For all those who can bear it - well, bear me - here is a short video of my talk to the New Zealand Foreign Correspondents' Club, courtesy of the National Business Review.
Needless to say, it is only a portion of what I said. And though my critics might well accuse me of teaching my grandmother to suck eggs, that didn't appear to be the case from the question-and-answer session, nor from the comments afterwards. There is still a widespread belief, here and elsewhere, that if we ignore the communications revolution it will go away. Newspapers will carry on.
But I also don't want to give the impression that all New Zealand media are lagging hopelessly behind the northern hemisphere. In a discussion on Radio New Zealand's Mediawatch programme yesterday - for broadcast in two days' time - I was heartened by the steps taken by its forward-thinking editor, Paul Thompson, editor of the Christchurch Press. He spoke with great enthusiasm about having embraced online journalism and spoke of the excitement of his own staff as they put into practice their growing multi-media skills. They are now routinely using their website as the platform for breaking news and they are not merely uploading the content from their newspaper.
Even better, Thompson showed a commendable understanding of the importance of balance during the transition from print to screen. Right now his paper remains popular and he is extending its chances of gaining a larger audience by adding editions. It also provides the bulk of the income through sales and advertising. But he can see the future and is adopting a strategy to ensure that his paper is ready for its screen-based transformation, whenever that might be. Keeping matters in perspective is what counts.
