Name change: Knightly Views

UPDATED: White Knight News has become Knightly Views. Nothing changes but the name – a move made necessary by unfortunate associations. The old URL will still bring you to the site but please amend saved links to www.knightlyviews.com

Knightlyviews.com emphatically has no connection with any white supremacist organisation and utterly rejects any the doctrines of hate to which they adhere. The knight image envisaged here is a chivalrous champion and one prepared to ride to the rescue of (in this context) journalism and the principles for which it stands.

The current image depicts a knight slaying a dragon. The previous knightly image on the banner was the white knight from the Lewis chess pieces, carved from walrus ivory in the late 12th or early 13th century (probably in Trondheim, Norway). Such a shame that his good name has been sullied by bigots.

How afraid should NZME be?

New Zealand Herald publisher NZME should be afraid. It remains to be seen whether it should it be very afraid.

The abrupt exit by company chairman Peter Cullinane last week was the first move against the company by Australian fund manager shareholders but it will not be their last.

Cullinane resigned only hours before a shareholders’ meeting at which he was up for re-election and later conceded that “it recently became apparent that I didn’t have the support of significant Australian fund managers.”

He said the obvious reason was the depressed share price. Continue reading “How afraid should NZME be?” →

That existential crisis again

A Zoom presentation by Dr Gavin Ellis delivered to the Ponsonby U3A on 12 June 2020

The bad news is that journalism has taken a body blow during the Covid-19 crisis. And, like so many in my age group, the damage has been caused not so much because it tested positive to Covid-19 but because it has underlying health issues.

Since the announcement that the country would move into lockdown, close to 600 people employed in the news media have lost their jobs: 237 when Bauer closed down its entire New Zealand magazine operation, 200 from NZME including the closedown of Radio Sport, and 130 from the beleaguered MediaWorks (but not from TV3, because MediaWorks was trying to flog it off). AGM closed three architectural magazines. There will be others that passed without notice.

Blame for the layoffs and shutdowns was laid at the feet – probably more appropriately the spike protein – of Covid-19. And it undoubtedly played a part. Media company cashflow during the lockdown declined by up to 70 per cent. But it was by no means the complete story. Continue reading “That existential crisis again” →

Perils of (literally) shooting the messenger

There is something alarmingly wrong in a democracy when police physically attack journalists and its politicians normalise verbal abuse of the media. But, if we are not worried because it’s happening half a world away, we should be.

We need to worry because there is a far-reaching corrosive effect in what is happening in the United States and shown daily on the news feeds and social media accessed by many in this country.

The agreement that allows newsgatherers to bear witness on the public’s behalf is a fragile thing with strictly limited legal force. It is an understanding between media and the public but the average person on New Zealand streets has little comprehension of either its purpose or importance. Continue reading “Perils of (literally) shooting the messenger” →