Mark Weldon resignation – academic comment

Dr Cathy Strong, senior journalism lecturer

Reaction to the shock resignation of MediaWorks chief executive Mark Weldon this morning has flooded social media, with most of the commentary celebrating his departure. Commentary from Massey university journalism lecturer Dr Cathy Strong appears below.

“This is really good news for journalism. It actually means that MediaWorks now has the opportunity to bring in someone with the leadership skills to rebuild the TV3 news brand that has been so badly damaged. The flood of comments on social media shows that the purge of solid journalism was not acceptable to the New Zealand public and the direction Mark Weldon was taking the company had little support. Whoever takes over may find it difficult to attract good journalists back, as the embedded news culture has been decimated.

“Hilary Barry’s resignation last week was clearly the last straw and Weldon’s departure was inevitable as he was running out of journalists to present with a red rose. Who knows what has been going behind the scenes, but clearly someone with power has seen the way public opinion was been heading over the past year and realised it was untenable. My hat goes off to that person.”

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