell

Labour leader Chris Hipkins said yesterday’s announcement was a “dramatic change” and “a sad day for news media and a sad day for democracy in New Zealand”.

“Democracy in New Zealand does rely on informed debate and having a diversity of media sources is actually really important to that,” Hipkins added.

“Newshub is a very large player in the New Zealand media sector and in the New Zealand journalism space. This is bad news for the overall heart and health of our democracy.”

Hipkins said it was “problematic” that New Zealand would now only have one TV news producer, the state-owned but commercially funded TVNZ.

“I think it is problematic that we will effectively now only have one television broadcast news producer, and you know that is a real tragedy.”

Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.

Sam Hurley is the Herald’s news director and joined in 2017 after previously working for 1News and Hawke’s Bay Today.