'Journalism is a fundamental public service': William Bird on Daily Maverick's temp shutdown

JOHANNESBURG - Daily Maverick’s “temporary shutdown” has been described as an important step in raising concerns about the issues affecting the industry.

The publication shut its doors on Monday to highlight what it labels “the global state of emergency in journalism”.
 
Daily Maverick says there is a market failure and a risk of collapse coupled with a lack of financial support and policy reform.
 
Media Monitoring Africa’s William Bird said he hopes the move highlights to the public just how important journalism is.
 
"It would be nice to think all journalists in all newsrooms should shut down. But that would be like asking all emergency responders to not go to work for one day to highlight the crisis in emergency services.

"And obviously that sounds like a good idea but you can't, which highlights the fact that journalism is a fundamental public service. It’s something that's essential for democracies to function."