Restoring civic values to the news media ecology

The emergence of converged digital media platforms has seen a proliferation of new services, but also a disruption to value chains and business models, especially in a small, highly deregulated media market like New Zealand’s. Although consumer choice has expanded in some respects (e.g. subscriber video on demand via smart tablets), this does not fundamentally alter the information needs of citizens if they are to participate in a democratic society. Although digital media also provide spaces for citizen journalism and informed blogging, these complement, rather than replace, mainstream news production.