NewZzit: The Expat Eye on Aotearoa

A fortnightly digital newspaper from Christchurch, New Zealand, published on 1st and 15th of every month, based on an integrated newsroom approach or what we call Print Audio Video Digital (PAVeD) journalism

Kia ora New Zealand!

We, at NewZzit – The Expat Eye on Aotearoa, a news media organisation based in Christchurch, are embarking on a paradigm-shifting business model of journalism. It's a conceptualisation of an integrated newsroom aided by what we call Print Audio Video Digital or PAVeD journalism. Let's see this in detail.

News media business is essentially the business of story-telling. But how to tell a story? Especially the ones that matter. Then again, who will decide what matters? Once you have settled this, question arises on what is the best medium to tell a story? Audio - as in podcast or radio; text - as in newspapers or the internet; or video – as in television or, again, the internet?

After you decide this, the question on commercial viability pops up. Will consumers – as in listeners, readers or viewers, pay for it? Will advertisers come on board? Will investors bet on it? And then finally, comes the most basic question for any media organisation. The big picture? The macro-view? Or in a nutshell, how to generate a sustainable business model for pursuing human-oriented people-centred journalism? After all, journalism is a public service. It's the fourth pillar of any vibrant democracy, which keeps the other three pillars – legislature, executive and the judiciary – in check.

We have also grappled with this ongoing discourse in the journalism business for the last two years. Our revamped digital newspaper from Christchurch NewZzit – The Expat Eye on Aotearoa, is an attempt in that direction.

To better understand this, let's rewind the clock and look at how it all started. Ages ago, we only had print journalism, which was newspapers and magazines. Then came radio, followed by television or broadcast media. Finally, two decades back, we got this wonderful tool called internet, and thus began the era of digital journalism.

Now, if you meet journalists, they are either print, radio, video or digital journalists. You will find that many media organisations have multiple newsrooms for different mediums, and send different reporters to cover the same story. So essentially the organisation pays two people to get the same story, which is then distributed through two different mediums. Overlapping and sheer wastage of resources!

Instead if we integrate our newsrooms and train our reporters in what we call – Print Audio Video Digital or PAVeD journalism, we can achieve the similar quality of news reporting in much less costs across all mediums. Let's take the example of upcoming Super Rugby Hurricanes vs Highlanders final on Saturday. A PAVeD journalist, with may be a camera-person/photographer and few voice recorders, reports on the event. Details of what happened in the match, as well as quotes from supporters, players and officials, are all woven in the story (for print), or as script (for Television and radio). Videos, audios and pictures are also taken. Now, all this material – the news story, script, videos, audios and pictures, are sent to the integrated newsroom. Using this, the newsroom produces a print, radio, broadcast and a digital story, and distributes it across all mediums.

We believe that this is the future of journalism and the only way ethical and courageous news media business can survive and thrive in the landscape of ever-increasing consumer choices and ever-decreasing advertisement revenues. Thus, Newzzit will dedicate itself to PAVeD journalism and all our stories would be an attempt to achieve that. Let's see where it takes us. And we invite all of you to join us in this very exciting and enriching journey!