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?” →