Dear New Zealand journalists,

Over the last few months I have had a chance to sit down and have one on one conversations with a few of you across various news outlets. This has included people from print, television, radio, and online news. I’ve had that chance because I set up a simple little charity focused on stepping into life with you to offer real, gritty care and help. Think of me as your chaplain. A number of people support it and have helped to make it happen. Some of you have trusted me enough to take up the service, so we’ve had some honest chats over great coffee. I’m really glad we have.

It’s clearly a nerve wracking time to be in traditional news media with so much change, competition, and quickly evolving markets. Much of that change is being reported. The loss of Campbell Live and the changes at Fairfax are two immediate examples. I’m not embroiled in the politics of it all, but it’s easy to see that it’s messy.

Because of what’s going on I’ve heard your uncertainties, worries, and for some, your despondency about where it all seems to be heading. But in among that, I’ve also heard what lies behind that despondency and worry. Many of you are feeling it because you’re clearly passionate about good news, solid journalism, and making sure that the public is informed about the stuff that matters.

It must be gut wrenching to watch us consumers flock to ‘junk-food’ stories about things like Kim Kardashian’s fashion sense, while we ignore the meatier and worthwhile stories where you’ve done the work to find out stuff from our communities that we should know. Sorry.

It must be really hard to also see your news organisations being shaped towards the love of junk-food that we the consumers have. It seems to be resulting in our news being centralised away from our communities, dumbed down, and sensationalised. You’re being forced to conform to that. On top of that you’re often pumping out multiple stories on tight deadlines with scarce resources. It’s all got to be soul destroying.

With all that in mind, I want to offer some encouragement based on the passion that I’ve seen; the passion that sits under, and is the reason for the current low mood.

We need you. Whether we, the consumers devouring the junk know it or not, and whether the shareholders of the news rooms you work for know it or not, we need you. And we need you to not easily give into our desire for junk and sensationalism. We need you to hold on to your sense and passion for stories that matter.

We live in an age where we’re bombarded by information like never before, from all angles and perspectives. Much of it is needless distraction and noise that often takes our attention off the stuff that’s going on that really affects us as a nation and shapes our communities.

The information overload works like a magician’s technique of misdirection. It gets us to look one way (often towards mindless entertainment that appeals to our base and crude senses) while the reality of what truly affects our lives goes by unnoticed. We need you to cut through that because we’re entertaining ourselves to death.

You see, our identity gets screwed up and our sense of who we are gets lost when we’re in a constant state of misdirection. Even though you may not always get it right and your industry will be riddled with problems like all industries are, at your best, good journalism holds a mirror up to us and tells us who we are. It reflects our communities and nation. It lets us see the best and worst of who we are and allows us to react accordingly. It shines a light in dark places that some may not want us to see, and it puts a spotlight on the things we should celebrate. It has the ability to amplify the good and cut down the bad.

I’m a person of faith and when I think about your function in our democracy and the voice you have, I see something akin to the prophets of the Old Testament of the Bible. They called out leaders and the nation when they needed to be called out, and they applauded the nation when it needed to be applauded. They weren’t always liked, but they were always needed in order for society to remain healthy and hold on to its identity. In our modern world you largely undertake that function.

The sands of news media are currently shifting and it’s hard to know what everything will look like when the sand settles, but please don’t lose your fight. Fight for story-telling, fight for investigation, fight for our smaller communities, and fight for the things you’re passionate about. Fight, because we need you to fight. Work hard to continue to make us laugh and cry, sigh and cheer. Keep showing us who we are.

Also allow me to say thank you. I’ve applauded many news stories and cringed at some, but I’ve always known the worth of what you do. Thank you for the sacrifices you’ve made, the stress you’ve endured, and for weathering the public criticism (and sometimes praise) you’ve received. Thank you for sticking in there as the space you work in has rapidly changed.

With the service I offer through NewsLeads, I’m sure I’ll get to sit down with more of you. I look forward to it. I genuinely want to help. I look forward to helping in the small way I can by offering a space where you can step out of the ring for a moment, confidentially share wherever you’re at (I shout the coffee), receive some encouragement and then get back in, hopefully feeling a little more supported and like what you do is worthwhile.

Kia Kaha.

With gratitude,
Rev. Francis (Frank) Ritchie