Media Scrum is going on its holiday break a little earlier this year - we were going to write a couple more posts about the suicide reporting in this country and how Terfs should stop being such fucking Terfs if they want everybody to stop calling them Terfs, but that can all wait for the New Year. We're done with 2018.
It's a beautiful day out there, so we're going to go soak up some sun, and we'll be back in mid-January with the usual bile and bitching.
In the meantime, here's an updated list of our beliefs. Last year's list is already tragically out of date, even if the first rule remains 'fill the fucking space', but we stand by everything we say. Even the posts we wrote when we were drunk as fuck.
This is some more of what we believe:
* That hate speech isn't free speech, and we definitely don't need to always hear both sides of the story.
* That Greg Boyed was one of the good ones.
* That Twitter has its uses, but isn't near as influential as it thinks it is, and that a move to prime-time is always good for current affairs TV shows, but there are some drawbacks.
* That a good picture is worth 10,000 words
* That we're losing tonnes of great journos, that the pivot to video has been a fucking disaster, that the newsrooms are often criminally understaffed and overworked, that the wire has died, and that the whole industry is suffering terribly due to a lack of new talent.
* But it ain't all bad.
* And sometimes, you just can't avoid the churn.
* And there are still some fucking amazing journos out there.
* That while fake news is fucking up the industry, no professional journo gets away with making up shit and we don't need to make up shit when life is so fucking crazy.
* That journos should let their natural accent fly, display a bit of professional goddamn courtesy and never, ever give a shit about what their advertisers want, especially when they're not delivering the money.
*They also don't usually get blackout drunk and sleep with their sources, even if there was some iffy ethics around a reporter and a disgraced MP this year that lived up to a lot of those cliches.
* That lovely stories about cute animals are just as important as tragedy and death.
* That a witch hunt is really a dickhead hunt, that a member of Run the motherfuckin' Jewels could teach everybody something about apologising, that cartooning is a serious business, that Aucklanders are human too, and that you don't give away your bloody secrets.
* That people in position of power have to be held accountable and that accountability doesn't just melt away when you slink out of office.
* That being the only journo at the barbecue is a pain in the arse.
* And finally, as always, that we need to kill the comments. Kill them with fire, then take off and nuke them from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.
Happy new year, everybody! See you in 2019.
Love,
Media Scrum
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