Straight from city council with councillor Steve Morris

Politicians and the media are in a co-dependency relationship. Politicians need to be seen by voters. And reporters need to pump out thousands of words every week to keep their jobs. A relationship of convenience. However, one partner has an uncertain future.

Publisher of the New Zealand Herald, NZME, and Fairfax, publisher of The Dominion Post, are the two largest media companies in New Zealand.

They've attempted a merger this year but recently the Commerce Commission's interim decision was to decline it on the grounds that one company would control 90 per cent of the country's media – that's a higher proportion than communist China.

So it's not over yet – and a final decision on the merger from the Commerce Commission is expected by March 2017.

So in the meantime some NZME/Fairfax newspaper editors from around the country have written to the commission begging them to reconsider because they are suffering in the digital age.

Local NZME paper, The Bay of Plenty Times, has seen circulation drop 43 per cent since 2008 while the population has grown nine per cent during the same time.

Online advertising revenues aren't increasing as fast as print advertising is declining. It's getting harder to retain trained young journalists who are tempted into higher paying jobs elsewhere. Where does this leave our local democracy?

The public can't be at every council meeting. You rely on the media to report and investigate on your behalf. In my observation, the days of investigation seem to almost be gone and reporting is becoming 'repeating”. Tauranga is fortunate to have two players in the media market. SunLive is the third most read news website in the country behind stuff.co.nz and nzherald.co.nz But unless readers are prepared to pay, like they used to for print, who will pay those who keep us honest?