This week’s Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti harvested heaps of headlines, hours of airtime and piles of print and pixels - media copped plenty of criticism for the coverage. Also: a deep-dive podcast that needed deep pockets - and warnings of ‘news deserts’ here.

This week’s big Hīkoi harvested heaps of headlines, hours of airtime and piles of print and pixels - and media copped criticism for the coverage.

14 local papers in the north island are set to close by Christmas, prompting ex-editors and experts in media to warn that the ‘news deserts’ we’ve seen overseas could spring up here in the absence of local papers. And when local elections come round in a year some places may have nowhere to go for locals politicians to air local issues.

We ask a leading paper publisher about if local papers have a future - and what might help to sustain them.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/mediawatch/534657/plans-to-close-local-papers-spark-news-deserts-warning

We talk to Newsroom' Jonathan Milne, the brains behind deep-dive podcast Powderkeg which needed deep pockets to chase the story. How did they do it?

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details