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

updated 19 Jul 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

Australia-Fiji Security Treaty

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

See all coverage & the data →

articles · ▲ +23/wk

Left Alliance strengthens regional security cooperation StuffRead ↗ Centre Expansion of bilateral security ties 1News (TVNZ)Read ↗ Right New zealand exploring membership in a regional mutual defence pact NZ HeraldRead ↗

More coverage of this story

Has the Pacific's Ocean of Peace concept been hijacked?RNZ · 16 Jul · Read ↗ Pacific news in brief for 14 JulyRNZ · 14 Jul · Read ↗ Acting PM Seymour tells China, friends don’t ‘fire missiles around’ other friendsStuff · 13 Jul · Read ↗

India-Nz Strategic Ties▲ +23/wk

CentreElevated ties in security and tradeRNZ ↗ RightStrategic bilateral engagementNZ Herald ↗ Non-alignedStrategic partnership with shared valuesNewsroom Opinion ↗

Pacific Regional Security Agreement▲ +14/wk

LeftPacific nations advance regional defence collaborationStuff ↗ CentreStrengthening regional integration and stability1News (TVNZ) ↗ RightNew alliance initiative amid strategic shiftsNZ Herald ↗

Long-form · OpenBrief Reports

This month's retrospective

All reports →

Featured · Monthly

NZ Discourse Report — June 2026

1 July 2026 · 9 min read

Featured report

NZ Discourse Report — June 2026

The second monthly edition: compulsory KiwiSaver split the commentariat almost exactly in half, a $33m IT write-off put competence on the agenda with the press out in front, and the World Cup crowded out the campaign.

MonthlyDiscourseKiwiSaverAccountability

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.

Bird Flu H5n1 Confirmation13 articles · ▲ +13/wk See the data → Global Oil Price Volatility13 articles · ▲ +11/wk See the data → Paul Henry Mp Bid11 articles · ▲ +11/wk See the data → Strait Of Hormuz Blockade16 articles · ▲ +10/wk See the data →

Under-reporteddiscourse > press

The public is talking — most newsrooms are quiet.

Māori Leadership In Aotearoa 7 of 8 outlets quiet See the data → U16 Social Media Ban 5 of 8 outlets quiet See the data → Cost Of Living Pressures On Health 8 of 8 outlets quiet 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?

Government Accountability12/wk → 1/wk · ▼ -91%See the data → Immigration Tech Project Failure10/wk → 0/wk · ▼ -100%See the data → Kiwisaver Compulsory Contributions8/wk → 2/wk · ▼ -74%See the data →

Only on one channelcorpus mirror

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

Radio onlyFarmers' Confidence Gaptalk radio active · press silentSee the data → Radio onlyTravel Money Markupstalk radio active · press silentSee the data → Cost Of Livinga social conversation · 140% newsSee the data →

The lenses · top topics this week

What each corpus is talking about

Press

news · by article volume

Sam Neill Passing25 Emergency Response17 Strait Of Hormuz Blockade16 Tsunami Advisory Cancellation15 Open Press lens →

Discourse

commentary + talk radio

Cost Of Living17 Union Automatic Enrolment12 Paul Henry Mp Bid12 Cost-Of-Living Crisis11 Open Discourse lens →

Social

by engagement

Cost Of Living124,106 Treaty Of Waitangi Site52,183 Nz Priorities46,083 Globalist Strategy43,431 Open Social lens →

Media

newsroom scorecard

Newsrooms scored8

Coverage gaps this wk3

Biggest gapMāori Leadership In Aotearoa

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 143 → 69

Greenpeace Aotearoa 45 → 38

New Zealand Council of Trade Unions 70 → 22

Retail NZ 128 → 21

The Helen Clark Foundation 75 → 18

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.