New Zealand media merger risks growth of 'glib, click-bait' coverage, say editors
The article discusses how the merging of two media companies, 'Farifax Media' and 'NZME', would be a threat to democracy in a country like New Zealand, where already it is suffering a dearth of serious content, as commented by former editors of the two companies. Three of the editors, Suzanne Chetwin, former Dominion chief Richard Long and ex-New Zealand Herald editor Gavin Ellis, criticise the trend towards “click-bait stories” at a time when television has “all but abandoned current affairs and our public discourse is increasingly glib”. As a result, the merger was sold as an attempt by both companies to stem revenue losses and drastic staff and budget cuts, particularly to rural and regional newsrooms.
- The merger would see one organisation controlling nearly 90% of the country’s print media market (and associated websites), the greatest level of concentration in the OECD and one that is exceeded only by China
News institutions have now as a result taken an unethical approach to news consumption, where they have no disregard for the quality of news they're presenting but instead putting up with 'clickbait' titles, purposely trying to grab users' attention in order to sustain revenue.
No comments:
Post a Comment