This is a Portugese to English translation I pulled off Google translator for the sole comment (on my last post). I thought I'd pop it in seeing as I haven't done anything else for several aeons and it amuses me.
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Wednesday, 26 December 2007
Friday, 2 November 2007
The Day in Review Nov 2
- Nothing like a manhunt for an escaped axe murderer to take over all of the bulletins. Although personally, I would have thought the London Police being found guilty of endangering the public when fatally shooting the Brazilian chap on the train would have been a better leader (it came in at 2,4, and 3 on Prime, One, and 3 respectively).
- When One followed Peter Williams QC on his crusade for legal breaches in the road blocks in Tuhoe country, 3 followed the fact that Baby Pumpkin's grandma probably wasn't going to take the $50k raised for her.
- When 3 followed up on the Drug Foundation's call to review legislation of cannabis (with NORML refuting the NZDF's survey finding most people wanted it to remain illegal), One went with the new restrictions on the sale of fireworks.
- When One did the Hingis-cocaine scandal, 3 told us Mr. McCann was back to work.
- When 3 told Brent Todd pleaded guilty to four charges of fraud (he'd probably be free by now if he'd done it earlier), One was talking about a norovirus scare for Christchurch shellfish.
- When Sainsbury was talking about fireworks, Campbell's offsider, Hirschfeld, was talking homebirths. I'm beginning to see a pattern here.
Good night.
- When One followed Peter Williams QC on his crusade for legal breaches in the road blocks in Tuhoe country, 3 followed the fact that Baby Pumpkin's grandma probably wasn't going to take the $50k raised for her.
- When 3 followed up on the Drug Foundation's call to review legislation of cannabis (with NORML refuting the NZDF's survey finding most people wanted it to remain illegal), One went with the new restrictions on the sale of fireworks.
- When One did the Hingis-cocaine scandal, 3 told us Mr. McCann was back to work.
- When 3 told Brent Todd pleaded guilty to four charges of fraud (he'd probably be free by now if he'd done it earlier), One was talking about a norovirus scare for Christchurch shellfish.
- When Sainsbury was talking about fireworks, Campbell's offsider, Hirschfeld, was talking homebirths. I'm beginning to see a pattern here.
Good night.
Thursday, 1 November 2007
The Day in Review Nov 1
- Not much difference tonight. Leading all bulletins was the cancer research linking obesity to cancer. The best battle came between One News Health Correspondent Lorelei Mason and 3News Health Correspondent Dr. Lilian Ng. Well-respected journo versus the doctor. The content was much the same really.
- Backing this up was the reward put out by police for a cold case from '88.
- National's law and order policy advocating compulsory DNA testing and tasers as standard issue got some decent traction. Unsurprisingly, Greg O'Connor was all for it - the Minister Annette King was not.
- The ongoing saga of the terror raids was continued, with the fact that three Baileys were arrested being the big topic of conversation.
- Didymo was the big loser on the telly, with One News the only one following it. (They lost points for more on Mallard, although so did Checkpoint.)
- While Campbell was interviewing one of the bailed many from the terror raids, Sainsbury was trying to grill John Key over his law and order policy. There's a big difference between being a journo and being an interviewer.
- The Wireless had a little beaut on a legal precedent being set in the Coromandel that gives local bodies greater power of veto over major projects.
Good night.
- Backing this up was the reward put out by police for a cold case from '88.
- National's law and order policy advocating compulsory DNA testing and tasers as standard issue got some decent traction. Unsurprisingly, Greg O'Connor was all for it - the Minister Annette King was not.
- The ongoing saga of the terror raids was continued, with the fact that three Baileys were arrested being the big topic of conversation.
- Didymo was the big loser on the telly, with One News the only one following it. (They lost points for more on Mallard, although so did Checkpoint.)
- While Campbell was interviewing one of the bailed many from the terror raids, Sainsbury was trying to grill John Key over his law and order policy. There's a big difference between being a journo and being an interviewer.
