Scoop’s latest desperate attempt to rebrand itself follows on from a similar attempt last year. It would be interesting to see what Selwyn Pellet thinks about it all as he and Bernard Hickey made similar noises about the need for a better quality media.
The argument is that we actually require a publicly funded news source that is not as tainted as the mainstream media have been shown to be from the Dirty Politics fiasco.
Either voters didn’t understand the ramifications of the PMs Office working with the SIS to smear Phil Goff months before an election because the media didn’t do their job, or they don’t care. Both are the fruits of ignorance harvested after 30 years of neoliberalism.
If the fourth estate fail at their responsibilities to Democracy, then our Democracy is poorer for that failure. The last election was evidence of that.
Solutions need to be seen in the Public Broadcasting policies from the Opposition, unfortunately Labour don’t seem to care and the Greens have gone missing in action on Public Broadcasting.
I don’t think Scoop, with its looming internal problems will be around long enough to be part of the solution, but with National in power benefiting from killing off Public Broadcasting and a biased mainstream media, the reality is there won’t be any changes in our media landscape until Labour and the Greens take the Public Broadcasting seriously.
Yes yes martyn,
Where is the white knight when we so dearly need one.
Why don’t you begin a funding drive for establishing a “Voice of Southern Pacific” as opposed to Voice of America.
Have a format of a “Free voice public funded media service”.
You can float a global fundraising on a couple of fundraising sites we have used before such as for Nicky Hagar’s legal fund case?
It can be in honour of all the free speech heros, Hagar, Snowden, yourself and many others.
“The argument is that we actually require a publicly funded news source that is not as tainted as the mainstream media have been shown to be from the Dirty Politics fiasco.”
The obvious bias in all MSM is sickening. Even subtle things like the over use of the word ‘key’ in numerous headlines in the Herald, to the obvious placement of Mike Hoskings and The other annoying Tory lover on mainstream news programmes ( if you can call them that). I for one would happily support any, non bias, alternative news media.
I’d be disappointed to lose Scoop – they played a pivotal role in getting me to wake the fuck up.
Martyn,
Please consider this comment a right of reply. I expect it to be published.
This is the second time in a couple of months that you have decided to speculate about Scoop’s imminent demise based on gossip in a post framed in innuendo.
To be clear. Scoop is not about to fail. And Scoop is part of the future of news in NZ. Scoop’s “Operation Chrysalis” project is about succession, finding a sustainable path for the business for the next decade. As you know we live in difficult times for the monetisation of independent free and progressive news, but it is clear to anyone with eyes that Scoop shows more promise in this space than anyone else in the NZ online space.
Specifically Scoop has a monthly audience of 500,000 unique visitors (roughly 10 times that of this publication), publishes 1000 items of content a week – including significant quantities of original journalism as well as press releases from unions, political parties, NGOs and progressive activists. We have a database of close to 1 million published and indexed pages and more than 4 million incoming links.
Scoop employs 8 staff and turns over 100s of thousands of dollars in revenue each year.
We are by far the strongest independent online participant in news – and as a result the best opportunity to build a future for independent online news in New Zealand.
Scoop would appreciate it if The Daily Blog, as a fellow traveller in the online news and commentary space, would desist from publishing reports which are intended to damage Scoop’s business, something which it is presumably doing for self-serving reasons.
Alastair Thompson
Scoop.co.nz
Editor & Publisher
So for all your big talk re the future of Scoop, what has Selwyn Pellett had to say about your big plans and does your Mum know because she seems to have a very different perspective.
Also, are you still the editor or have you stood down yet. When does Anna take over?
Martyn,
Lord knows who or what is the source of your information. But it is wrong on all points.
Alastair
We both know it isn’t Alastair.
Geez you’re a bit of a bitchy tart aren’t you…
Go Scoop and all other ‘left’ wing sites. Would love a publically funded news source but would have to be careful National putting cronies in there to run it.
“Solutions need to be seen in the Public Broadcasting policies from the Opposition, unfortunately Labour don’t seem to care and the Greens have gone missing in action on Public Broadcasting.”
As far as the Greens are concerned this is not true at all – https://home.greens.org.nz/broadcasting
The irony, of course, is that Green policies about broadcasting need to be broadcast via the MSM which, apart from National Radio, tends to ignore the party’s platform on such things as public broadcasting.
There is also still a general tendency for media and the general public to dismiss Green opinion as irrelevant when talking about what politicians are and should be doing.
I have yet to have much faith in Labour’s commitment to funding public broadcasting and that is where the Left is struggling with this issue. Labour needs to get on board for the Green position to be effective.
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