Times are tough for all of us during lockdown
Today we have the results of the first major survey of life in lockdown; it shows that while many Kiwis have found a silver lining in these extraordinary circumstances, it has not been without pain. Nearly half of us have suffered a financial hit; whether that’s a pay cut, losing our jobs, or seeing our business cash flow disappear overnight.
It’s no different in my industry; some news outlets have been forced to cut jobs, and last week myself and my fellow
Stuff journalists were asked to take a voluntary pay cut to help get the company through these times.
Readers would have noticed as well we have had to let go some long-time columnists. That was no reflection on them – it’s a reflection of the times. Advertising has dried up – not surprisingly, since everyone is doing it tough. But that has made it harder to fund our journalism, when it was already hard. It’s no secret that big platforms like Google and Facebook are sucking up most of the advertising dollar these days.
Ironically, there has never been greater demand for our journalism; newspaper subscriptions have increased and our online readership is at record levels, such is the hunger for credible, authoritative news. But that doesn’t translate into revenue. So tough choices have to be made. We will miss our columnists – but we would miss more the hundreds of journalists who staff our newsrooms, digging away at local issues, and not just in the big centres like Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, but in smaller centres like Nelson, Blenheim, Invercargill, Hamilton or Taranaki.
I know how much it means to those communities because that’s how I started out – my first journalism job was at the South Waikato News in Tokoroa. I still read it now (online) to find out what’s going on back in ‘‘Tok’’
So I want to say a huge thank you to all of you, today’s subscribers and advertisers, for your support.
It’s thanks to you that we are still there, and still a vibrant part of those communities – communities whose stories we get to share here in our pages week after week.
There has never been greater demand for our journalism . . . But that doesn’t translate into revenue.