When Toby asked me if I’d like to write the editorial for a ‘newspaper’ theme, my first thought – and words – were ‘Yea, sure.’ And then once I’d left the office and was halfway down the motorway, I was thinking to myself…  
What the fuck will that look like?  


The News is something we all have a complicated relationship with. The institution of ‘The News’ in this country, represented by things like NewsHub and NZ Herald and Stuff.com are, at best, usually lackluster, and at worst places like RNZ peddle and import the same passive-aggressive transphobic bullshit that has torn up America and, across the pond, is tearing up Australia. Seriously, stop and think about when the last time one of these places provided you with a useful bit of knowledge that did anything but add paranoia to your mind like water on the brain, at least here we can tell you what sex position suits you best.  


But New Zealand journalism is not something to be ashamed of! Sure, mulleted funnymen like Paddy Gower are crying “TALL POPPY! WAAAAH!” About our country not having enough billionaires of all things, but Aotearoa is a hotbed of principled journalists from David Farrier’s deep dives into the squirming and strange corners of our country (and the world) to the late Margaret Moth’s courageous photojournalism that took her to some of the most heated places on the planet at the turn of the century.  


And we aren’t losing it; The boys at The Department of Information have released a killer documentary on Vice, and independent boots on the ground coverage of the Hīkoi gave faces and voices to crowds that refused to be ignored or turned into a people slurry by helicopter and drone footage and broad headlines.  
I would be making a mistake if I didn’t mention our peers working at all the other student   journos up and down the country to give an authentic voice to these stories. 


It’s through the efforts of these magazines that we could see stories about things people actually GIVE A SHIT about explored with the humanity they deserve – I say ‘could’, because unless we use information to really go at the necks of the people hurting our country, and to really help and heal the people who have been hurt, then we’re just jacking ourselves off for having the ‘right opinion’. It’s not enough to have Jester’s privilege if we’re just repeating what the News is saying with curse words. Speaking of repeating, I think I’ve gone on about how righteous the cause of journalism is: What makes the News is how people read it and react to it. What makes Nexus is you, even if it’s sending an angry email telling us that our font size is too small or something.  


Want to see us talk about something you care about? Have a scoop on some shit that you think is important? Want to be put out there?  


We’ve got emails for a reason.