The news of 2022, wrapped
Crafted by human hand, this is no Spotify-run glimpse into your soul but a look at the most read editions of The Bulletin this year
If you read every edition of The Bulletin this year, you have essentially read a tome the size of Charles Dickens’ Bleak House or Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. Each one usually clocks in around 1,500 words and we’ve published 232 so that’s 350,000 words of news. Here’s a look at the most read Bulletins of the year.
The news, wrapped (Image: Archi Banal)
Honestly, a bit of a surprise? But the Resource Management Act touches every aspect of our natural and built environment and though declaring it dead was a bit preemptive given it will linger on, the sentiment seemed to nail a widely-held view on the sprawling legislation.
Liz Truss resigns, reports Boris Johnson will stand
One of the best times I’ve had writing a Bulletin while watching a lettuce deteriorate. It was also one of the occasional Bulletins this year that was wholly written in the morning. We’ll never know what the subject matter of the day was going to be because I can't remember. Political chaos will always draw eyeballs. It also brought forth the full might of the British press. The tabloids played and the more serious outlets crackled with sharp and biting commentary.
How is a white supremacist eligible to run for a school board?
Just a solid question for our times which highlights our propensity to be blindsided and underestimate corrosive forces.
National's Sam Uffindell wants to stay on as an MP
And so he did.
Record number of new residents for NZ
Immigration settings really piqued your interest this year. They’re a very obvious marker of moving past border closures but they speak to gnarly tensions about how big we want Aotearoa to be, as well as some very big gaps in infrastructure investment. This one also exists at the axis of the dominant economic stories of the year – inflation, employment, labour shortages, wages and workers’ rights.
How a mysterious bronze bell became a cultural beacon
It’s small enough to fit in the palms of two hands, and more than two centuries after its discovery, its exact origins remain unclear. But for one local Tamil community leader, it represents a vital link between his own culture and te ao Māori. For this story, produced in partnership with Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori / Māori Language Commission, The Spinoff’s Alice Webb-Liddall spoke with Ravindran Annamalai about the unique spark behind his own te reo Māori journey, and about the cultural commonalities that journey has helped him to discover. Read the full story on The Spinoff.
Looking at the first half of the year, Covid dominated the news. And then we all just wanted to come down the other side of the mountain.
Prime minister sheds some light on hate speech law reform
Did what it said on the tin on an issue that needed clarifying and one that invites passionate and polarised opinion.
The justice minister’s stacked list
This one about Kiritapu Allan having the biggest list of legislation out of all the ministers landed just before the talk about how much the government was trying to do really got going. Comparatively, the justice minister actually has a pretty good handle on this list of legislative reform, with some of it ticked off. I don’t expect to see any of it on the chopping block next year.
Low unemployment and border closures take a toll on tertiary education
A sector-specific example of this year’s challenging economic environment. Though I didn’t touch on tourism, it contained traces of some pre-pandemic questions about our reliance on certain industries that sort of fell by the wayside.
How much can the state really do?
Probably the most philosophical edition of the year that probed the expansion of the administrative state and contained murmurings of earlier National Party thinking on how to prevent crime before we pivoted hard into typical campaign crime rhetoric. It was also a question that ended up being more literally reflective.
More end of year wraps
Toby Manhire on the ten days that define 2022 in politics
Alex Casey with the weird news of the year
Duncan Greive’s top ten media moments of the year
Pete Bale, the editor of the World Bulletin for Spinoff Members, with a year of global news
The Spinoff's independent, homegrown journalism is only possible thanks to the support of our members. Their generous donations power all our mahi including this newsletter. If you’ve enjoyed The Spinoff this year and have the means, please show your support by making a contribution today. E tōmua ana tōku mihi.
Click and Collect
Auckland mayor’s comments bring trading in Auckland International Airport shares to a standstill
Prime minister Jacinda Ardern and David Seymour join together to raise money for ‘pricks’
Wellington mayor labels leaking of confidential papers 'political sabotage'
Pharmac to fund medicines for lung cancer
NZ's emissions likely to drop by a quarter by 2035
Thank you to roughly 45,426 people
First, a thank you to Z Energy for continuing to support The Bulletin.
Ngā mihi nui to all the journalists and writers who help me help readers make sense of what’s going on. The Bulletin can’t really exist without that work and I remain consistently proud of the fact that The Spinoff opted to take a human and curatorial approach to news that was designed to showcase it.
To my colleagues at The Spinoff, as above but with a massive dollop of gratitude for all your “beyond the shallows” work and capacity to keep things necessarily light, and your guidance. Thanks to Spinoff editor Madeleine Chapman for subbing this thing, often very late at night. It’s still occasionally obvious when that hasn’t been able to happen.
Finally to readers – every single email I get from you, no matter the nature of the feedback, reminds me that this work has purpose. On the days when I’ve started at 3.30am, or I’m a bit ground down and reacting to the news as a normal person, writing in service of a lively, engaged and often incredibly kind readership is a very good north star.
In an exercise of extraordinary restraint I think I’ve only mentioned my dogs twice in The Bulletin this year. Albus, Coltrane and I wish you all a very Merry Christmas. I will be lying down, reading actual books and contributing to a dip in news readership over the summer. Have an enjoyable, restful and safe break. If you’re working through so others can do that, thank you. The Bulletin will return on January 16, 2023.
If you liked what you read today, share The Bulletin with friends, family and colleagues.
As a lazy news follower, I find the Bulletin a sensible and careful source for what's going on. Thanks for the light touch, the continual humour, and the balanced approach to the more serious topics. Thanks for being part of my morning staples, and have a much deserved break.
Anna, thank you for all the hard work in putting The Bulletin together each morning! The one piece of news I read every day, without fail, coffee in hand. Enjoy a restful break. Mā te wā xx