Giving journalism a ‘face-lift’ in a time of crisis

“The advantage of the independent operators is that they can take the piss, be a bit tongue in cheek.

“They're more aware of the of the kind of media, they're just more aware of how the media works, they don't insult the intelligence of their audience.

“And they know that their audience gets it too. So everyone's a little on the joke.”

The Department of Information co-founder Louis Macalister said that the start of their media network resulted from a talk John Campbell had with them while working for 95b FM.

“He was talking about how journalism is like university-educated people talking to other university-educated people.

“About stuff that is not directly concerning them and that if you want to do good stuff, go talk to people.”

It focuses on producing content that covers topics that don’t get publicity through mainstream news outlets as the illegal ‘drag race’ scene and the dirt bike ‘bike life’ phenomenon.

And this is attracting audiences that would usually be opposed to the content produced by New Zealand’s mainstream news sources

Macdonald says that these emerging independent journalists are refreshing because they ensure their journalism keeps up with their audiences.

“Whereas a lot of mainstream, does sensationalise, does trivialise, it does look for scandal and conflict, when it doesn’t have to.

“And it can be very superficial as a result.”

The Department of Information member Louis interviewing Dunedin students during O-Week celebrations. Photo supplied by Louis Macalister.

Louis Macalister says that the reason The Department of Information exists is because they wanted to meet interesting people and share their unique stories with the world.

“It’s interesting, for us personally there are not many opportunities to talk to some of these people and spend a few days with them, it’s enriching.”