TVNZ staff rally outside Auckland headquarters to protest proposed cuts to jobs and shows

TVNZ staff have rallied outside the broadcaster's Auckland headquarters to protest plans to axe shows and cut jobs.

Sunday, Fair Go, Midday and Tonight are facing cuts along with up to 68 jobs, TVNZ announced earlier this month.

The Save our Stories rally was organised by the union E tū, which presented an open letter to the company with more than 11,000 signatures.

TVNZ staff and supporters gathered at midday, wearing orange and holding signs with the words "save our stories" on them.

Miriama Kamo, veteran broadcaster and host of Sunday, addressed the crowd and noted the rally was not just about the loss of jobs but the "greater grief" journalists were feeling about the "disintegration" of the industry.

"What that means for our country is that the ability to do our job disappears, as do people's ability to be heard, understood and responded to. It's a reflection of what's happening to journalism here and across the world, the implications are very concerning.

"Our job is to listen to and reflect our national identity, to enable discussion and debate, to provide platforms for people to understand issues and consider where they stand and to strengthen democracy by holding power to account."

Shows like Sunday and Fair Go still made money and had high ratings, Kamo said, and it was "heartbreaking" to watch "trusted taonga of the industry be retired with little ceremony".

Kamo said she knew there was a time and season for everything, but New Zealanders were owed trusted news and current affairs.

"We know our industry has moved too slowly for digital, but it's also true our industry leaders and successive governments have failed to articulate a clear vision for what a thriving news and current affairs sector ought to look like.

"There's been little said to defend against the conspiracy theories that have in recent years been allowed, even encouraged to undermine our sector - this is deeply concerning. If our power brokers are afraid or dismissive of the work we do, this pillar will continue to corrode."

The world was becoming more divided and tense, Kamo said, and ever more susceptible to the creation of echo chambers.

"Don't let our voices be dimmed," she concluded.

TVNZ's youth news platform, Re: News, also faced possible cuts. Team members Baz Macdonald and Zoe Madden-Smith said TVNZ's proposal would mean a lot of long-form reporting would be lost.

Macdonald said he grew up watching "tier after tier of the way news was told falling away". He believed long-form reporting was now at risk.

"It's so important to the health of our country and the health of our democracy. What will the future of media look like for young New Zealanders?"

Re:News was in a "unique spot", Madden-Smith said, as some version of the platform would survive, but she believed it would not be sustainable.

"We won't be able to tell some of our most important stories. Some of our audiences use us as their only news source, so if we wither away, where will those people go? They'll disengage with media altogether.

"Youth should be able to speak for ourselves, we need to work together to make it sustainable. We've worked so damn hard and I don't want to lose it now."

Garth Bray from Fair Go, told the rally the prospect of being one of the last Fair Go reporters made him "sick and angry".

"The idea we'd lose something as precious as a show, which people invoke every day in this country whenever they get a raw deal, makes me angry.

"I've worked here for 28 years, but I wanted to be here well into the future. Sure, it's got to make money, but it's got to be there to tell our stories too."

TVNZ declined to comment, a spokesperson saying: "TVNZers' involvement with the union and any union activity is their choice and so we don't have a comment to make on this."