Rise of Facebook and Google and failed NZME/Stuff merger threaten regional journalism

Monday, 27 May 2019

New Zealand media has launched a $1 million pilot aimed at boosting the reporting of local democracy issues as part of RNZ /NZ On Air $6m Innovation Fund, announced in last year's budget.

OPINION: A little over two years ago, leaders from two of New Zealand's biggest media companies sat before the Commerce Commission and warned of the risks to the industry if a proposal to merge wasn't accepted.

Stuff was one of those companies. The merger bid failed. Life has gone on.

But I'm reminded that, during the process, it was argued a merger would bring synergies that would 'sustain journalism at scale in New Zealand for many years'. And of the warnings to the commission that New Zealand's newspapers might be under threat if the merger was refused.

Since then, newspapers have closed. There are fewer journalists. And these changes have been most pronounced in regional New Zealand.

Stuff editorial director Mark Stevens says the rise of Google and Facebook have threatened the sustainability of local journalism.

* New public media fund to boost regional news coverage

* Budget 2018 by the numbers: Who's getting what**

Stuff is one of those publishers that has had to close community titles and scale back its newsroom numbers. They have been hard decisions; ones we haven't taken lightly.

As print advertising – which has traditionally funded journalism – continues to decline and the rise of global platforms like Facebook and Google continues to eat away at new digital advertising dollars, the sustainability of local journalism remains challenged.

And where it is most challenged is heartland New Zealand.

It cannot be argued that good journalism doesn't play a pivotal role in a civil society. Without it, power goes unchecked.

Put more bluntly, journalists keep the bastards honest. Take them away, and there is a democracy deficit.

Cuts to newsrooms – the deficit – haven't stopped probing and interrogation in the halls of our national Parliament, they have instead restricted it in the smaller halls of elected officialdom across many small Kiwi towns; in local council chambers, district health board offices and community board rooms.

Ironically, it's many of these authorities which amplify the impact of the global platforms on New Zealand journalism by spending Kiwis' money on advertising with Facebook.

But today, after successful efforts by a collaborative industry facing shared troubles, local democracy journalism will get a much-needed injection.

The announcement of a year-long pilot to fund Local Democracy Reporters is the result of a three-way partnership between those publishers, RNZ and NZ on Air. It will ideally be just the start of a longer relationship and an even longer process to start filling gaps in reporting of local democracy issues.

The pilot allows for up to $1 million from RNZ and NZ on Air to fund eight journalists. They will focus solely on the coverage of publicly-elected offices and officials and the issues important to their local communities.

Today's announcement is a boon for local journalism; for local democracy. It puts us in a better position to keep keeping those in the small towns honest too.

* Mark Stevens is editorial director of Stuff