Dying of the light

If the coalition sees any value in preserving balanced journalism, its lifeline might be a little late in coming.

- Danyl McLauchlan

The science fiction author Neal Stephenson coined the term "Facebooked" to describe post-industrial societies that have their traditional media outlets destroyed by digital platforms.

Because the algorithms curating the platforms optimise for virility and engagement rather than objectivity or truth, they degrade our public sphere and consensus reality - a shared, baseline agreement about what's happening in the nation, and why - breaks down. Normal politics becomes impossible.

We got Facebooked good and hard during the pandemic, with the rise of the anti-vax movement and the occupation of Parliament grounds, but normal life resumed after the lockdowns when everyone logged off and went back to work. The nation returned to its traditional media habits: scanning the headlines on a news website while waiting for Netflix to load, or half-listening to a radio bulletin while ironing a shirt.

But as the lights go out in newsrooms around the country, the paranoia and rage fuelled by algorithmic media are likely to return. Newshub is closing its doors (to be replaced on Three by a much leaner news team) and TVNZ is shutting down Fair Go and Sunday and downsizing news capability. Newspapers have gone through successive rounds of layoffs. The ad revenue that sustained daily news media over the past 100 years has migrated to the web - Google alone took in two-thirds of the nation's $2.1 billion digital advertising spend last year so newspapers and broadcasting companies are desperately seeking alternative revenue streams. Like every other troubled sector or sinking company in New Zealand, they hope to find them within the Beehive.