Economist Robert MacCulloch takes aim at NZME’s opposition to a potential remake by investor Jim Grenon, suggesting their concern is less about editorial independence and more about preserving the status quo.
“Is it concerned a takeover may end its outrageous bias?” he asks, mocking board chair Barbara Chapman’s warning that “radical disruption is not the answer.”
Chapman, he notes, also sits on the boards of BNZ, Fletcher Building, Foodstuffs North Island, and the NZ Initiative—what MacCulloch implies is a clique of corporate insiders.
A former Herald contributor, MacCulloch says he stopped submitting opinion pieces after repeated rejections of his more critical takes—particularly on Jacinda Ardern’s economic record.
He quotes from a letter sent to editor Alanah May Eriksen:
“It is not a charge I level lightly, but there is no other explanation … I strive to write from a ‘critic and conscience’ non-partisan perspective … However I’ve found that the Herald is not letting me do so.”
While the Herald still publishes writers like Richard Prebble, MacCulloch argues these voices don’t truly challenge the prevailing narrative. “They don’t perceive Richard as the same kind of threat … who use more strident language than old school, gentlemanly Prebs.”
In his view, “The Herald does not serve New Zealand; it has failed New Zealand.”
Centrist Ltd.