Opinion: New world for news era but ideals still the same

Hillary Barry and Mike McRoberts will be fronting the rebranded 3 News.

I'M A big believer in the importance of the news.

Like most journalists I think it's important that people know what is going on in the country, and the world, around them.

It is the media's job to keep public figures and organisations accountable - to make sure they spend the taxpayer's money wisely and represent their nation in an appropriate manner.

Where else do you get impartial information about politicians and parties and make a decision on who to vote for?

People need to know about the travesties going on overseas and the good works being done by those moved to help.

It's about getting people talking and thinking about the issues that affect them and the nation.

I became a journalist to make a difference.

It's an honour to be trusted to tell people's stories and one I do not take lightly.

It's for those reasons I was shocked to learn that 3News will be no more.

It's unclear what the new show, Newshub Live, will look like.

Either way, it's a huge loss to no longer have 3News as competition to TVNZ's bulletin on One.

I'm hopeful the new format could be a success and still fulfil the job the 6pm bulletin needs to do.

We'll have to wait to find out, I guess.

The decision to overhaul the channel's two flagship shows in the last year, Campbell Live and now 3News, points to the changing media market.

The ideals and aims held by journalists still remain the same but what people want to watch and read is very different.

Media organisations need to make money to survive and that means we need to give consumers what they want.

It's a fine line getting the mix of what people want to know and what they need to know.

With Youtube and other online sources consumers have so much to choose from - we can't just give them what we think is most important anymore.

What makes the news is dictated by what consumers want and, more and more, it seems the majority of people want to be entertained.

I suspect it is exactly that which has made MediaWorks make such drastic changes to its scheduling.

With television on demand and services such as Netflix, Lightbox and Neon people won't watch the news unless it is something they are particularly interested in.

It's a tough environment for all news media services.

Online news websites, on-demand television services and services such as Spotify now compete with the traditional print, TV and radio outlets for a share of the market.

The way we get our news is going to keep changing in ways we can't even imagine.

The only thing for certain is that there will always be a need for news.