By Chris Trotter*Two-thirds of all New Zealanders, and three-quarters of all Aucklanders told pollsters that Covid-19 had affected their Christmas holiday plans. Unquestionably, the Covid-19 Pandemic has brought out the very best in this country. It says a great deal about the quality and the intentions of New Zealand journalists that context was conspicuous by its absence from so many of 2021’s stories. Clearly, given its conduct over the last 12 months, that possibility never occurred to the mainstream news media either. Certainly, the simultaneous release, by major media outlets, of the former Prime Minister’s, John Key’s, “smug hermit kingdom” commentary, did little to allay citizens’ fears that the mainstream media was “out to get” Jacinda Ardern’s government.

Source: Stuff December 20, 2021 02:03 UTC