Hauraki-Coromandel Post closure: ‘You don’t know what you’ve got ‘till it’s gone’

Thames-Coromandel District mayor Len Salt.

Opinion

There’s a famous line from a Joni Mitchell song that will be familiar to those of a certain generation.

“Don’t it always seem to go, that you don’t know what you’ve got ‘till it’s gone?”

The recent announcement by NZME of the closing of 14 community newspapers, including HC Post, has brought the message of this song into stark focus.

Community newspapers, when they are run in an ethical and professional manner, fulfil a vital role.

It’s a role many of us have probably taken for granted over many years.

But the world is changing, and it’s changing faster than we could have ever imagined.

As a district mayor, I’m not in the newspaper business, but I’m acutely aware of the importance of our community newspapers in keeping people informed about local issues, events and people.

The Hauraki-Coromandel Post has been the anchor publication in this space over the past 45 years.

Having well-informed journalists, maintaining a balanced perspective and reporting the facts is something that has become the trademark of the HC Post.

Good journalism is about mutual trust and respect.

As an elected representative, when a journalist calls me, I need to know they will report the activities of council accurately and stick to the facts.

I need to have enough confidence in their professional abilities to have a full and frank discussion with them, and to know that it will be reported accurately.

A good journalist is up to date with the rapidly changing legislative environment.

They will have done their homework on central Government legislation.

New laws and regulations that affect us all in one way or another, are appearing at a pace not seen in decades.

Three waters, building and resource consenting, “fast track” legislation, changes to roading, speed limits, fees and levies, and many other issues are potentially complex and challenging to understand without accurate and robust reporting.

Holding council and elected representatives to account is part of the job of a good journalist and their publishers.

So is understanding the dynamic between the politics of local and central Government, and how that affects the everyday lives of ordinary people.

Without well-run local newspapers, staffed by professional journalists with integrity and a passion for what they do, we run the risk of ending up in an “information vacuum”.

This space will be filled very quickly with “opinion pieces” and social media posts masquerading as journalism.

This creates a potentially dangerous space.

A good and extremely topical example is when an individual or individuals are involved in activities, some with extremely serious consequences, which bring them before the courts.

Professional journalists and publishers understand and respect the need for maintaining these professional standards and the principles underpinning the laws of our society.

“Innocent until proven guilty” was born out of examples from history, and from other countries, of innocent lives being lost because vigilante groups had taken the law into their own hands and got it wrong.

The laws of name suppression are there for good reason.

The HC Post has always maintained those standards.

I hope that we are not seeing the last edition of this great community paper, but if we are, HC Post – you will be greatly missed.

Len Salt is Thames-Coromandel District Mayor.