ICYMI: The curious case of Auckland Mag, the most popular website you’ve never heard of
October 14 - October 21
You’ll notice something a bit different… That’s because we’ve recently changed our email provider to Substack – they’re a really interesting digital startup with a Kiwi co-founder – and we’ll be using their platform to send our newsletters out from now on. Other than a few small design changes, you’ll still receive all our content just the same. But if you do experience any issues, please get in touch – jihee@thespinoff.co.nz
What made – and still makes – Three different. In the wake of last week’s shock news that MediaWorks would be selling its TV division, Al Jazeera news presenter Kamahl Santamaria looks back at his time at TV3, the channel that helped kickstart his journalistic career. “My hope, as someone who’s worked at Flower Street and who loves the place dearly, is that someone sees the inherent value in Three. Everyone knows that streaming and digital media has changed the game irrevocably, but I firmly believe there is still place for television as we knew it. And as a journalist, I’d hate to see New Zealand reduced to one TV newsroom. For such a forward-thinking country, that would be disastrous.”
New Zealand media: a health check. So we know MediaWorks isn’t in the best of shape, but what about the rest of New Zealand’s media? How are NZME, Stuff, TVNZ, Sky and RNZ faring in this tight media landscape? The Spinoff’s founder Duncan Greive assesses the health of our nation’s six big media players (the business model, not the journalism) and finds out who’s doing well and who isn’t. It’s an excellent overview of everything that’s been happening in local media for the last year, with each diagnosis accompanied by some very cool GIFs courtesy of our in-house illustrator Toby Morris.
Meet the Dunedin woman who wrote her dissertation about YouTuber Logan Paul. Remember that guy who got in trouble for vlogging next to a dead body in Japan’s ‘suicide forest’? Despite the resulting furore, Logan Paul is stronger than ever as he boasts almost 20 million subscribers on YouTube and remains one of the platform’s most popular creators. He’s hated by many but there’s no denying he’s a fascinating product of today’s internet culture, leading to one University of Otago honours student to use Paul in her study into “YouTube, The Attention Economy, and the Facilitation of Outrage”. Senior writer Alex Casey talked to Henessey Griffiths about what she found out.
Just quickly, a brief word from Toby Manhire, editor of The Spinoff:
“As you probably know, it’s one hell of a turbulent media market out there. If you like The Spinoff and want to help us survive the storm, please consider becoming a Spinoff member. Contributions allow us to keep making homegrown and independent journalism that’s free to all. Our coverage of local elections, the Policy voting tool and a bunch of important and innovative climate change journalism, for example, would have been impossible without the generosity of members. But wait, there’s more: if you do sign up, you can contribute any amount you like, but give $8 a month or more and you’ll get a free copy of our bumper Spinoff fifth birthday book, published next month by Penguin. And a tote bag.”
Emily Writes: A love letter to the people that keep our houses standing. In another beautiful essay by parents editor Emily Writes, she pays tribute to all those who helped her family through trying times. She pays tribute to the teachers, speech therapists, doctors, and nurses, “all of those who dedicate their working lives, indeed their lives, to helping families remain standing in the homes they created”, proving that a home is made “not of two, or even four, but many”.
RIP to a magazine that was a rare voice of reason in a sea of nutrition nonsense. After 14 years and 176 issues, Healthy Food Guide’s print operation has finally come to an end. Print media has obviously been in decline for a while now, but HFG managed to buck prevailing trends, thriving while other food publications withered away. Former editor Niki Bezzant attributes that success to the magazine’s commitment to evidence-based science and its steadfast editorial values. “That integrity was what made what we did meaningful. And it made people trust us,” she writes. “We didn’t just print pretty pictures. We helped people.”
The curious case of Auckland Mag, the most popular website you’ve never heard of. With more than 46,000 followers, Auckland Mag boasted a bigger Instagram following than most New Zealand media (in fact, almost four times that of The Spinoff). Now, both its account and its website have suddenly disappeared, leaving behind more than questions than answers: what was Auckland Mag? Why did it exist? And who was its mysterious founder Dan Rolph? David Farrier investigates.
Pinned down, stripped naked, locked in seclusion: my NZ mental health system story. “The room was bare, save a cardboard bedpan and a tear-resistant blanket. No mattress, no pillow,” recalls a young woman who was stripped naked and left unattended in seclusion for 12 hours by the Southern DHB. “I didn’t use the bedpan as a toilet; I pissed on the floor. There was even a plughole, which I assume meant I wasn’t the first person to do so. It wasn’t (just) a rebellious act – I wanted to use the bedpan to rest my head on. It was cold on the hospital grade linoleum surface. I didn’t feel on top of the world any more. I felt powerless.”
From trash to treasure: finding the value in ocean waste. In the Java Sea between Indonesia’s four most populous islands, hundreds of fishermen collect not fish but trash, which is pretty depressing. One silver lining to this horrific trash problem is it’s created a new source of income for these fishermen who now help companies like Pack Tech turn a decent amount of that waste (1400 tons of plastic each year) into something of value. But how? Alice Neville finds out.
The Spinoff Weekly is written by staff writer Jihee Junn.