RNZ's head of news Richard Sutherland's called it a day after more than 30 years in the news. He's worked at almost every major news broadcaster in the country and led the outfit representing their mutual interests, the Media Freedom Committee. But he's not the only news leader to leave the business lately amid warnings about the increasing intensity of it.

RNZ's head of news Richard Sutherland's called it a day after more than 30 years in the news. He's worked at almost every major news broadcaster in the country and led the outfit representing their mutual interests, the Media Freedom Committee. But he's not the only news leader to leave the business lately amid warnings about the increasing intensity of it.

"Have years of low pay, low esteem, and lay-offs taken such a toll on journalists that they have become incapable of viewing the world as anything but a grim, dark place?" former New Zealand Herald editor Gavin Ellis asked recently

"Our news outlets are pervaded by negativity," he wrote, citing the cost-of-living crisis, crime, inequality and a pandemic that has "left a residue of anxiety."

The following week - under the headline 'There must be more to life than this' - he hinted at the toll on senior news leaders, some of whom had decided to quit lately.

At the Herald, long-serving chief editor Shayne Currie stepped aside to write about the media instead as an editor-at-large. Miriyana Alexander, head of premium content at Herald publisher NZME resigned last month to take a break.

TVNZ producer Sam Robertson, in charge of Breakfast for years, resigned recently - and the CEO Simon Power also resigned at the end of June.

Also in June, the former head of news at MediaWorks Dallas Gurney left the business entirely. Along with his partner, he bought the shop in the Northland beach town of Whananāki for a complete change of scene.

MediaWorks and TVNZ are also looking for new chief executives.

Why is this happening now?

While senior execs are much better paid than those who work hard for a lot less in their newsrooms, commercial media have endured static or falling revenue for more than a decade, Ellis wrote.

"Newsrooms have been depleted by recurring rounds of cost cuts to sustain the journalism that was the reason they got into it in the first place," he added.

Today's digital platforms are always pushing for ever bigger audiences, and news deadlines have effectively collapsed.

"Emails mount up during the so-called working day," said Gavin Ellis, which means working into the night. …

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