The Fold

The Fold

A podcast covering the chaotic New Zealand media industry, hosted by The Spinoff managing editor Duncan Greive.

Latest Episodes

24 December 2020

The wildfire that was 2020 for NZ media, reviewed

The pandemic put unbearable pressure on New Zealand’s media this year, but also saw it gain larger and more engaged audiences than ever before. In a year-ending monopod, Duncan Greive wraps his head around what it all means. I've tried to capture the sweep of this incredible year by drilling… The pandemic put unbearable pressure on New Zealand’s media this year, but also saw it gain larger and more engaged audiences than ever before. In a year-ending monopod, Duncan Greive wraps his head around what it all means. I've tried to capture the sweep of this incredible year by drilling into the news organisations, journalists and other players in the ecosystem. Broadly it felt like a year in which, under some of the most extreme duress imaginable, journalism rediscovered its purpose, and both the public and government felt that too. So for an hour I went solo, taking the monopod format and going deep on the following topics:

Google and Facebook’s epic battle with Australian regulators, and what that means for New Zealand.
Sinead Boucher and Stuff’s triumphant year, from buying the company for $1 to the historic apology and everything in between – while still having questions over its future.
The contrasting strategy of NZME, which is clearly more focussed on business than editorial at this point.
The continued rollercoaster that is Sky, which started the year by buying Lightbox and ended it by losing its CEO (while gaining a very promising new one).
A holding pattern for RNZ, which tried to change and found New Zealand’s most powerful NIMBYs camped on its lawn.
TVNZ deftly using its dominance to huge advantage – owning the local space, becoming the unquestioned winner of the free VOD platforms and positioning itself to be the main player in the suddenly-back-on RNZ/TVNZ merger.
A series of coups for Mediaworks, selling the TV arm to Discovery and installing Air NZ’s Cam Wallace as CEO of the new radio and outdoor company.
The unexpected vitality of the indie media space after the collapse of Bauer.

It’s all hyper-nerdy, but if you are, tragically for you, into this sort of thing, then there’s a solid hour of me talking at you about this heart attack year for our media. Merry Christmas, I guess? The Fold is proudly supported by Vodafone. With innovation made simple and world-class network technology, Vodafone will help maximise the potential of you and your business. Find out more at vodafone.co.nz Subscribe and listen via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or via your favourite podcast provider.

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22 December 2020

The Spinoff presents SUPERPOD 2020

Pour yourself some eggnog and join the hosts of The Spinoff’s podcast network for our annual Superpod round up of the year that was. Representing Gone By Lunchtime, Dietary Requirements, The Real Pod, Papercuts, The Fold and On The Rag our hosts dive into the key events, issues, heroes and… Pour yourself some eggnog and join the hosts of The Spinoff’s podcast network for our annual Superpod round up of the year that was. Representing Gone By Lunchtime, Dietary Requirements, The Real Pod, Papercuts, The Fold and On The Rag our hosts dive into the key events, issues, heroes and villains of 2020. From National’s botched election campaign to Ben Thomas’ take on TikTok, via the collapse of Bauer, the rise of oat milk, with a detour through controversial frozen grapes and Simon’s Sausage Spot, there’s something for everyone in this year’s Superpod. Featuring special guests producer T and Covid-19.

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4 December 2020

Turning words into action, with Laura O’Connell Rapira

The outgoing director of grassroots community campaigning organisation ActionStation joins Duncan Greive to talk about a busy few years in the job. ActionStation was formed in 2014, but it feels like it's been around much longer than that. The independent, crowdfunded community organisation has led a number of highly visible… The outgoing director of grassroots community campaigning organisation ActionStation joins Duncan Greive to talk about a busy few years in the job. ActionStation was formed in 2014, but it feels like it's been around much longer than that. The independent, crowdfunded community organisation has led a number of highly visible and successful campaigns across a wide range of issues during the last six years, thanks in no small part to the energy and forward thinking of its outgoing director Laura O’Connell Rapira. In her time the group has carried the conversation on everything from mental health to making Matariki a public holiday in a way that feels distinctly modern, online and media-savvy. To talk about what’s worked, what hasn’t, the highlights of the role and what’s next, Laura O’Connell Rapira joined host Duncan Greive on this week’s episode of The Fold. The Fold is proudly supported by Vodafone. With innovation made simple and world-class network technology, Vodafone will help maximise the potential of you and your business. Find out more at vodafone.co.nz Listen here, or download this episode (right click and save). Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, RSS or via your favourite podcast provider.

