Finance Minister Grant Robertson says the government will not allow New Zealand's media sector to implode as Covid-19 causes advertising revenue to plummet.
NZME has already closed one radio station indefinitely and MediaWorks has asked staff to take a 15 percent pay cut, due to the loss of revenue due to the crisis.
Robertson told Morning Report New Zealand can't become a country with only state-owned media.
"The state cannot be the only media and so we need to make sure that we continue to support plurality of media sources in NZ. How we do that will depend a little bit on where those media outlets end up."
It comes as a new scheme will offer a total of $6.25 billion in loans to New Zealand businesses.
It will allow those with annual revenue between $250,000 and $80 million to apply to their banks for loans of up to $500,000, for up to three years.
The Government is guaranteeing 80 percent of the risk, while the banks are covering the remaining 20 percent.
It comes as the government is warning that unemployment could climb into the double digits as the fallout of Covid-19 continues.
Economist Shamubeel Eaqub has said it could reach between 15 and 30 percent.
Click the link above to hear the full interview.
