Lessons for TVNZ and RNZ from the architect of the ABC’s digital transformation

Former ABC head of news and innovation Gaven Morris (Image: ABC / Archi Banal) Gaven Morris led the ABC from linear supremacy to a digital powerhouse. He tells Duncan Greive how he did it – and the lessons it contains for our public media in the wake of the abandoned merger. “I think one of the challenges with what was attempted with the public media project in New Zealand was that I’m not sure that in the beginning, there was enough strategic thought given to what the outcomes are going to be,” says Gaven Morris, joining me on The Fold podcast from his Sydney offices. That’s not a particularly controversial statement, especially now, with the merger of TVNZ and RNZ abandoned. But it’s worth paying close attention to what Morris says, both because of the emphasis on outcomes – what we, the paying public, would actually get – and because of Morris’ history. He might be the person in this region most qualified to speak on the challenges and opportunities for public media in the digital era, having led news for state broadcaster the ABC from 2015 until 2022. He joined the organisation in the late 2000s, after having […]

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