The Broken Estate: Journalism and Democracy in a Post-Truth World

by Mel Bunce

A lack of knowledge about the world can be a very dangerous thing.

In the age of Trump, fake news and clickbait headlines, it is easy to despair about the future of journalism. The New Zealand and global media are in upheaval: the old economic models for print journalism are failing, public funding has been neglected for decades, and many major news organisations are shedding journalists.

New Zealander Mel Bunce researches and teaches journalism at the acclaimed Department of Journalism at City, University of London. Drawing upon the latest international research, Bunce provides a fresh analysis that goes beyond the usual anecdote and conjecture. Insightful and impassioned, this short book provides a much-needed assessment of the future for New Zealand journalism in a troubled world.

What are BWB Texts?
BWB Texts are short books on big subjects by great New Zealand writers. Spanning contemporary issues, history and memoir, new BWB Texts are released regularly, and the series now amounts to well over fifty works.

Genres: Nonfiction, Journalism, Politics

224 pages, Paperback

Published September 1, 2019

Reviews

[Keen Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bunce is clearly not the first journalist to be writing about the sharp decline of modern day journalism, but what makes this a little more distinctive is that she does so with a strong emphasis on the NZ market. She talks to many journalists within the country, but she also references a lot of the work done by the likes of Roy Greenslade, Alan Rusbridger and Nick Davies.

“Reputable polls suggested that 33% of Americans thought Clinton was ‘probably’ or ‘definitely’ involved in a child sex ring.”

Statements like this drive me wild, straight away I checked the sources at the back of the book, which says this came from YouGov, but it doesn’t tell us how many Americans were asked?...Which is crucial to the statement. A more responsible journalist would clarify this by adding of the (x amount of people polled) to give a clearer context. Clearly 33% of Americans were not asked, for all we know it could have only been 1000, 100 or even a 10 people polled.

“One 2006 study, from the research group Kupu Taaea, examined a 21 day sample of TV across multiple channels, which included 123 bulletins and 2,100 news items. The researchers found that on the English language news shows only 1.59% of news items featured Maori. Of these, an unbelievable 57% were about child abuse.”

This made me think back to the last item I heard about Maori on RNZ news and sure enough it was also about child abuse. We also see that out of the Five Eyes countries NZ is the only one which does not have a general public broadcasting channel. A succession of rampant neo-liberal policies ensures that all of their channels are fighting like dogs for the commercial scraps, keeping the quality low, narrow and populist.

So this was another enjoyable read from the BWB Texts collection, this was a really informative and fairly well-researched short book which paints a doom laden picture of journalism in NZ and illustrates how far behind it is a lot of ways, but on the other hand it also shows the many strengths and possibilities that are there too, if they are only harnessed and guided in the right way.

[Carole · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an exceptionally clear look at the role of journalisim and the challenges it is currently facing, particularly in New Zealand. It's very readable and discusses 'fake news' and misinformation, both in print and social media. A short book that is very accessible for senior high school students.

[Jason Ware · Rating 4 out of 5]

well written and researched, 55 pages of notes. The book highlights what I think we all know: investigative journalism is under threat, and we must engage with information to verify whether it is true for the sake of our own society.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bunce doesn't have the answers. This book makes a heroic effort, but I'm going to be a little unkind and say that it doesn't really understand the questions either. The text is littered with interjections addressing criticism of its thesis. In parts the thesis goes missing. Is _The_Spinoff_ cause for optimism? This book says no, then hinges so much of its thesis on the shoulders of _The_Spinoff_. Contrarily, TVNZ gets a pass then basically everything it does is condemned.