22 November 2008
Journalism in crisis
17 August 2007
By Mike Kilpatrick: Te Waha Nui Online
Further redundancies. Increasing consolidation of media ownership. Poor pay and conditions. Outdated ethics codes. New Zealand journalism is in crisis and it is time to stand up and do something about it.
That was the warning from the Journalism Matters conference in Wellington on August 11 and 12.
The conference, organised by the Engineering Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU), attracted around 115 people, including union members, academics and media executives.
And delegates at the Parliament-based event were left in no doubt that failure to act was not only a danger to journalism, but a threat to democracy.
Delegates heard from industry heavyweights, such as former journalist and newspaper editor Judy McGregor, immediate past president of the International Federation of Journalists Chris Warren and Press Gallery chair Vernon Small.
Dr McGregor set the scene for the two days in her keynote speech, urging journalists to “make some noise”, a phrase borrowed from Amnesty International.
Review announced
Journalists and the public will now have a chance to do just that, with the EPMU announcing a wide-ranging review of the industry at the close of the conference.
Public submissions will be sought on issues such as media ownership, the impact of new technologies, the wages and conditions of journalists and the role of public broadcasting.
The review panel will comprise representatives of the union, academia and media companies, and includes the AUT University journalism curriculum leader, associate professor Martin Hirst.
Dr Hirst says it was important a real plan of action emerged from the conference.
“Otherwise it would just have been a lot of hot air and there’s enough of that in [Parliament] already.”
But that review cannot be carried out in isolation, he says.
“It’s important we continue to involve the public in any debate about media standards.”
As well as the general industry review, the EPMU will also encourage public submissions as it looks to rewrite its code of ethics to better reflect journalism in the 21st century.