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23 November 2020

The boss of all rugby, with Mark Robinson

NZ Rugby is in a fascinating situation at the moment, with some big calls to be made over the coming years. The man in charge of making them joins Duncan Greive on this week’s episode of The Fold. Mark Robinson probably has one of the most complex jobs in the… NZ Rugby is in a fascinating situation at the moment, with some big calls to be made over the coming years. The man in charge of making them joins Duncan Greive on this week’s episode of The Fold. Mark Robinson probably has one of the most complex jobs in the country. As CEO of NZ Rugby he’s effectively the boss of everything from the All Blacks and Black Ferns to the clubs, the head of an organisation that has many, many different stakeholders. He only came into the job about nine months ago, which meant he was just getting his feet under the desk when Covid hit and threw the whole rugby season a massive dummy. The pandemic didn’t just disrupt the match schedule – it seemed to bring a lot of the sport’s underlying issues to the surface as well. This obviously makes the CEO’s job a much harder one than it would have been even a few years ago. NZ Rugby is in a fascinating situation, and decisions made under Mark Robinson’s tenure could make or break the sport’s future in New Zealand. To discuss this situation, as well as talking about Match Fit and what he admires about the NBA’s marketing model, he joined Duncan Greive for this week’s episode of The Fold. Listen here, or download this episode (right click and save). Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, RSS or via your favourite podcast provider.

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6 November 2020

Media, money and the government, with Bernard Hickey

This week on The Fold, journalist Bernard Hickey joins host Duncan Greive for a wide-ranging chat about the challenges faced by New Zealand media and why he’s launched a new subscription-only daily email. Working at the intersection of politics and economics, Bernard Hickey is one of the most interesting and… This week on The Fold, journalist Bernard Hickey joins host Duncan Greive for a wide-ranging chat about the challenges faced by New Zealand media and why he’s launched a new subscription-only daily email. Working at the intersection of politics and economics, Bernard Hickey is one of the most interesting and unique journalists in New Zealand today. As you’ll hear in this episode, he possesses a rare ability to make even the most mysterious or boring-sounding topics within these areas feel urgent, exciting and accessible. His latest venture in a long career (he’s one of the founders of Interest.co.nz, has held senior roles in the Fairfax/Stuff Business team and was one of the founders of Newsroom, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg) is The Kākā, a daily email which allows him to respond to unfolding stories in close to real time. To talk about why, as well as get stuck into government policy toward the media and the New Zealand media market, the wage subsidy, Stuff’s recent acquisition and more, he joined Duncan Greive in the studio for a no-holds-barred, boots’n’all episode of The Fold. Listen here, or download this episode (right click and save). Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, RSS or via your favourite podcast provider.

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23 October 2020

Melodie Robinson on the future of NZ sports broadcasting

From winning two world cups with the Black Ferns to heading up TVNZ’s sports and events department, Melodie Robinson’s career has been one full of remarkable firsts. She joins host Duncan Greive to talk about it on this week’s episode of The Fold. When the Ministry of Education decided to… From winning two world cups with the Black Ferns to heading up TVNZ’s sports and events department, Melodie Robinson’s career has been one full of remarkable firsts. She joins host Duncan Greive to talk about it on this week’s episode of The Fold. When the Ministry of Education decided to start a children’s educational channel during the first lockdown earlier this year, the job fell to the TVNZ department that had just found itself with not a lot of work on – sports and events. General manager Melodie Robinson and her team threw together the prop, got the contract and ended up setting up the entire channel in about 10 days. That’s just one remarkable story in a career full of them. Robinson started out in journalism as a press gallery reporter for Mana News, before moving into sports production at XtraMSN. She broke barriers as a rugby commentator presenter during a long career at Sky Sports, before moving into a new role at TVNZ. It’d be fair to say Robinson has seen some things and faced some challenges in her time at these institutions – and has some of the best stories in the business to show for it. She’s been a dream guest for The Fold since the podcast began, and we’re delighted to finally get her on for a chat this week. Listen here, or download this episode (right click and save). Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, RSS or via your favourite podcast provider.