- The Wireless had a little beaut on a legal precedent being set in the Coromandel that gives local bodies greater power of veto over major projects.
Good night.
Wednesday, 31 October 2007
The Day in Review Oct 31
- The Cabinet reshuffle dominated the news tonight, with the big winner being Darren Hughes, a new Minister outside Cabinet, who managed to get interviewed on One, 3, and Prime. Not bad for the new Deputy Leader of the House. Everyone decided it was fairly cautious, although TV One pulled out all of the stops, sending Simon Dallow down to Wellington to chat to Guyon Espiner face-to-face in the Debating Chamber. Quite sad really.
- The tougher dog control laws got a fair amount of coverage - a good start for Nanaia Mahuta, but Auckland International Airport's decision to turn down the Canadians only managed to see the light on Prime (and Checkpoint).
- The big story of the night that snuck into the Prime and 3 bulletins (and a few ZB ones), was the fact that dead didymo cells were found in the Tongariro. This is the end?
- While Campbell had a nice chat with an Austarlian consumer advocate over multi-nationals and their shoddy goods, Sainsbury chewed the fat with the PM over her Cabinet reshuffle, before moving on to his hard-hitting story on curry.
Good night.
- The tougher dog control laws got a fair amount of coverage - a good start for Nanaia Mahuta, but Auckland International Airport's decision to turn down the Canadians only managed to see the light on Prime (and Checkpoint).
- The big story of the night that snuck into the Prime and 3 bulletins (and a few ZB ones), was the fact that dead didymo cells were found in the Tongariro. This is the end?
- While Campbell had a nice chat with an Austarlian consumer advocate over multi-nationals and their shoddy goods, Sainsbury chewed the fat with the PM over her Cabinet reshuffle, before moving on to his hard-hitting story on curry.
Good night.
Tuesday, 30 October 2007
The Day in Review Oct 30
- Not much consensus tonight with our famour broadcasters. The most common story in the opening bulletins tonight was speculation on Trevor Mallard's future in Cabinet and his anger management support. Hannah Hodson on TV One had a cringe-worthy moment of asking a typically banal question as she tried to get to the bottom of this hard-hitting expose on a man torn between his love for work and his new lady love only to receive "No comment."
- The crash on State Highway 1 got some traction.
- Not surprisingly, so did the media outlets' rallying together to try and publish the names of some of the people picked up in the terror raids. On which, One had a good story about a Swiss chap who was arrested, and has been beaten up twice while in jail. His lawyer's none too impressed, and Justice and Corrections are trying to make sure they don't get in any trouble. Gitmo comparisons were made.
- The announcement of the Commissioners of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Auckland's Governance didn't get the blanket coverage it received earlier in the day, although Richard Lews of Destiny NZ's support for the family of an alleged murderer was well-received by our crime journos.
- In the duel of current affairs, Campbell was the staunch defender of the Maui Dolphin, while Sainsbury held a panel discussion on the Suppression of Terrorism Act.
- Quiet pick tonight was Lorelei Mason's story on One News about the Ministry of Health's defence of its MENZB immunisation campaign following a Norwegian doco criticising the vaccine.
Good night.
- The crash on State Highway 1 got some traction.
- Not surprisingly, so did the media outlets' rallying together to try and publish the names of some of the people picked up in the terror raids. On which, One had a good story about a Swiss chap who was arrested, and has been beaten up twice while in jail. His lawyer's none too impressed, and Justice and Corrections are trying to make sure they don't get in any trouble. Gitmo comparisons were made.
- The announcement of the Commissioners of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Auckland's Governance didn't get the blanket coverage it received earlier in the day, although Richard Lews of Destiny NZ's support for the family of an alleged murderer was well-received by our crime journos.
- In the duel of current affairs, Campbell was the staunch defender of the Maui Dolphin, while Sainsbury held a panel discussion on the Suppression of Terrorism Act.
