Media academics urge government to reconsider scrapping of BSA
• May 13, 2026
Minister of Media and Communications Paul Goldsmith says the BSA is “out of date”. Photo: Supplied
A group of more than 60 New Zealand media academics have sent a letter to Minister of Media and Communications Paul Goldsmith, urging the government to modernise the Broadcast Standards Authority (BSA).
The BSA is an independent public body which oversees standards and handles public complaints for New Zealand broadcast media.
The government announced its plans to scrap the BSA on May 6, 2026, after concerns over its being “outdated” and unsuitable for the modern media environment.
In a recent interview with Te Waha Nui, Minister Goldsmith said, “Things are very different to what they were back in 1989 when the legislation was passed.”
He said that with the way broadcasting is changing, the BSA “doesn’t make sense” and the time has come to “turn the page.”
Aotearoa communication and media (ACM) scholarly community submitted the letter on May 13, 2026, which said the current government has failed to foster a “beneficial media environment.”
The letter said, “Instead, it proposes to abolish the BSA outright, in tandem with cuts to public media funding and the absence of any credible plan for online safety regulation, leaving Aotearoa with weaker protections than at any point in the past three decades.”
AUT associate professor in journalism Merja Myllylahti signed the letter because she believes now is a more important time than ever to have regulating bodies for New Zealand media.
"What we are calling for is not scrapping the whole BSA.
"We all agree that there has to be reform . . . because in the current broadcasting system, it doesn't quite work in the way it should be."
Myllylahti says that in an ever-changing media environment, getting rid of the BSA could be harmful to the quality of New Zealand broadcast media.
"Now is not the time to abolish regulation as they're planning to do," she said.
Goldsmith said the New Zealand Media Council would cope with the offload of BSA complaints, but Myllylahti said it doesn’t have the resources needed for such an influx.
"They're just moving these BSA complaints there, but who's going to handle them? Who's going to do all that work? Where's the money coming from?"
The recent AUT Trust in New report, shows that many New Zealanders trust the news because they think the media is held accountable by media regulators.
Co-author of the report, Myllylahti said, "The media has to be held accountable, because that's related to trust.
"Take away all of the accountability, what happens to the trust?
"That’s my big worry."
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AI was not used in the creation of this story.
