The Auckland-based, Canada-born billionaire making a bid for NZME's board says editorial content is a "side issue" and journalists should be "optimistic" about the future.
Private equity tycoon Jim Grenon, a New Zealand resident since 2012, bought a 9.3 percent stake in NZME for just over $9 million. NZME is publisher of a number of newspapers, including The New Zealand Herald, as well as operating radio stations and property platform OneRoof.
Within days of taking the stake, Grenon had written to the company's board proposing that most of its current directors be replaced with new ones, including himself.
The union representing the organisation's journalists, E Tu, was concerned by the move.
"We see a pattern that has been incredibly unhealthy in other countries," spokesperson Michael Wood said, of billionaires "moving into media ownership roles to be able to promote their own particular view of the world".
"Secondly, we have a situation here where when Mr Grenon purchased holdings in NZME he was at pains to make it sound like an innocent manoeuvre with no broader agenda... within a few days he is aggressively pursuing board positions."
Grenon has hit back at those comments, and seemingly at reports of NZME journalists' concerns.
He said many shareholders were funds trying to make a profit.
"It is concern about operational aspects of NZME that is driving this change. The editorial content is very much a side issue but the quality of the journalism does impact everything else in the business and is also the board's ultimate responsibility."
He said his proposal would be for a new board to improve on journalism, with an "an emphasis on factual accuracy, less selling of the writer's opinion and appealing to a wider political spectrum".
He said it could mean the NZ Herald spent more on editorial content and would mean training programmes to help staff advance their skills and careers.
"With the growing number of publications, higher quality is going to be important for the Herald to maintain relevance. My goal is to increase readership levels."
He said he had included in his communications with NZME a message that he "hoped journalists might find reassuring".
"NZME has chosen not to publish that, so far, so I am following up with this. Regardless of how the contest for directors turns out I would like the journalists, including union members, to be optimistic about their future."
Grenon said he expected there would be an editorial board "with representation from both sides of the spectrum".
Union doesn't know me - Grenon
He speculated whether the union pushback against him could be a drive for members in a challenging environment for media.
"No one at the union knows anything about me and is just speculating, based on very little information. Wealthy people are not all alike and come from all spectrums, including moderate. I do not have a history of being either a public or political person but I am concerned about the quality of the media in NZ.
"Note also that I will have just one vote on the board and I need the support of a lot of other shareholder votes to get on the board. I can also be voted out later."
There had been concerns about the editorial stance seemingly taken by other platforms Grenon had previously been involved in, Centrist and NZNE.
"It's largely news aggregation but it has very specific preoccupations around trans rights, treaty issues and particularly vaccine injury and efficacy. A lot of the time it's aggregating from mainstream news sites but there's a definite feel that things are under-covered or under-emphasised at mainstream news organisations," media commentator and founder of The Spinoff Duncan Greive said.
Grenon said drawing conclusions about what that might mean for the NZ Herald under his watch was a leap.
"Centrist is a small publication with a specific mandate to make the NZ news concise and curated for those who don't wish to take a lot of time to keep informed. This included some information on the other side of stories that were not being told in the sheltered enclave that is NZ.
"It is mostly aggregated articles, which was part of the inspiration for the name (ie. your centre for news). That is not the mandate of the Herald."
NZME has been approached for comment.
