Otherwise known as “the New Zealand news media“.
It’s long been an axiom that no sports journalist in New Zealand ever bothers submitting copy critical of the All Blacks unless they’ve already signed a long term contact of employment overseas.
It would seem that self-censorship now extends to the political and current affairs desks in the various broadcast and print outlets in the shaky isles.
For 6 months now, Jacinda Adern has spared no public expense to pursue a policy of total eradication of the Kung Flu. “Envy of the world“, the headlines proclaim.
Thats fair enough, there are indeed many jealous eyes upon New Zealand at present.
However, there are also those who question whether it’s the smartest long term strategy to try to completely avoid a virus that has now infected 20 million people around the world when the price the country pays is to be unable to return to normal travel and trade until a yet to be developed vaccine has been rolled out?
You may agree with the Kiwi strategy and that’s fine, but are you not curious about the other side of the debate?
By which I mean not what is the other side of the debate, but where is the other side of the debate?
There’s plenty of gushing articles like this one by John Weekes, Senior Journalist and Crime Reporter, where he quotes “experts” who confirm the current policy is the best.
There are many holes that can be picked in the statements made in the article, each data point could be challenged with credible published information from other countries. But, for reasons know to himself and his editor, John hasn’t.
Why?
Bill’s Opinion
Of course, you don’t have to share my opinion on the efficacy of Jacinda Adern’s policies, but surely you must share my curiosity of the situation where nobody in the New Zealand media questions it?
2020 has shown us many things, some of which we’ve subconsciously known for a long time.
One such example is the fact that the news media is no longer fit for purpose. Perhaps it never was.
We’ve learned definitively that the media is staffed by a mixture of political activists and people with no training in critical thinking or understanding of data.
The sooner the anachronism that is the news media is buried, the happier and better informed we’ll all be.
“people with no training in critical thinking”
I think we were doomed when “critical thinking” was replaced by “critical theory” in academia.
Exactly.