- Quiet pick tonight was Lorelei Mason's story on One News about the Ministry of Health's defence of its MENZB immunisation campaign following a Norwegian doco criticising the vaccine.
Good night.
Monday, 29 October 2007
The Day in Review Oct 29
- Leading our bulletins this evening, the big two took on terrorism - again. This time, the fact that the police had asked the Solicitor General to advise on whether they could prosecute under the Suppression of Terrorism Act. One went with an interview of Marama, the latest lass to be granted bail while facing firearms charges. 3 proffered Tariana Turia's take, followed by Mini-Garner's explanation of what the legislation meant, and that this was a test case (in a 37 second soundbite). One followed this up with the war of words between Winston Peters and Pita Sharples (more of which we will see later).
- The Honourable Mr. Mallard's position in Cabinet was story number two, with Garner Major giving us his take on 3 before Guyon gave us the lowdown later on (collusion to avoid the head-on?). Both agreed Mallard's a dead duck (not my fault, the same lame joke's been pushed on us by all outlets).
- The firearm incident resulting in two injured soldiers in Afghanistan saw all three televisual providers (Prime led with it).
- Outside of the Irish President's visit, a home invasion, and the Royal blackmail plot, the pick tonight was 3's on-going coverage of the anglers' access trial. The jury's out, and farmers are watching (although it doesn't appear as though any journos are).
- Both Sainsbury and Campbell had Pita and Peters going head-to-head with their respective rhetoric - although John managed to get them on live, and then keep them for an extra segment (Sainsbury had to make do with vox populi leading into a replayed debate).
Nothing extra, good night.
- The Honourable Mr. Mallard's position in Cabinet was story number two, with Garner Major giving us his take on 3 before Guyon gave us the lowdown later on (collusion to avoid the head-on?). Both agreed Mallard's a dead duck (not my fault, the same lame joke's been pushed on us by all outlets).
- The firearm incident resulting in two injured soldiers in Afghanistan saw all three televisual providers (Prime led with it).
- Outside of the Irish President's visit, a home invasion, and the Royal blackmail plot, the pick tonight was 3's on-going coverage of the anglers' access trial. The jury's out, and farmers are watching (although it doesn't appear as though any journos are).
- Both Sainsbury and Campbell had Pita and Peters going head-to-head with their respective rhetoric - although John managed to get them on live, and then keep them for an extra segment (Sainsbury had to make do with vox populi leading into a replayed debate).
Nothing extra, good night.
Thursday, 25 October 2007
The Day in Review Oct 25
- Tau and Trev were top of the news today. Fairly good coverage all round, although the top picks are: Barry Soper's recreation on Prime, footage of Trev calling Tau out in the House from the Parliamentary Service's cameras on One, and 3's access to Tau's supporting txt from Dr. Don Brash. All wonderful examples of NZ's press gallery. Everyone agreed Trev would probably stay in Cabinet, but get a stern reprimand (and demotion).
- Malibu's still burning and so is the story.
- The ongoing Tame Iti story continues to have legs.
- The schoolgirl in Christchurch who was blown under a bus by a gust of wind got wide coverage. - As did the resignation of the last oncologist at Wellington Hospital (Campbell went with that one - a tragic story).
- 3 had a good scoop, with Mini Garner reporting on a Labour Party plot to put up a candidate against David Benson Pope. Much more interesting than the Stoush in the House. And Prime actually covered the Guvmint's (at the behest of the Green's) plan to have an Ombudsman investigate the prison system. The Honourable Mr. Burton looked awfully uncomfortable sitting next to Nandor.
- The Wireless had fun with Trev and Tau too, but was slightly more interested in the dressing down (of sorts) Dr. Cullen received in Dr. Bollard's statement on the OCR.
- Campbell was on the oncology route, while Sainsbury was on the proifteers in the leaky buildings industry, chatting to Bob Clarkson.
