RNZ made the right decision

Mani Dunlop finished up last week after 12 years at RNZ.

The state broadcaster published a tribute to the Midday Report presenter but didn’t go into the circumstances of her departure.

For that, you had to read a report of Dunlop's last broadcast in the New Zealand Herald, in which she made it clear that she quit after being passed over for “the top job” – an obvious reference to the co-presenter’s chair on RNZ’s flagship programme, Morning Report. "When you don't get the top job," she's quoted as saying, "it's time to go elsewhere."

I speculated on this blog in December that Dunlop was a prime contender for the Morning Report position after Susie Ferguson quit mid-year. I acknowledged that Dunlop ticked a lot of boxes (capable, young-ish and Maori) but I also said it would be wrong to appoint her.

That’s because she’s the fiancée of a cabinet minister, Kiri Allan. Even if Dunlop bent over backwards to be fair and neutral as a presenter and interviewer, the programme’s credibility would be compromised by the public knowledge that she was the partner of a senior government politician, especially in an election year.

In the event, RNZ surprised everyone by making an appointment from outside the organisation: former TV journalist Ingrid Hipkiss. She’s expected to join Corin Dann on the show this month.

We don’t know whether Dunlop was passed over because of her relationship with Allan, but I think RNZ made the right decision. To appoint her would have been provocative, at the very least.

Suspicion of mainstream media bias is rampant enough already. Trust in RNZ, which as a publicly owned broadcaster has a special obligation to be even-handed, would have been further undermined.  

There was a hint of bitterness in Dunlop’s parting remarks to the Herald and a cryptic reference to haters. “To the haters, and there’s plenty of them, come on the journey,” Dunlop is quoted as saying. Who the supposed haters are wasn’t explained.  

Dunlop said she had no idea what she would do next and would be taking her time to decide.

Correction: The original version of this post said Dunlop made her comments in an interview with the New Zealand Herald. In fact she made them on air and was reported in the Herald.