Editorial
Alexa, write my editorial
Sitting down to write this piece and reflect on what you’ll find in the following pages is a loaded task for me. This issue paints a picture of the changes and challenges I face as a journalist today, as well as what they, and the environment in which I will be working, look like in the future. In my nearly three years at NZ Marketing and Stoppress I’ve learnt that things never stand still and the stories in this magazine are further proof of that.
But while New Zealand’s media industry is busy finding ways to navigate its way through change, we thought it was time to take a moment to celebrate, assess and analyse the current climate.
We’ve brought back the Hot List, alongside an examination of the state of all things media, and no better is it summed up than in the meeting we had to decide on our cover.
“Let’s put media on the cover,” we said. All went quiet. What does “media” look like, exactly? For inspiration I took to Google Images. That was no help, unless we wanted a stock image brainstorm of Twitter, Facebook and Youtube logos. But that in itself was revealing. The three logos dominated the search responses, with a newspaper (on an ipad) not appearing until a few lines down. A further scroll got me a print copy. It was then I saw a TV and a radio mic, but I stopped scrolling before I saw a magazine.
If it was up to Google’s algorithm, it would appear new media has over-taken traditional media. But is that the reality? The Media Momentum section explores this, with the major channels dissected to see how they are evolving and how advertisers are using them. It’s a follow up from the Media Momentum Index we wrote in 2016. So have things changed that much?
Possibly not. As the old adage goes, change is over-estimated in the short-term and underestimated in the long-term. But, according to Ray Kurzweil, director of engineering at Google, “because of the explosive power of exponential growth, the twenty-first century will be equivalent to 20,000 years of progress at today’s rate of change” (that topic is explored further in The Influence of the Age of Acceleration feature on page 64).
Two notable changes identified in the Media Momentum section are the development of Magazine 360 and Thinktv – a platform and industry body, respectively, to promote the broader reach and enduring resonance of magazines and TV. Both now have significant digital audiences, as do newspapers – although they are all hoping for more significant digital revenue, the vast majority of which goes to Facebook and Google.
To look at what publishers are doing to make up for the loss of ad revenue, I had the privilege of talking to some of the industry’s top editors and executives. There were a range of different species of money tree growing in newsrooms, but there was optimism from all and, as Follow the Money on page 17 explains, journalism is as important as it’s ever been – and possibly even more important.
I wish I’d had that experience when I was at university completing my communications degree. For those of us in the journalism major, we were told the job outlook wasn’t promising and I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t some temptation to ditch the journalism lecture for the neighbouring PR lecture.
Now, seeing what’s come out of local newsrooms in the past year, I’m pleased I stuck with it. Stuff’s ‘The Valley’ used VR to transport me to Baghak in Afghanistan to learn what went down in 2012 when two New Zealand soldiers died in battle. I’ve also listened to many podcasts and debated David Bain’s innocence along the way (thanks for that, Black Hands) and watched NZ Marketing publisher Ben Fahy pop out of an AR Idealog cover.
Maybe that’s how I’ll next present my editorial, or maybe instead of typing it I’ll speak it and let a computer programme transcribe and craft it for me. There’s even Crystal, an app that analyses your past writing to suggest how to sound more like yourself – and resonate better with your audience.
There are so many options in media these days; so many ways to interact with and engage humans. This can also be seen across the pages of the Hot List, a curation of the best thinkers, creators, products and businesses in media. Our annual celebration of the industry shines a light on those innovating and excelling in their field and a theme in this year’s spread is gaming and the rise of esports.
Watch this space as the huge numbers of gaming fans tune in to make it a prime opportunity for brands to get involved. And looking at the money to be made as a player/broadcaster – $US500,000 a month if Fortnite streamer Ninja is anything to go by – it might not be comms that journalists should be thinking about if they’re looking for a career change.
Admit it, you’re thinking it too.