There are plenty of legitimate criticisms about modern journalism that deserve to be debated, especially around funding issues and the presentation of all this crap, but even as newsrooms shrink and advertising dollars evaporate like a fart in the wind, there is still some amazing shit going on out there.
There is so much noise, and so much bullshit, it can often be hard to seek it out, and we're all so fucking lazy these days, and why can't some poor bastard feed it to us on a plate, so we can all sit there like those fat fucks on the space ship in Wall-E? Sometimes a bit of effort is just worth it, because there is truly great stuff out there every goddamn day.
Just here in New Zealand, there is some stunning stuff coming from local and national newsrooms. Even with all the upheavals at Mediaworks over the past year, reporters like Amanda Gilles, Michael Morrah and Lisa Owen are fucking nailing the big scoops and huge interviews, while the weekend morning chin-stroking-fests on the telly provide vital analysis. TVNZ also has the best breaking news team in the country, and the reporting squad at the NZ Herald is loaded with great talent, alongside Harkanwal Singh and the data journalism crew, who have been writing the goddamn rules on amazing visualisations. Reporters like Shannon Haunui-Thompson and Maiki Sherman have been covering great and important stories in their native affairs beats, and there are some strong voices on various Pacific Island beats.
The NBR has its perfect audience, and the only comments section in the country worth reading. RNZ is wonderfully beholden to no corporate interests, breaking loads of big, important and slightly boring stories. Seasoned pros like Paula Penfold still take massive stories all the way to their full and proper conclusions, even if they have to switch companies to do it.
The ODT remains a vital part of its community, and the Bauer current affairs magazines are stacked with great long-form work. A few months ago, Anusha Bradley at RNZ and Matt Nippert at the Herald independently performed a pincer movement on the big Kiwisaver providers, shaming them into pulling investments in some appalling products. They got a goddamn result.
There are great business, sports, entertainment teams in the big newsrooms, and some terrific local angles coming from the smaller daily and community newspapers – with many reporters cracking enough great hyper-local yarns to get the attention of the big boys. The Timaru Herald's police notebook is a bloody national treasure, the best court stories in the country come from the West Coast, and the photographers at the Marlborough Express produce stellar images, year after year.
The Spinoff is asking the questions nobody thinks to ask, and there are heaps of truly magnificent freelancers beavering away in pitch meetings and long, lonely days where they forget to talk to another human being. Behind the bylines, there are great teams of passionate journalists getting it onto a page or screen near you. They have to be passionate, because they're not in it for the fucking money.
In the past year, there have been great stories of injustice, and substandard steel, and mental health failures. Ministers are grilled on fucking everything, to the point where several senior MPs just flat out refuse to go on The Hui or Morning Report, because they'd prefer the sycophantic safe hands of breakfast TV.
And fuck, look at all the great international coverage coming from the biggest papers and broadcasters in the world. The lack of global correspondents at NZ's companies is a fucking tragedy, but now have access to unbelievably strong material, every single day. It's all just two clicks away.
We're fucking drenched in it, and it's easy to sneer at all the populist shit, and certainly an argument that the way a lot of this great stuff is presented and sold needs some good, proper thought, but there are reporters, editors, producers and directors producing incredible work every single day.
And it's work that should be celebrated as much as possible, because the industry is a fucking shitstorm at the moment. Mergers and other upheavals are putting all this great work under pressure, so ignore the bullshit and fucking enjoy it while it lasts.
-Catherine Grant, Ron Troupe
Posts
