Cracking post. Thanks.

A lot to discuss there, but let me just take one, because it's so true and it bugs me so much:

Most of the people I’ve mentioned are gifted communicators who could do so much better if they tried, or if the incentives supported them to.

If you can hit a golf ball, or play the violin, or install a kitchen, you have to do it the very best you can, or you won't make any money. Nobody wants to pay for slapdash work that is so much less than you're capable of.

Whereas people who churn out the reckons are effectively discouraged from doing better. Why pick up a good book and educate yourself before spouting? You will only add nuance and depth and fresh perspectives, and you're not getting paid for that. It is deeply ironic that the Hosking-types will often proclaim that our society/economy should reward hard work and excellence, while demonstrating neither.

The critics (and I'm one, every day) are also at fault here. We shout "Bias!" when that isn't really the point. Nothing wrong with a conservative columnist who makes me think, who challenges me in my cosy liberal comfort zone. I just can't think of any in NZ who do. Who even bother to marshall evidence and write well. Because they have no incentive to do so.