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16 October 2020

A newcomer’s view from the press gallery, with Justin Giovannetti

The Spinoff’s new(ish) political editor Justin Giovannetti joins Duncan Greive to share his impressions from a hectic first six months on the job – and in New Zealand. When Justin Giovannetti interviewed for the job of political editor at The Spinoff, from Canada, the world was quite a different place.… The Spinoff’s new(ish) political editor Justin Giovannetti joins Duncan Greive to share his impressions from a hectic first six months on the job – and in New Zealand. When Justin Giovannetti interviewed for the job of political editor at The Spinoff, from Canada, the world was quite a different place. In the time it took for him to work out his notice with national newspaper The Globe and Mail, a global pandemic shut borders, grounded flights and threw everyone’s plans for the year into disarray. How Justin made it to New Zealand at all is a story for another podcast. This week on The Fold he joins Duncan Greive to talk about the baptism under fire that has been reporting on New Zealand politics for the first time in the middle of an election year, in the middle of a pandemic. New Zealand’s press gallery and political reporting style is pretty different to Canada’s – so what have been the weirdest things he’s had to get his head around, and what are his main impressions, as a newcomer, of this punishingly long election campaign? Listen here, or download this episode (right click and save). Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, RSS or via your favourite podcast provider.

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9 October 2020

Sido Kitchin is launching not one but four new magazine titles this year

Former NZ Women’s Weekly editor Sido Kitchin joins The Fold’s Duncan Greive to talk about starting School Road Publishing and launching a whole new stable of magazines following the collapse of Bauer Media. Sido Kitchin loves telling New Zealand women’s stories. An important figure in the magazine industry, she edited… Former NZ Women’s Weekly editor Sido Kitchin joins The Fold’s Duncan Greive to talk about starting School Road Publishing and launching a whole new stable of magazines following the collapse of Bauer Media. Sido Kitchin loves telling New Zealand women’s stories. An important figure in the magazine industry, she edited the New Zealand Women’s Weekly until earlier this year, when the collapse of Bauer Media brought it and a lot of other popular titles to an abrupt end. The six months since have been a period of regeneration for the magazine industry, with a number of new independent publishers, titles and websites blooming. Perhaps no one has moved as hard and fast as Sido Kitchin, who has set up School Road Publishing and established not just one but four new titles – Woman, Haven, Thrive and Scout. She joined The Fold host Duncan Greive in the studio this week for a chat about this tumultuous year, what it was like starting with a blank canvas and why the first issue of Woman is more true to her vision than any magazine she’s ever edited before – plus what it was like being a TV publicist in the golden era of big budget broadcast television. Listen here, or download this episode (right click and save). Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, RSS or via your favourite podcast provider.

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18 September 2020

Where are the Audiences? with NZ On Air’s Cameron Harland

The Fold host Duncan Greive speaks to NZ On Air’s new chief executive Cameron Harland about his first six months in the job and the findings of the recent Where Are the Audiences? report. Cameron Harland started his new job as the chief executive of NZ On Air in March,… The Fold host Duncan Greive speaks to NZ On Air’s new chief executive Cameron Harland about his first six months in the job and the findings of the recent Where Are the Audiences? report. Cameron Harland started his new job as the chief executive of NZ On Air in March, the week before the country went into level four lockdown. Duncan has wanted to get him on The Fold to pick his brain about the ins and outs of NZ On Air’s unique funding model ever since. In a follow-up to the previous episode of The Fold, which looked at the highlights of NZ On Air’s recent Where Are the Audiences? survey, Cameron Harland joined The Fold via Skype from Wellington this week to talk through the findings of the survey, how NZ On Air is adapting to serve increasingly fragmented audiences, and the challenges of operating through Covid-19. Listen here, or download this episode (right click and save). Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, RSS or via your favourite podcast provider.

