Pressure of Truth
Exposing the spin on all sides of the news.
Outlet profile

1News

New Zealand public-service, mainstream centrist

Owned by1News is the news division of Television New Zealand (TVNZ), a company wholly owned by the New Zealand Crown. Its board is appointed by the shareholding Ministers (Finance, and Media and Communications). Editorial independence from government is written into the Television New Zealand Act 2003.
FundingMostly commercial. Advertising brings in over 95% of TVNZ's income, and TVNZ pays for 1News from that revenue. Some programmes get public money: Q+A from NZ On Air and Te Karere from Te Māngai Pāho. TVNZ reported a net profit of about NZ$25.7 million in 2025 and paid the government a small dividend (about NZ$3.1 million).
On the administrationmostly neutral

Background

TVNZ's flagship bulletin began as the state broadcaster's TV One News, and was restyled as 1News in 2016 when TV One became TVNZ 1. TVNZ is a state-owned enterprise run on a commercial model rather than a licence-fee-funded public broadcaster. It became the dominant TV news provider after rival Newshub closed in July 2024, with nearly 300 jobs lost. Stuff then began producing a new nightly bulletin, ThreeNews. In 2024 TVNZ also cut jobs and proposed shutting the 1News website and app, but it later dropped that plan and kept the site. In May 2026 the Broadcasting Standards Authority found that a 13 September 2025 1News item misrepresented President Trump's 'I couldn't care less' comment after the killing of Charlie Kirk. It ordered TVNZ to broadcast a statement on the ruling. Critics on the right have accused it of misleading editing, and media-bias raters generally place it near the centre. Its overall perspective is mainstream and establishment, and I found no evidence of a consistent partisan slant toward or against the U.S. administration.

Sources

  1. Television New Zealand (TVNZ) – State Media Monitor
  2. TVNZ – Wikipedia
  3. 1News – Wikipedia
  4. TVNZ to retain 1News website
  5. Newshub closure confirmed, nearly 300 jobs to go
  6. TVNZ found in breach of broadcasting standards over Trump report – RNZ
  7. Inaccurate 1News reporting of Trump comment breached broadcasting standards – Scoop
  8. 1News – Media Bias/Fact Check

Profile compiled 2026-10-07; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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