- My moment tonight was TV One's breaking news that Tokelau had decided to remain a colony after 6.30pm. Checkpoint broke it before 6, and even 3 had it opening its second segment. For shame.
Good night.
- Malibu's still burning and so is the story.
- The ongoing Tame Iti story continues to have legs.
- The schoolgirl in Christchurch who was blown under a bus by a gust of wind got wide coverage. - As did the resignation of the last oncologist at Wellington Hospital (Campbell went with that one - a tragic story).
- 3 had a good scoop, with Mini Garner reporting on a Labour Party plot to put up a candidate against David Benson Pope. Much more interesting than the Stoush in the House. And Prime actually covered the Guvmint's (at the behest of the Green's) plan to have an Ombudsman investigate the prison system. The Honourable Mr. Burton looked awfully uncomfortable sitting next to Nandor.
- The Wireless had fun with Trev and Tau too, but was slightly more interested in the dressing down (of sorts) Dr. Cullen received in Dr. Bollard's statement on the OCR.
- Campbell was on the oncology route, while Sainsbury was on the proifteers in the leaky buildings industry, chatting to Bob Clarkson.
- My moment tonight was TV One's breaking news that Tokelau had decided to remain a colony after 6.30pm. Checkpoint broke it before 6, and even 3 had it opening its second segment. For shame.
Good night.
Wednesday, 24 October 2007
The Day in Review Oct 24
- According to TV One and TV3, the fires of Malibu was still the most important news story of the day in New Zealand.
- Not so with Prime, which led with Dr. Skilling's report from the NZ Institute encouraging New Zealand to pull back from Kyoto. One agreed this was a big story, putting Dr. Skilling in their opening segment (he manages to get around quite well) - although it focused on the to-ing and fro-ing between the Guvmint and the Opposition rather than the actual story.
- The other big local story that received the consensus of all of our visual broadcasters was the Parliamentary Debate on the Suppression of Terrorism Act. Not much was actually said (that would involve too much explanation of what it actually is), but everyone wanted to ensure they were on top of it. Except me.
- 3 pulled one out of left-field with their second story on the conviction of the pounamu thieves being convicted. Checkpoint picked up on it too, but you expect that. Mark Solomon, Chair of Ngai Tahu, was well-chuffed.
- While 3 gave a paid advertisement to Meridian Energy's new enviro-friendly HQ on the Wellington Waterfront, One went with the Stagecoach story. While the bus company was happy to pay out a sum of money to the family of a chap run down by a driver, it was unwilling to apologise. Legal action is likely.
- Later on our current affairs due, while Mark Sainsbury did an old story from Campbell (the case of the disputed burial plot), John was talking to Scott Opticon of Auckland University and Assistant Police Commissioner Jon White about the legality of the road blocks in Ruatoki. Tough times for law enforcement agencies.
- My moment of "Why did you do that?" belongs to David Baldwin, Chief Executive of Contact Energy, for taking an interview with Mary Wilson. Always a rough ask at the best of times, but admitting to having brown asbestos at the plant you've closed when Mary knows it's the most dangerous type and you don't is one of those cringe-worthy seconds that seem to last for hours.
Good night.
- Not so with Prime, which led with Dr. Skilling's report from the NZ Institute encouraging New Zealand to pull back from Kyoto. One agreed this was a big story, putting Dr. Skilling in their opening segment (he manages to get around quite well) - although it focused on the to-ing and fro-ing between the Guvmint and the Opposition rather than the actual story.
- The other big local story that received the consensus of all of our visual broadcasters was the Parliamentary Debate on the Suppression of Terrorism Act. Not much was actually said (that would involve too much explanation of what it actually is), but everyone wanted to ensure they were on top of it. Except me.
- 3 pulled one out of left-field with their second story on the conviction of the pounamu thieves being convicted. Checkpoint picked up on it too, but you expect that. Mark Solomon, Chair of Ngai Tahu, was well-chuffed.