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4 September 2020

The most eye-opening bits from NZ On Air’s new Where are the Audiences? report

Christmas has arrived early for The Fold host Duncan Greive – this week NZ On Air released Where are the Audiences?, a biannual survey of audience behaviour in New Zealand media. The report is unique in the way it attempts to measure the behaviour of such a diverse set of… Christmas has arrived early for The Fold host Duncan Greive – this week NZ On Air released Where are the Audiences?, a biannual survey of audience behaviour in New Zealand media. The report is unique in the way it attempts to measure the behaviour of such a diverse set of audiences across all media consumption. This year’s edition shows New Zealand at a crossroads, with digital media overtaking traditional media in largest daily audiences for the first time. It goes without saying that Duncan has already read the whole report from cover to cover. In this monopod edition of The Fold he picks out the most interesting data points, and discusses the seismic change it represent for the New Zealand media landscape. Listen here, or download this episode (right click and save). Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, RSS or via your favourite podcast provider.

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27 August 2020

How The Bulletin gets made, with Alex Braae

The man behind The Spinoff's popular morning newsletter joins Duncan Greive to reveal the secrets of how he manages to consume so much news. Most days Alex Braae starts work at approximately the same time as a dairy farmer. But instead of hopping on a quad bike to go and… The man behind The Spinoff's popular morning newsletter joins Duncan Greive to reveal the secrets of how he manages to consume so much news. Most days Alex Braae starts work at approximately the same time as a dairy farmer. But instead of hopping on a quad bike to go and milk a shed full of cows, he sits down at his computer to read a figurative shed full of news. The end product is just as important to a lot of people’s morning routines as a cold bottle of blue top milk – it’s The Spinoff’s daily newsletter The Bulletin. Since it started in 2018, The Bulletin has developed a loyal following among its more than 25,000 subscribers by collecting and distilling all the most important stories from across the New Zealand news landscape into a single email that hits inboxes at 7am every morning. But exactly how Alex does it remains a mystery to even his closest colleagues. He joins The Fold host (and his boss) Duncan Greive on this month’s edition of The Fold to explain the process behind the curation and creation of The Bulletin, discuss the state of New Zealand journalism (as someone who consumes more of it than most) and delve into the obsession with local democracy and minor parties which led him to embark on a Jucy campervan tour of the regions before Lockdown 2.0 hit. Listen here, or download this episode (right click and save). Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, RSS or via your favourite podcast provider.

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6 July 2020

Gaurav Sharma on the communities NZ’s media doesn’t serve

The associate editor of The Indian News joins host Duncan Greive to discuss his belief that New Zealand’s media ignores the quarter of our population not born here – and why both parties lose as a result. I first met Gaurav Sharma in the aftermath of March 15. New Zealand…

I first met Gaurav Sharma in the aftermath of March 15. New Zealand and the world has gone through so much trauma since then that it feels much further away than the 15 months which have elapsed since. He was there for another meeting, but afterwards a colleague said we had to meet, and we spoke for a half hour or so, and he talked to me about the impact of the attacks on the migrant community. Sharma edits the Multicultural Times, which grew out of the Migrant Times, each one a newspaper dedicated to telling stories about and for a community which he argues persuasively for being underrepresented in New Zealand’s media.

His own story is a microcosm of that – an engineer by training, he switched to journalism 12 years ago in India. He arrived in New Zealand five years ago, and found its society and his chosen profession entirely closed off to him. Hence starting two businesses.

He’s now associate editor of The Indian News, a weekly newspaper which he has broadened to include coverage of other immigrant communities within New Zealand. I asked him up to The Fold, my monthly podcast covering media within New Zealand, to talk about his own journey within New Zealand journalism, March 15, and his considered and powerful critique of New Zealand media. It’s a confronting conversation at times, but I think one which Pākehā like me within the New Zealand media need to hear to help us understand who we’re creating journalism for, and who we’re missing out.

