Editor’s letter
When I was 25, I almost died, and it was entirely my fault. My careless driving on a remote road resulted in injuries so severe that I spent 10 days on life support in Rotorua Hospital. Thanks to expert care, I survived, spending another six weeks recovering in a ward. I still bear the physical scars from that unfortunate experience, but the mental ones are barely discernible now.
I don’t often quote German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, but he came to mind this week. Nietzsche wasn’t unfamiliar with adverse circumstances, including pandemics. He had cholera twice and suffered from many other ailments.
His famous aphorism, “That which does not kill us makes us stronger”, seems hollow in a time of long Covid. Yet the point he was trying to make is as relevant now as it ever was. Life is tough. Resilience is important. Overcoming adversity can have its own rewards.
The lessons I learnt in that interminable stay in Rotorua Hospital have remained with me. I learnt in the intensive care unit that no matter how awful your circumstances, there is probably someone else whose circumstances are even worse. I learnt that most of us are appreciated by many more people than we probably realise. And I learnt that it is a tragic waste not to make the most of every day we are alive.
Perhaps the latest lockdown has made me too introspective. But this is my first issue as the Listener’s new editor, and I’m acutely aware that this magazine also had a near-death experience last year.
As it happens, it’s now in remarkably good health. As outgoing editor Pamela Stirling rightly celebrated last week, its readership has grown substantially since the relaunch 12 months ago. Subscriptions are strong and retail sales are up.
You should never take your health for granted, however. In the modern media maelstrom, as in life, it’s important to monitor your vital signs and take preventive action when needed. Any business that doesn’t listen to what its customers – and especially its non-customers – are telling it will eventually learn the hard way that changes are not only inevitable, but necessary.
Of course, a new editor does not mean an entirely new Listener. This masthead has survived for so long because it has continued to do a lot of things right for more than eight decades.
Putting out a magazine of this calibre during a Level 4 lockdown has been surprisingly tough; please bear this in mind as you peruse our pages over the coming weeks.
It is both a tribute to, and an indictment of, New Zealand’s current political leadership that the Listener team hasn’t had much practice working under these conditions. During the first lockdown in March last year, we were effectively banned from publishing. It proved to be a near-fatal blow.
We are especially grateful for the opportunity to continue this time – not for selfish reasons, but because you have all told us how much you desperately missed the title when it was gone.
In this age of misanthropic misinformation, I’m determined the Listener will remain a sanctuary of wit and wisdom, of creative endeavour and cultural conversation, of intelligent debate, welcome distractions and fine journalism that will never go out of fashion.
As the world continues to grapple with the ghastliness of this ghoulish virus, many of us need a little help to maintain our equilibrium. In the scheme of things, buying someone you love a subscription to the Listener is hardly a grandiose gesture. But who knows, it might just prove a lifeline.
Karyn Scherer
In this age of misanthropic misinformation, I’m determined the Listener will remain a sanctuary.