Local body candidate recognition

Gavin Ellis talks to Kathryn about the effect of the PR wall between local body residents and elected representatives getting higher. An RNZ survey shows the number of local government communications staff has rocketed. NZME has lost few unique visits to nzherald.co.nz since it put up a paywall, and journalism-focused philanthropy in the United States has almost quadrupled in the past decade and more than a quarter of the recipients concentrate on local news. Gavin Ellis is a media commentator and former editor of the New Zealand Herald. He can be contacted on gavin.ellis@xtra.co.nz