Just watch what you say

The Minister of Revenue did not like a couple of columns in the New Zealand Herald from National Party affiliated people - Ministers of former National governments. 

Recall that the Herald also runs columns from the left, including Labour-affiliated. But that isn't the point here. 

Here's the letter, signed by the Minister of Revenue as Minister of Revenue, courtesy of Simeon Brown on Twitter.

The Government is currently progressing legislation on media regulation, and will be introducing legislation on media funding (the Google/Facebook link tax mess). 

The newspapers are generally supportive of stealing from Google and Facebook to help pay their bills, but have expressed concerns about the media regulation bill. 

Stuff chief executive Sinead Boucher said the moves had the potential to “significantly impact independent New Zealand media companies and our journalists”.

“Professional independent New Zealand media companies are already heavily regulated. Further regulation of the news media is wasteful and could impact press freedom.

“The Government’s focus should be on regulating the business practices, content and business models of the social platforms which are under-regulated, publish enormous volumes of harmful content, and are not subject to already strict laws governing New Zealand media companies and journalists.”

So media regulation is currently in-play, as is legislation that would affect media revenues. 

The Herald publishes a couple columns that Minister David Parker does not like, and they get a rebuke from the Minister in their letters section. 

Cabinet decisions are coming on bits of legislation directly affecting the Herald. Minister Parker is in Cabinet. 

Surely the Herald shouldn't infer from this rebuke that the Herald should be careful about criticising the government, lest the legislation that will directly affect them and that is currently in-play be affected.

Because you could only infer that in a banana republic - a tinpot little Pacific country. 

Maybe you should worry about it if you were in the kind of country where the Minister of Broadcasting and Media makes threats to platforms that they ought to 'voluntarily' give more money to his preferred media companies. 

But certainly not in New Zealand.

Because that sort of thing just doesn't happen here.