An Ode to .. Newshub

The New Dark Age

The icy winds blow

Through the dim and lost Valley of Legacy Media.

The moonlit ruins of a once mighty city

Lie scattered for miles around.

There stand the silent stony statues

Of the ancient Lords of the Fourth Estate:

King Mike and Queen Samantha,

Earl Ryan of the Hot Take,

Lady Melissa Chan–Green,

And the Mighty Wizard Gower the Grey.

Their proud countenances stare over

The eerie piles of rubble.

Beyond the crumbling walls of Newshub,

Lie the broken wastes of Stuff,

Stands the shattered marble monument of RNZ,

Gather the cold ashes of TVNZ,

Sit the empty and cracked ink barrels

Of the New Zealand Herald.

Alas! All is lost!

The fortresses of the Public Good,

The guardians of the Democratic Spirit;

The unbreachable walls of Free Speech

Now all just a misty half-forgotten legend.

Nothing remains –

Or does it?

In the distance the sound of drumming

And screeching and dark rituals.

There within the temple of Mordor,

Around the bloodstained Altar of Truth,

An army of orcs and ghouls stamp and hoot

And worship at the feet of their New Priests:

Reality Check Radio.

Victor Billot has previously felt moved to write Odes to such legends as King Luxon,  Lord Winston, and Toad of Seymour.