While searching the labyrinth known as “Documents” on my computer, I came across this paper that I wrote in 2016 as a sort of aide memoire for a presentation I gave to the Broadcasting Standards Authority on the subject of ‘offence’. It still has relevance in the current discussion on harmful online content.
Author: Gavin Ellis
Gavin Ellis is a media consultant, commentator and researcher. He holds a doctorate in political studies. A former editor-in-chief of the New Zealand Herald, he is the author of Trust Ownership and the Future of News: Media Moguls and White Knights (London, Palgrave) and Complacent Nation (Wellington, BWB Texts). His consultancy clients include media organisations and government ministries. His Tuesday Commentary on media matters appears weekly on his site www.whiteknightnews.com
RNZ ‘pro-Kremlin garbage’ enquiry has lessons for all newsrooms
The penetrating review of Radio New Zealand’s “pro-Kremlin garbage” scandal by an independent panel has a clear message for all news media: Make sure your own houses are in order.
The expert review panel – long-time media lawyer William Akel, broadcaster-turned-lawyer Linda Clark, and former Australian Broadcasting Corporation Editorial Standards Director Alan Sunderland – found the sub-editor who doctored Reuters content had breached editorial standards. However, the panel also found a swathe of systemic issues within RNZ that could well be repeated in other news organisations.
To recap: In June, RNZ was accused of publishing overseas wire stories on its website which had been deliberately edited to include unattributed statements that were one-sided and contested. RNZ subsequently found 49 stories that were inappropriately edited. This included adding pro-Russian content to stories on the invasion of Ukraine. The RNZ board ordered an independent review.
The review found the journalist at the centre of the controversy “genuinely believed he was acting appropriately to provide balance and accuracy, and was not motivated by any desire to introduce misinformation, disinformation or propaganda.” Nonetheless, he breached editorial standards.
It could have ended there: A misguided individual who had since resigned and was no longer a problem for the public broadcaster. But the review panel did not stop there. It found that RNZ’s structure, culture, systems, and processes contributed to what had happened and sheeted home responsibility for that to RNZ’s leadership.
Other media might say it ended there: It was RNZ’s problem and a result of its unique way of doing things. But those ways are not unique, and other media organisations could face their own embarrassments if they do not audit their processes and, where necessary, make the sort of changes recommended to RNZ by the review panel. Continue reading “RNZ ‘pro-Kremlin garbage’ enquiry has lessons for all newsrooms”
Joint funding for Local Democracy Reporting
NZ on Air and Radio New Zealand have announced that they will combine forces to fund the Local Democracy Reporting scheme for a further year. That is good news.
NZ on Air today published my review of the LDR scheme and the Open Justice scheme. My report has been posted here: https://d3r9t6niqlb7tz.cloudfront.net/media/documents/LDR_OJ_Review_August_2023.pdf
Bring me sunshine: Just enough to warm my soul a little
Have years of low pay, low esteem, and lay-offs taken such a toll on journalists that they have become incapable of viewing the world as anything but a grim, dark place?
Almost every time I pick up a newspaper, switch on a news bulletin, or access a news website, I am presented with a picture redolent of Thomas Hobbes’ state of nature in which life is “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short”.
Our news outlets are pervaded by negativity: Violent crime, social dysfunction, economic gloom, and conflict ranging from warring nations to warring neighbours. Continue reading “Bring me sunshine: Just enough to warm my soul a little”