- While 3 gave a paid advertisement to Meridian Energy's new enviro-friendly HQ on the Wellington Waterfront, One went with the Stagecoach story. While the bus company was happy to pay out a sum of money to the family of a chap run down by a driver, it was unwilling to apologise. Legal action is likely.
- Later on our current affairs due, while Mark Sainsbury did an old story from Campbell (the case of the disputed burial plot), John was talking to Scott Opticon of Auckland University and Assistant Police Commissioner Jon White about the legality of the road blocks in Ruatoki. Tough times for law enforcement agencies.
- My moment of "Why did you do that?" belongs to David Baldwin, Chief Executive of Contact Energy, for taking an interview with Mary Wilson. Always a rough ask at the best of times, but admitting to having brown asbestos at the plant you've closed when Mary knows it's the most dangerous type and you don't is one of those cringe-worthy seconds that seem to last for hours.
Good night.
Tuesday, 23 October 2007
The Day in Review Oct 23
- 3 bucked the trend tonight, opening with the double tragedy of mother and baby dying during breast feeding. Sadly bizarre.
- Everyone else then focused on the wild winds in the deep South and Hawke's Bay. Every conceivable angle was covered, mainly because there wasn't anything else to talk about today.
- The fires in Malibu backed it up, proving my point really.
- Unifying themes throughout the opening segments were the Glassie court appearances, home detention for two Wellington boy racers, and the house attack in Manukau.
- Prime introduced David Benson Pope's ongoing Labour Party sideshow first, with Barry Soper speculating on the Cabinet reshuffle next, before Guyon Espiner and Garner Major battled it out in their respective second segments. Much of a muchness really - Jones, Street, Parker, Cosgrove all mentioned for higher honours.
- A lil' more on the terror raids, with a chap receiving bail in Auckland, and more condemnation from the Maori Party, but not too much.
- The Wireless continued the theme, although I did note that their 5pm news bulletins picked up on NZ Football canning its effort to host the Oceania Champs due to the Guvmint's stance on Fiji. Oh, and they broke the story that Marky Mark was going to replace Ryan Gosling in the Loverly Bones next year.
- While Campbell gave us tips on how to manage our overflowing in-boxes after a long weekend and refrain from reacting hastily with an e-mail message, Sainsbury was talking to Greg O'Connor and Paul Mabey QC about bail. Current affairs versus infotainment - you decide.
- Too tough to pick a low moment, although the lack of any coverage on One about the access to land trial (two anglers were allegedly shot at by an angry farmer) was a doozy to miss. Oh, and having Karen explain away the weather patters as part of the lead story isn't really necessary.
Good night.
- Everyone else then focused on the wild winds in the deep South and Hawke's Bay. Every conceivable angle was covered, mainly because there wasn't anything else to talk about today.
- The fires in Malibu backed it up, proving my point really.
- Unifying themes throughout the opening segments were the Glassie court appearances, home detention for two Wellington boy racers, and the house attack in Manukau.
- Prime introduced David Benson Pope's ongoing Labour Party sideshow first, with Barry Soper speculating on the Cabinet reshuffle next, before Guyon Espiner and Garner Major battled it out in their respective second segments. Much of a muchness really - Jones, Street, Parker, Cosgrove all mentioned for higher honours.
- A lil' more on the terror raids, with a chap receiving bail in Auckland, and more condemnation from the Maori Party, but not too much.
- The Wireless continued the theme, although I did note that their 5pm news bulletins picked up on NZ Football canning its effort to host the Oceania Champs due to the Guvmint's stance on Fiji. Oh, and they broke the story that Marky Mark was going to replace Ryan Gosling in the Loverly Bones next year.
- While Campbell gave us tips on how to manage our overflowing in-boxes after a long weekend and refrain from reacting hastily with an e-mail message, Sainsbury was talking to Greg O'Connor and Paul Mabey QC about bail. Current affairs versus infotainment - you decide.
