Word of the day

Depooperit –  used up, worn out, and in a state of near-imbecility; mentally and physically worn out; impoverished.

The whole truth

Apropos of this morning’s first post on trust in media:

There is a very good reason that court witnesses must swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

It applies to news stories too.

Telling only part of the story without giving the whole story, and without the context, is misleading and can show bias.

In the latest series of context the Media won't provide:
Headline: 'Dozens of jobs set to be axed at Treasury'
Missing context: Since 2017, Treasury staffing has increased by 141 FTEs. In the past year it increased by 89.https://t.co/J1BnTy6NXv

— New Zealand Taxpayers' Union (@TaxpayersUnion) April 5, 2024

Wellbeing only a wish

Labour’s Wellbeing Budget was celebrated at the time, and in some media again when its architect, Grant Roberston retired.

But Robert MacCulloch shows wellbeing was only a wish:

. . . Let’s see how they did targeting “well-being”. Over the period from 2006-10 to 2021-23, NZ experienced its biggest decline in well-being since records began. Out of 134 countries, we experienced the 26th biggest drop (see below). What group drove the decline? The young. By contrast, the elderly in NZ rank amongst the happiest, at 6th in the world. Although happiness has decreased in all age groups, our young (aged < 30 years old) are now, in 2021-2023, the least happy age group. This is a big change from 2006-2010, when the young were happier than those in midlife groups, and about as happy as those aged 60 & over. The drop was greater for females. Young Kiwis now rank around 27th in the world.

For a government that targeted the mental health of the young, it could not have done more to destroy their lives. How did Ardern, Hipkins & Robertson manage it? First, they destroyed meritocracy in NZ, whereby the young who had tried hardest & done the best could expect to receive the best job offers & opportunities. Instead the achievements of our youth stopped mattering – other factors came into play to determine whether you would be successful, all in the name of equity. Countries that ditch efficiency to put their entire focus on equity end up with nothing to be divided equally amongst everyone. Second, we knew at the time of the second lockdown at the end of 2021 that it was the elderly who were the chief benefactors. The young, who had only the tiniest of chances of being badly afflicted by Covid, had their education and futures sacrificed. It now shows up in the statistics. The elderly are having a ball in NZ whilst the young sink into despair. I almost fell off my chair in 2022 when, in the middle of that year, a student said to me that my class was his first “in-person”, not-online, experience during his entire course of study. The whole of 2020, the whole of 2021, and half of 2022 had been wiped in tertiary institutions as students went off campus and on-line. . . 

Like so much, far too much, that Labour did, wellbeing aspiration was all words but no action.

Instead of improvements, wellbeing deteriorated.

If only the media had scrutinised and criticised Labour’s plans and policies the way most is scrutinising and criticising the current government, more people might have woken up to Labour’s failures sooner.

Woman of the day

Woman of the Day 17-year-old Jackie Mitchell, one of the first female pitchers in professional baseball history, who pitched for an exhibition baseball game against the New York Yankees OTD 1931 and struck out both Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth.

Jackie was born in 1913 in… pic.twitter.com/AfU1BMSOGS

— The Attagirls (@TheAttagirls) April 2, 2024

Trusting less, avoiding more

AUT’s Trust in Media survey is bad news for media, and democracy :

. . . Since our first Trust in News in Aotearoa New Zealand report was published in 2020, general trust in news in Aotearoa New Zealand has declined. In 2020, 53% of New Zealanders trusted news in general. In 2023, the same figure was 42%. In December 2022, a NZ Herald poll revealed that New Zealanders considered media (38%) as the most untrustworthy institution of those sampled. . . 

Trust in news in New Zealand
• In 2023, general trust in news in New Zealand continued to fall (-3%), but trust in news people themselves consumed increased slightly, indicating that people trust the news they choose themselves the most.

• In 2023, general trust in news declined from 45% to 42%. However, trust in news people consume themselves increased from 52% to 53%.

• From 2020-2023, general trust in news fell by 11%, and trust in news people consume themselves fell by 9% (table 1).

• In 2023, major news brands suffered a considerable decline in trust. Trust in RNZ fell 14.5%, Whakaata Māori 14.3% and Newstalk ZB 14%. Smaller brands such as interest.co.nz, BusinessDesk and Crux were less impacted (table 4).

• In 2023, RNZ, the Otago Daily Times and TVNZ were equally regarded as the most trusted news brands. In 2022, RNZ was the most trusted news brand followed by the other two. In 2023, the top three were followed by interest.co.nz, NBR, Newshub and Newsroom. . . 

Not only is there more distrust of media, more people are avoiding news:

• In 2023, we asked New Zealanders for the first time about news avoidance. Approximately 69% of those surveyed said that they actively avoid news often (11%), and 58% sometimes or occasionally.
• When compared internationally, news avoidance in New Zealand is on a higher level than in other comparable markets (figure 2).

Why are people avoiding news ?

The reasons people say they avoid the news are familiar: news feels depressing and biased, and it increases anxiety. Many of those responding found news repetitive, boring and overly dramatic. Many commented that “same news keeps circulating in different channels” making them avoid certain news/news channels.

There’s an irony that we have far greater access to news, almost anywhere and everywhere at any time but we trust it less and avoid it more.

So much that is reported is, as respondents to the survey said,  depressing, biased, repetitive, boring and overly dramatic.

I’d add unbalanced, too much attempting to tell us what to think and how to feel, and too much insertion of opinion in what ought to be straight reporting as reasons to trust less and avoid more.

That’s not good for the media, when competition for the advertising dollars that sustain it is so fierce, and it’s not good for democracy.

If the fourth estate isn’t healthy, where will we get news we can trust?

If the fourth estate isn’t healthy, who will tell the stories some don’t want to be told?

If the fourth estate isn’t healthy, and trusted who will be holding the powerful to account?