The week in NZ political coverage — who's covering it, who's not

updated 10 Aug 2026

We watch the watchers, so you stay informed.

OpenBrief tracks New Zealand's significant political news, opinion, podcasts and social media — a curated, transparent set of sources, not the whole internet — then surfaces the signals the daily scroll hides: what's spiking, what's being ignored, what's fading, and how the left, centre and right frame the same story. Click any story to read it at the source — or open the data behind any signal.

Read ↗ opens the original story on the outlet's site

See the data → the articles & charts behind the signal

Which sources, and how the signals are computed → Methodology

The Spread · the week's biggest stories, three ways each

How the sides are framing it

#1 spike

Luxon's Mmp Referendum Announcement

The biggest jump in the press this week — read how the left, centre and right each told it.

See all coverage & the data →

articles · ▲ +11/wk

Left Unforced error in political messaging The SpinoffRead ↗ Centre Prime minister's commitment to electoral review 1News (TVNZ)Read ↗ Right Prime minister's view on mmp referendum NZ HeraldRead ↗

More coverage of this story

Coalition leadership is hard. Luxon’s ‘nuclear option’ of electoral reform is not the answerThe Conversation NZ · 7 Aug · Read ↗ Friday's Early Bird: National braces for poll after Luxon's dire week; Stanford wanted unlimited RSE workers; Bridges…The Kākā · 6 Aug · Read ↗ Luxon holds firm on MMP referendum call despite cross-party criticism1News (TVNZ) · 6 Aug · Read ↗ The Weekly Hoon: Luxon's MMP musings; NZ's jobspocalypse; Big data centres & sovereigntyThe Kākā · 6 Aug · Read ↗ To MMP or not to MMP, that is Christopher Luxon’s questionThe Spinoff · 6 Aug · Read ↗ News Briefing: 7 August 2026integrity-institute · 6 Aug · Read ↗

Mmp Referendum History And Precedent▲ +10/wk

LeftVoters previously affirmed support for MMPStuff ↗ CentreA risk of reverting to first-past-the-postNewsroom ↗ RightPm proposes vote to change voting systemNZ Herald ↗

Methamphetamine And Cocaine Imports▲ +8/wk

LeftCross-border drug trafficking operationStuff ↗ CentreTransnational drug import operation1News (TVNZ) ↗ RightAlleged illegal import of stimulant drugsNZ Herald ↗

Long-form · OpenBrief Reports

This month's retrospective

All reports →

Featured · Monthly

NZ Discourse Report — July 2026

1 August 2026 · 12 min read

Featured report

NZ Discourse Report — July 2026

The third monthly edition: a shipping-lane blockade became the vocabulary of a domestic campaign in twenty-one days, a missile test produced the month's only real consensus, the Foreign Minister out-covered the Prime Minister, and half of all measured agenda-setting traced to one organisation.

MonthlyDiscourseCost of livingLobbying

Read the report →

The signals · what the coverage data shows

Rising, ignored, fading & one-sided

Rising nowvs prior 4-wk avg

Topics climbing fastest in the press this week.

Luxon's Mmp Referendum Announcement11 articles · ▲ +11/wk See the data → Mmp Referendum History And Precedent10 articles · ▲ +10/wk See the data → Methamphetamine And Cocaine Imports8 articles · ▲ +8/wk See the data → Government-Business Relations8 articles · ▲ +7/wk See the data →

What's being forgottenvs prior 4-wk avg

Dominated last month — now gone. Did the story end, or did we move on?

Police Accountability9/wk → 3/wk · ▼ -67%See the data → Cost Of Living Pressures On Events9/wk → 0/wk · ▼ -100%See the data → Iran Military Strikes9/wk → 0/wk · ▼ -100%See the data →

Only on one channelcorpus mirror

Stories living in just one place — missing from the rest.

Radio onlyTreaty Settlement Renegotiationtalk radio active · press silentSee the data → Radio onlyLuxon's Apology And Voter Perceptiontalk radio active · press silentSee the data → Cost Of Livinga social conversation · 100% newsSee the data →

The lenses · top topics this week

What each corpus is talking about

Press

news · by article volume

Epsom Incident19 Wellington Snow Incident17 Coroner's Inquest Into Pauline Hanna's Death15 Record Power Demand12 Open Press lens →

Discourse

commentary + talk radio

Mmp Referendum History And Precedent16 Luxon's Mmp Referendum Announcement15 Unemployment Surge11 Waatea Radio Broadcast11 Open Discourse lens →

Social

by engagement

Unemployment Surge17,736 Mmp Referendum History And Precedent17,203 Binding Referendum On Māori Seats15,582 Local Business Support15,565 Open Social lens →

Media

newsroom scorecard

Newsrooms scored8

Open Media scorecard →

Money & influence · earned-media penetration

Lobby story penetration

How many of each group's press releases turned into carried coverage — fluctuates week to week as issues move.

Full scoreboard →

New Zealand Taxpayers' Union 174 → 47

Greenpeace Aotearoa 52 → 31

Retail NZ 133 → 15

Free Speech Union 29 → 15

Helen Clark Foundation 75 → 13

Read it as posted → carried. Releases issued vs stories that earned coverage. A high carried-to-posted ratio means a group's message travels far beyond what it puts out.

Releases postedStories carried

Track a lobby group →

Profiles & briefings · the people behind the politics

Who's who this term

Every MP with a living dossier — donations, pecuniary interests, directorships, ministerial diaries and media mentions.