The Hui production company boss on show’s closure after 11 years – Phil Smith

The Hui was a voice and an advocate. A soldier, at times, and a deeply embedded part of Māori communities. It gave people a voice who might otherwise never have been heard.

It was the little guy that punched well above its weight. It won best current affairs programme, best presenter and its reporters broke powerful stories of consequence for Māori and New Zealand in general.

One of those was Ngā Mōrehu – Survivors of State Abuse, the extraordinary investigation into the horrific experiences of Māori men abused in state-run boys’ homes. That journalism helped expose a national disgrace and contributed to the pressure that led to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care.

That’s what good current affairs does. It doesn’t just report the news. Sometimes it makes the news. Sometimes it changes things.

We are enormously grateful to the broadcasters who supported us, to our loyal audiences and especially to Te Māngai Pāho (TMP) and NZ on Air for 11 amazing years. Thank you!

And let’s be clear. We’re not bitter. We’re not angry.

We understand the funding environment. TMP has limited money. NZ on Air has limited money. The networks are struggling. Everyone turns to the same funders, and there simply isn’t enough to go around.

They don’t have easy jobs. And there is no individual to blame.

In the end, it was the loss of TMP funding that ended us. NZ On Air was a part funder and was about to consider another series. But without TMP sharing the funding, we were dead in the water. We simply couldn’t sustain it.

We sought sponsors, with little success. Television sponsorship has plummeted, despite the incredible exposure and brand alignment it can provide. It’s not always sexy for advertising agencies, but for clients who want to connect directly with an audience, it can be incredibly powerful.

And if an amazing sponsor came out of the woods who understood the commercial power of Māori audiences, and the value of having a direct connection with those communities, who knows, we could be back!

Give us a call!

But this isn’t really about us.

It’s about something much bigger.

We’ve lost Sunday. Now we’re losing The Hui.

And with every one of these long-form weekly current affairs programmes, we lose another place where New Zealanders can see themselves, hear their own stories, and have the people in power challenged.

Long-form television current affairs has always been a vital part of the news landscape. It gives journalists the time to dig deeper, to investigate, to challenge, to tell stories that can’t be squeezed into a two-minute news item or a 30-second social media clip.

Its disappearance is a watershed moment for New Zealand media.

I envy Australia. They still have Four Corners. The UK still hasPanorama. These are institutions. Programmes that investigate, expose, question and occasionally make governments very uncomfortable.

That’s a good thing.

We have Q+A, and thank goodness for it. But Q+A is primarily an interview programme. It’s not the same as having teams of investigative journalists out in the field, spending weeks or months digging into stories that matter. I am thrilled Mata received funding for its campaigning work.

And at a time when the economics of television current affairs are changing rapidly, the issues needing coverage are becoming more urgent, not less.

Climate change. Artificial intelligence. The cost of living. Inequality. The treatment of our most vulnerable people.

Who’s digging into these issues? Who’s asking the difficult questions? Who’s holding the powerful to account?

Instead, we increasingly get choreographed Insta soundbites from politicians. Carefully managed messages. Meaningless little clips that are great for political egos but tell voters very little.

There are fewer and fewer hot seats where the people we elect have to sit down and answer direct, difficult questions.

The mute button is going on.

And there’s another part of this that really worries me.

New Zealanders are seeing themselves less and less on their own television screens.

We see more Aussies, more Brits, more Americans. We know their stories, their politics, their problems, their communities. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

But what about ours?

Who are we? Where are our stories? Where are the forums where we can argue, debate, celebrate, laugh at ourselves, challenge ourselves and work out what sort of country we want to be?

Television has always been one of the great ways a country gets to know itself.

And we are losing that.

I worry that without these voices, without proper debate, without the powers that be being challenged, we risk losing something fundamental about our identity.

We disappear down algorithmic rabbit holes. We retreat into our own little worlds. We stop listening to each other. And we stop seeing and celebrating ourselves for who we are.

That’s dangerous for any democracy.

I urge the Government to look damned hard at this.

TMP needs more money. Fact. For the language. For the people. For the stories that need to be told. NZ On Air is being asked to do more with less. It, too, needs a boost, not a boot, to keep our stories on screen.

And the wider issue of funding serious New Zealand journalism needs urgent attention too.

This isn’t about blaming TMP, NZ On Air, the networks or any one politician. It’s about recognising that something important is disappearing before our eyes.

I’m not angry. I’m not bitter.

I’m just sad.

Sad for our journalists, who have given so much. Sad for the communities whose stories won’t be told. And sad for New Zealanders, who deserve to see themselves and hear themselves on their own screens.

We need voices.

We need to see the powerful challenged more than ever.

And instead, we’re turning off the tap.

Phil Smith is an award-winning New Zealand television producer, writer, journalist and entrepreneur. He is the founder and chief executive of Great Southern Television, an independent production company he launched in 2002.