New Zealand ranks highly when compared internationally in terms of governmental transparency, media freedom and civic engagement. However, our media landscape is in a state of flux and our voter turnout is in decline, and the impacts of these changes on our nation’s culture must be monitored. Business, civil society and government must have the tools to respond to the changing needs of the 21st century citizen.
The first workshop in the Civics and Media Project will sketch out the media landscape using studies and analysis available to us. Experts in the field will anticipate major trends and areas for discussion in the next twenty years. The discussions at the workshop will aim to emphasise the data that is currently missing from these conversations, with a view to gaining the knowledge and the tools we need to continue a dialogue on the topic. This workshop is hosted by the Victoria University of Wellington’s Institute for Governance and Policy Studies.
Workshop 1 focuses on:
- the state and trends of civics knowledge and participation in New Zealand
- the state and trends of news and information in society
Key Speakers include:
- Emeritus Professor John Burrows QC who will speak on the role of civics and media in a democratic society
- Paul Satherley (Ministry of Education) who will speak on the state and trend of civics knowledge and participation in New Zealand
- Paul Thompson (CEO, Radio New Zealand) and Marcus Stickley (Editor, The Wireless) who will speak on the state and trend of news and information in society
- Professor Miriam Lips (VUW) who will speak on the role of open data and civic participation
One of the formal outputs of the workshop will be a discussion paper which will then be used to fuel discussion and inquiry ahead of the second workshop. Workshop papers and reports will be made publically available on this website. Workshop 1 is a closed workshop due to the limited space of the venue. We invited individuals based on their expertise and the unique and varied perspectives they would bring to the table. However, we intend that this discussion be as wide-ranging and open as possible; as such, we invite people to comment on our blog posts, email us and follow the #Civics&MediaNZ conversations on Twitter. We plan to make all the workshop outputs accessible to everyone on this website.
This workshop is the first of three workshops that form the Civics and Media Project. Workshop 2 will be hosted by the University of Auckland Faculty of the Arts and will examine what a well-informed society looks like in 2030. This is being held in Auckland on Tuesday 27 October. Together with the Royal Society of New Zealand, the Institute will be hosting Workshop 3 which looks at what individuals, communities, business and government might do to maintain a well-informed society in 2030. This is being held in Wellington on Thursday 19 November.
For more information see the Civics and Media Project FAQ here.
