Raising the Bar: The Day the News Dies

“The Day the News Dies” was a presentation – given in my role as an honorary research fellow at Koi Tū: The Centre for Informed Futures – at the Raising the Bar event organised by the University of Auckland on 27 August 2024. You can also listen to the talk here

There is a little book entitled The Piano Player in the Brothel by celebrated Spanish editor Juan Luis Cebrián. It takes its title from a popular saying: “Don’t tell my mother I’m a journalist. She thinks I play piano in the whorehouse”.

It’s an association that goes back some way. The 19th-century English philosopher John Stuart Mill – himself a sometime journalist – wrote: “Journalism is the vilest and most degrading of all trades because more affectation and hypocrisy, and more subservience to the baser feelings of others, are necessary for carrying it on than for any other trade from that of brothel-keeper upwards.” I’m not sure whether that is more an indictment of human beings than of journalists, but it’s journalism that sustains the reputational damage.

So, if it’s held in such low regard – apologies to any brothel-keepers present – why should we worry if it dies? I hope that by the end of this talk you will not only know the answer but be as worried by the prospect of its demise as I am. Continue reading “Raising the Bar: The Day the News Dies” →

More to a name than meets the eye

The local media equivalent of China Watchers will be keeping a close eye on who takes the job of chief executive at Stuff.

The position becomes vacant with the move by Laura Maxwell to take over News Corp’s Queensland operations.

The role of CEO in a one of our main media companies is significant in its own right but the next appointment could well have additional impact.

It may point to the future direction in which owner Sinead Boucher wishes to see the company go.

If the appointment is internal, the signal it sends will likely be ‘steady as she goes’. However, the identity of an external appointment could give clues to a strategic shift.

Stuff’s ultimate owner is Kenepuru Holdings, whose sole shareholder is Boucher. As a private company, Stuff does not have the same disclosure requirements as a listed company like NZME. Hence, we only know about Stuff’s plans if Boucher chooses to make a public comment.

However, if the new CEO is an external appointment, that person’s background may be a strong indicator of where Boucher wishes to take the company. Depending on that background, it may also indicate where the owner’s thinking may be going in terms of capital structure and business sectors. Continue reading “More to a name than meets the eye” →

Herald’s obligation to readers: Why are we waiting?

The New Zealand Herald and its publisher are failing to follow a golden rule: Engage with readers when they question your actions.

The Herald is currently confronted by two controversies. The first is its decision to use artificial intelligence to write editorials. The second is its decision to publish a highly divisive advertising wrap-around paid for by the lobby group Hobson’s Pledge.

In neither case has the newspaper or its owner NZME offered an explanation that justifies its decisions. Indeed, it has given little insight into what its decision-making processes were on either matter.

Following RNZ’s revelations over the Herald’s use of iterative AI to write editorials, the Herald’s reaction was to simply say it did not apply sufficient “journalistic rigour” and that it would be calling a meeting all editorial staff to discuss AI policy. This commentary last week posed a series of questions relating to the processes that went into the publication of those editorials. If they were answered at the staff meeting, neither I nor the Herald’s other readers are any the wiser. Continue reading “Herald’s obligation to readers: Why are we waiting?” →