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The Bad Newsletter

The Bad Newsletter is currently on hiatus, for child-having reasons. I’m maintaining the archive of posts here while I decide what to do with it. I’m sure some of the posts I put together in the future will be Bad Newsletter-worthy.

  • Is this the standard of political journalism we deserve?

    Is this the standard of political journalism we deserve?

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    I am tired, and very cranky. Audrey Young from the Herald has put out a “Cabinet Report Card” and it’s hard to scrape together adjectives for just how catastrophically useless it is. Unfortunately, the following passage doesn’t appear until part-way through the article, which might have saved readers from being exposed to several paragraphs of […]

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  • The bad news for news

    The bad news for news

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    Straight to the point: News media in this country is getting pulped and it’s an absolute goddamn catastrophe. It’s happening so fast, insanely fast, and I worry we’re not even beginning to grasp the sheer loss to…

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  • Say the quiet part loud, for once

    Say the quiet part loud, for once

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    This one is for the journalists who subscribe to The Bad Newsletter. There are quite a few of you, which is gratifying! I think it speaks well of the profession – or what’s left of it –…

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  • “Towering bonfire of human misery” not yet large enough, say economists

    “Towering bonfire of human misery” not yet large enough, say economists

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    Sunday, 18 February, 2024 – The nation’s economists have come together in one of their frequent displays of unity, calling on ordinary workers to sacrifice their jobs to fight inflation. “To beat inflation, we require some people…

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  • Gangs kill 20 people in just one week

    Gangs kill 20 people in just one week

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    Sunday, 11 February – Police reported that 20 New Zealanders had lost their lives to gangs in the last week, in a tragedy that’s now all too familiar to exhausted New Zealanders. “In the last week alone,…

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  • ACT leader David Seymour lies about his ties to the Atlas Network

    ACT leader David Seymour lies about his ties to the Atlas Network

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    To say “politicians lie” is like saying “fish swim.” It’s such an obvious truism that it’s become a cliche – and yet, the sheer audacity of some political lies can still be breathtaking. Such is the scope…

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  • OK, doomer: A review of The Lost Cause by Cory Doctorow

    OK, doomer: A review of The Lost Cause by Cory Doctorow

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    Let’s talk about hope. Some of the reaction to my reporting on the likes of the Atlas Network seems to be, roughly paraphrased, “We’re doomed.” This is perhaps understandable. Atlas and their ilk are well resourced, and…

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  • Undermined: How far right lobby groups push racist & reactionary agendas

    Undermined: How far right lobby groups push racist & reactionary agendas

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    A lot has happened in the last few days in the world of New Zealand’s neoliberal lobby groups and their political wings, and I’ve been trying to keep up with it all – but instead of writing…

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  • The Rub

    The Rub

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    The ACT Party’s attempt to neutralise New Zealand’s founding document, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, has not started well. The far-right, ultra-neoliberal party, emboldened by the defeat of Australia’s Indigenous Voice referendum – thanks largely to a campaign…

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  • All the Garbage I Found On Substack In One Hour: An Update

    All the Garbage I Found On Substack In One Hour: An Update

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    Content warning This post contains examples of rampant anti-Semitic hate speech, Nazism, white supremacy, some of the worst and weirdest anti-science/anti-vax stuff I’ve seen anywhere on the Internet, anti-trans hate speech, and Glinner. Read at your own…

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  • Coming now: the Ghost-powered Bad Newsletter

    Coming now: the Ghost-powered Bad Newsletter

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    This is The Bad Newsletter, a brand new version of an old site by Joshua Drummond that’s just migrated from Substack. Things will be up and running here shortly, but you can subscribe in the meantime if…

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