Of course, there isn’t in New Zealand. Most writers are underpaid; it’s just the environment here. Unless, of course, you become a journalist and make writing your daily crust, get really good at it and develop a high profile. Then, I assume it is very lucrative.
Recently, I was listening to that character and raconteur, Willie Jackson, as he was explaining himself as Minister of Broadcasting on television’s Q&A programme. He was opining to Jack Tame that journalism as a profession is in trouble, with 50 per cent of the journalists in New Zealand giving up for some reason or another.
If that is true - and I have no reason to disbelieve Willie - our media is in trouble. As is our society.
A free and open press is vital to a functioning, healthy democracy. The media has a responsibility to keep our politicians and other public figures honest.
Despite writing columns like this, I am not a media person, but I do spend a bit of time in their company. I have done for most of my adult life, off and on. I have met and got to know scores of reporters, and even the odd editor or two. I have found them, with a few exceptions, decent, clever and careful people. People just like you and me, but with the gifts of observation, deduction and investigation. They can also write a bit, too.
So I do get a bit annoyed when I see the media constantly berated by certain high-profile individuals who are also very happy to have the attention of the media when things are going their way.
Journalists are slated as being left-wing or right-wing like it is an offence. Whether they are or not is of no business to anyone else.
In my experience, they tend to get most things right. It is just that maybe some people do not like reading or hearing the truth or an opinion contrary to theirs.
My contacts with members of the press were never transitory. They were somewhat long-term, and part of what I did for a living.
I enjoyed their company both professionally and, on occasions, personally, over a beer or two in the old Whanganui Cosmopolitan Club. Former local editor Jim McLees would appear most Friday afternoons with a journalist or two for a chat. We rarely talked business, but just enjoyed each other’s company.
For some years I was a prosecutor in both Lower Hutt and Whanganui courthouses. As such, I had daily contact with court reporters, usually older journalists. I also met many younger reporters who would come to court on occasion to report on high-profile cases.
In Whanganui, the reporter who used to impress me was David Calder. David was an older man, old enough to be my dad when I knew him. He played everything with a very straight bat. A quiet man who mostly kept his opinions to himself.
In those days, court cases were reported religiously in the daily papers, especially defended hearings, where evidence is called for and against a defendant. I am sure David had a photographic memory. His recall of details during day-long hearings was remarkable. I would read it all in the paper the next day, word-perfect. All hearings were recorded by the court for judicial purposes. David just sat there writing shorthand. Occasionally, he would approach either a lawyer or me for confirmation of a point or a detail. He wanted everything right.
In fact, if asked by the judge, David would occasionally confirm a point when the judge, the lawyer and I were all swimming out of our depth. He was somewhat like a referee in the court. He played no favourites, was fair, approachable and always utterly professional.
I hope young would-be journalists still get exposed to the David Calders of their profession. They would learn objectivity, compassion, tact and the ability to network while still retaining a professional distance.