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24 June 2020

Stuff’s CEO and owner Sinead Boucher on how she bought the company for $1

It will justifiably be lost the tumult of Covid-19, but the chaotic couple of weeks which finally saw the end of the Stuff-NZME saga were riveting and strange, replete with stock exchange announcements, legal challenges and finally the acquisition of New Zealand’s mosy-viewed news platform by its CEO for just… It will justifiably be lost the tumult of Covid-19, but the chaotic couple of weeks which finally saw the end of the Stuff-NZME saga were riveting and strange, replete with stock exchange announcements, legal challenges and finally the acquisition of New Zealand’s mosy-viewed news platform by its CEO for just $1. Six months after she appeared on the very first episode of The Spinoff’s media podcast, The Fold, I had Stuff CEO – and now Stuff’s sole owner – Sinead Boucher back to the show. She recounts those extraordinary few weeks, from the collapse of Bauer NZ, to just how brutalised ad revenues got in lockdown, the bailout package and the strange forces impacting journalism during level four. Sinead casually reveals what happened behind the scenes during those hectic times, and plots out the future for Stuff – New Zealand’s biggest employer of journalists, and the closest thing to a truly national news network that exists in this country. For those in and around the media, who watched the maneuvering of our two print media giants with awe and popcorn, it’s a pretty fascinating hour. Listen here, or download this episode (right click and save). Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, RSS or via your favourite podcast provider.

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8 May 2020

Bailey Mackey takes Māori storytelling to the world

He started as a journalist, became a producer, and is now one of NZ’s most successful TV creators. Bailey Mackey joins Duncan Greive on The Fold. This month’s episode of The Fold, The Spinoff’s media podcast, features host Duncan Greive in conversation with Bailey Mackey, a TV producer with one… He started as a journalist, became a producer, and is now one of NZ’s most successful TV creators. Bailey Mackey joins Duncan Greive on The Fold. This month’s episode of The Fold, The Spinoff’s media podcast, features host Duncan Greive in conversation with Bailey Mackey, a TV producer with one of the most interesting CVs in the entertainment industry. Mackey grew up in and around Gisborne, and got his start in broadcasting on Radio Ngāti Porou, before hitching to Auckland to audition for Te Karere. When he arrived he wore a suit two sizes too small, and saw Julian Wilcox auditioning for the same job. They both got the job, with Wilcox becoming an on-screen legend, while Mackey gravitated towards production, and eventually to reality TV, where he learned from the master – Julie Christie. Mackey was then a highly successful head of sport at Māori TV before launching his own businesses, first Black Inc and latterly Pango, which aims to take Māori storytelling to the world. His career has been stunningly successful, with the creation of hit shows in New Zealand like the huge but unjustly maligned The GC and Sidewalk Karaoke, a format sold to Fremantle, along with a slew of other shows created here and watched globally. Greive spoke with him about how you sell a show, what New Zealand does right and wrong in the screen trade, and the business as it is right now, decimated by Covid-19, but boiling with opportunity too. Download this episode or have a listen here. Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, RSS or via your favourite podcast provider.

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27 March 2020

How will Covid-19 impact NZ’s TV, radio and online news?

The Fold podcast returns for March into a media world transformed by the impact of Covid-19. Host Duncan Greive records a monopod to assess its impact. In last month's edition of this podcast, The Spinoff editor Toby Manhire and I discussed RNZ's Concert debacle. At the time, it was the… The Fold podcast returns for March into a media world transformed by the impact of Covid-19. Host Duncan Greive records a monopod to assess its impact. In last month's edition of this podcast, The Spinoff editor Toby Manhire and I discussed RNZ's Concert debacle. At the time, it was the biggest story in media; now it seems, like so many things, a quaint concern from a different time. The impact of Covid-19 has been so vast that there is no other news agenda – simply 'how the virus is impacting X'. Even Thursday's decision by the Christchurch mosque terrorist to change his plea to guilty had a notable Covid-19 dimension, as his victims were largely unable to face him in court – and thus what would have been the biggest story of any other month felt like it flashed by. Yet for all the global pandemic's power as an engulfing news story, it's the impact on the media business I discuss on March's The Fold. There's a huge paradox in its relationship to the media, in that all of us are seeing record ratings, which in normal times would lead to big revenue spikes – but because almost no client is advertising, the opposite is happening. Journalists are working harder than ever, serving bigger audiences than ever, but the bottom is falling out of the business in a completely unprecedented way. It's also making our work different: instead of being in our podcast studio in Morningside, I recorded it under a towel at home. And instead of a guest, I simply relayed my own thoughts. Literally everything has changed in our society now, and the media has had a supply, demand and operational shock up there with the best of them. Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, RSS or via your favourite podcast provider.

