JAMIE CLUMPAS (HE/ANY)
On the 28th of February, Warner Brothers Discovery, Newshub’s parent company, announced their newsroom will be shutting down by the end of June.
A lot has been said by many about the looming demise of Newshub, but for us this isn’t just a loss of media plurality and a blow to democracy, it’s watching one of our biggest inspirations fall.
Even though Salient may technically be many, many, years older than Newshub, the work that Newshub journalists have done over the last 4 decades has directly inspired many of us, against all better judgement, to have a crack at journalism.
So, before Newshub runs off to a nice farm up north to play with its other media friends, we at Salient wanted to remember what their mahi meant to Aotearoa, and what it meant to us.
Where else to start but Paddy Gower for reminding us all that this is indeed the fucking news—a moment so iconic it flies proudly above our news section. We at Salient all aspire to one day have a hot mic moment as cunty.
We have to also extend our extreme gratitude for finally getting Paul Henry off the air. Some gratitude retracted for getting Paul Henry on the air in the first place.
Newshub’s election coverage over the years has dared to ask the questions nobody else had, like; “has the Prime Minister smoked weed before?” (she had) and; “What if, instead of normal election graphics, we had a giant Laser Kiwi birthing new MPs as eggs and blowing up losing candidates?”
While you made us say “what the fuck Newshub?” at the time, it brings a tear to my eye to think we’ll soon be saying “where the fuck’s Newshub?”—right when we most need these sorts of questions asked.
Beyond funny moments, right when it is more needed than ever, the fall of Newshub represents a loss of creativity and hard workers in this field—a loss that will be felt in some way by everyone in Aotearoa. The work of journalists like Paddy Gower, Samantha Hayes, Mike McRoberts, Hilary Barry and so many others has meant so much for us at Salient, and for our democracy as a whole. This isn’t work that is easily replaceable, and with the rise in fake and AI generated news content, it is a bit scary to think what will fill that Newshub shaped void.
Perhaps the only way to truly honour the loss of originality in our media is with a eulogy that honours a world Post-News. One hastily copied and edited from chat gpt:
Newshub was a wonderful news agency and constant support throughout my life. They worked three jobs to meet our family’s needs and never complained. They were loved by friends and relatives and never met a stranger. Now that they are gone, a void is left in place of their presence. You will be so very missed, Newshub. Rest in peace.