Today’s announcement of the forthcoming demise of Newshub, TV3s news division, is a shock for all those who care about New Zealand’s media environment. Even those who have moved on to online platforms know that the loss of a fully funded newsroom with journalists researching and presenting stories across the country will be a heavy one.
I can’t say I was a fan of TV3’s news – the Rachel Glucina Scout debacle. Axing Campbell Live and replacing it with The Project. Axing The Project and replacing it with reality TV. Ryan Bridge. But not every newsroom has to be a replica of the BBC. But that doesn’t mean it has to be Fox, either. TV3 have been tweaking their formula ever since Nightline first aired. And just because their news division wasn’t really for me doesn’t mean it didn’t fill an important niche in New Zealand’s news ecosystem.
As a national broadcaster with a sizeable audience it could demand and gain access to the powerful and hold them to account. While I would groan at some of Tova O’Brien’s questions back in the days of the Covid lockdowns, they often had merit in getting denials of ridiculous claims on record.
There will often be criticisms of mainstream media. Often from quarters that wish they were themselves mainstream media. Just as with any kind of content it can be flawed, but that’s no reason to celebrate the baby being thrown out with the bathwater.
This closure will leave a gap. And not just for people of a certain age leering at New Zealand’s silver fox, Mike McRoberts. So what now? New Zealand’s media is in a parlous state. Today FM was closed in March last year leaving talkback radio to ZB. And now there’s this particular blow. Yes the market is limited. Yes viewing and listening habits have changed with streaming. The media environment changes. So what do we as consumers do to support a return to a healthy media environment?
The media depends on two things: attention and advertising. They need an audience to be attractive to advertisers. The right demographic of audience, preferably. In this case we are not the consumers, we are the product. Newshub is a lost cause, so we must turn to other media outlets to support.
So subscribe to your local newspaper, if you can. Even if you disagree with some of its opinion – and you should – it’s the most direct way of supporting professional journalism within your community. The tradition of letters to the editor keeps them on the pulse in terms of understanding where the community is. And while newspapers will always depend on advertising, subscriptions require them to be responsive to their readerships. With no need for batteries, and the ability to skip articles or even whole sections in an instant, newspapers really are the last word in on-demand journalism.
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