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23 February 2020

RNZ special: Toby Manhire on the Concert fiasco, the case for a youth channel and the TVNZ maybe-merger

The Spinoff editor Toby Manhire joins Duncan Greive to discuss the RNZ Concert saga, the potential merger with TVNZ and Winston Peters' new photography hobby on this month's episode of The Fold. Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, RSS or via your favourite podcast provider. The Spinoff editor Toby Manhire joins Duncan Greive to discuss the RNZ Concert saga, the potential merger with TVNZ and Winston Peters' new photography hobby on this month's episode of The Fold. Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, RSS or via your favourite podcast provider.

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26 January 2020

Exit interview: Newshub’s Hal Crawford on Weldon, Paul Henry and the truth about TV ratings

In episode two of The Spinoff newish media podcast The Fold, host Duncan Greive conducts an exit interview with Hal Crawford, the departing head of Newshub. Hal Crawford landed into a TV3 newsroom in crisis in 2016, just after Campbell Live had been axed, and Hilary Barry had resigned. He… In episode two of The Spinoff newish media podcast The Fold, host Duncan Greive conducts an exit interview with Hal Crawford, the departing head of Newshub. Hal Crawford landed into a TV3 newsroom in crisis in 2016, just after Campbell Live had been axed, and Hilary Barry had resigned. He had been hired by Mark Weldon, the much-maligned CEO who oversaw a transformation at MediaWorks, from a news-first organisation, to one whose schedule was increasingly dominated by reality TV – but Weldon himself resigned before Crawford even started. He was born and raised in Perth, cutting his teeth in print before going on to lead 9MSN, at onc ethe most-read news site in Australia, and one away from the swaggering centre of Australia news media. At TV3 he had a brutal learning curve, coming from a purely digital newsroom out of the public eye, to lead a TV-centred team with big stars and personalities. He oversaw the creation of the Newshub brand, the launch of The Project and The AM Show and an increasingly desperate atmosphere as he and his CEO Michael Anderson pleaded for government intervention to save the channel and newsroom. So far, no dice – the channel is officially for sale, and while there are rumoured to be a number of strong bidders, no announcement has been forthcoming. Crawford describes his time there was essentially a long series of crises, but almost grew to enjoy the adrenalin of it. Beyond MediaWorks, we discuss the rise and evolution of Facebook, whether ad-funded media has a future and what has happened to TV ratings over the past ten years. Few people in our media are smarter, or speak more freely – listen below or through your favourite podcast provider. Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, RSS or via your favourite podcast provider.

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27 November 2019

Sinead Boucher on reinventing Stuff – and why they are conscientious objectors to Facebook

Host Duncan Greive is joined by Stuff CEO Sinead Boucher to discuss the media monster's growth from an experimental website, to its queasy peak and the current more purpose-driven iteration. Along the way she revealed a number of fascinating insights into the reality of running a news organisation at scale… Host Duncan Greive is joined by Stuff CEO Sinead Boucher to discuss the media monster's growth from an experimental website, to its queasy peak and the current more purpose-driven iteration. Along the way she revealed a number of fascinating insights into the reality of running a news organisation at scale in 2019, including the fact that of the 150,000 comments readers attempt to post each month, a full third are rejected for violations. This brutal task is accomplished by human moderators – in striking contrast to the laissez faire attitude of Facebook. Plus her thoughts on the sale of Three, the ComCom decisions and the proposed RNZ/TVNZ merger. Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, RSS or via your favourite podcast provider.

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