Over in England a recent story on how much senior BBC staffers were paid attracted a fair bit of attention. The basic answer was lots and lots, far more than is even conceivable necessary for someone to have a full and rewarding live.
Questions have been asked about what the situation is here. In particular how much is Mike Hosking paid by TVNZ?
The likely answer is lots and lots. So that he can downplay scandals involving National, pontificate about how great laissez faire capitalism is, complain how the Paris Accord on Climate Change is a hoax, boast on how only the best rise to the top, indulge in his John Key love in, and talk about his expensive cars it appears that we pay him heaps.
But wait I hear you ask, shouldn’t the state broadcaster that is essentially owned by us be politically neutral and not favour one party over the other? Surely that sort of stuff only happens in North Korea? If you think that then you have clearly taken the blue pill.
What does the Hosk think about the possibility of his salary being publicised?
Hosking said it wasn’t a debate he was interested in having.
“Do we need to know what the newsreader earns? No, because who can possibly win out of that? … Just imagine if my salary was made public? Can you imagine the reaction, very little of which would be rational …
“How hard can it be, they would say, to sit and talk for a couple of hours a day? When that’s the level of debate, the debate is going nowhere fast. Therefore, it is not worth having.”
He argued that as long as he was doing his job, he was entitled to his salary.
“Any wage is the result of a couple of people agreeing on terms and conditions … wages aren’t a democracy, they’re a business transaction, and if the people writing the cheques are happy, that is the end of that.”
Of course Hosking completely ignores the point. TVNZ is not a private business. It is a media entity owned by the Crown. It should be strictly balanced in its reporting of issues and news and when performing its reporting function should provide us with information and not spin. It does not exist to give him a right wing soap box and help maintain him in a lifestyle that few can even aspire to.
Clearly though Hosking believes that TVNZ is nothing more than a business. And as one of life’s winners he should be paid the exorbitant amount that clearly he is being paid. And not have to tell anyone what it is.
If there is a change of Government I hope that his contract is renegotiated and that he is paid what he is worth. The living wage will do.
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