- Too tough to pick a low moment, although the lack of any coverage on One about the access to land trial (two anglers were allegedly shot at by an angry farmer) was a doozy to miss. Oh, and having Karen explain away the weather patters as part of the lead story isn't really necessary.
Good night.
Friday, 19 October 2007
The Day in Review Oct 19
- Karachi was on the lips of every newsreader on TV3 and One News tonight. Both had correspondents live from Pakistan, although I must note neither used NZ's fine Asia correspondent Charlotte Glennie (maybe she's still here following the Asia NZ conference last weekend).
- We had more on the terror suspects with 11 people having bail hearings today... no-one got it. The 1000-strong hikoi got some decent coverage, but Mary Wilson and Checkpoint went slightly overboard - there are other things happening RNZ. Kudos to Guyon Espiner on One for citing the fact that the SIS helped direct the operation.
- Steve Maharey's announcement that he was resigning from Parliament next year got good coverage, and I did like Sia Aston's note that the Opposition was being gracious by not cracking any 'jumping ship' jokes.
- Biggest buried story was on One - the mistrial in Christchurch after the head juror in a child abuse case rang up a witness and thanked him for his evidence. Justice waits another year.
- Campbell had an exclusive interview with a trainee at one of Tame's camps. Fiery rhetoric - IRA balaclava and all. Close Up had Paul Henry leading with a little girl who was fed up with New Zealand's potty mouths. Oliver Driver and Wendyl Nissen made up the panel to discuss the issue.
- Despite my praise for Sia earlier, she really showed her true colours (and lack of true political journo hack-ness) by citing the National Party as those who labelled outgoing Maharey as smarmy. Anyone who's anyone knows that John Tamihere (JT to his friends) was the one who (with Ian Wishart's help) coined that phrase. Alas for Major Garner going on holiday early.
Good night.
- We had more on the terror suspects with 11 people having bail hearings today... no-one got it. The 1000-strong hikoi got some decent coverage, but Mary Wilson and Checkpoint went slightly overboard - there are other things happening RNZ. Kudos to Guyon Espiner on One for citing the fact that the SIS helped direct the operation.
- Steve Maharey's announcement that he was resigning from Parliament next year got good coverage, and I did like Sia Aston's note that the Opposition was being gracious by not cracking any 'jumping ship' jokes.
- Biggest buried story was on One - the mistrial in Christchurch after the head juror in a child abuse case rang up a witness and thanked him for his evidence. Justice waits another year.
- Campbell had an exclusive interview with a trainee at one of Tame's camps. Fiery rhetoric - IRA balaclava and all. Close Up had Paul Henry leading with a little girl who was fed up with New Zealand's potty mouths. Oliver Driver and Wendyl Nissen made up the panel to discuss the issue.
- Despite my praise for Sia earlier, she really showed her true colours (and lack of true political journo hack-ness) by citing the National Party as those who labelled outgoing Maharey as smarmy. Anyone who's anyone knows that John Tamihere (JT to his friends) was the one who (with Ian Wishart's help) coined that phrase. Alas for Major Garner going on holiday early.
Good night.
Thursday, 18 October 2007
The Day in Review Oct 18
- Consensus non grata tonight for the networks. Prime opened with the DomPost's story on the SIS gaining access to the US Government's Terrorist Database, and Keith Locke's fears that refugees could be stifled when attempting to seek sanctuary in New Zealand. Nowhere else did this story run (the spooks are everywhere).
- 3 opened with an advertising campaign for The Joneses - best PR money can buy when you've got the Associate Minister of Justice backing you over the self-regulatory body. NewstalkZB and RNZ were also over this one. I don't suppose REINZ has many friends. One waited until no-one was watching before they slipped it in (or saw that 3 led it and thought they'd better do so).
- One, on the other hand, opened with the rising petrol prices ahead of Labour Weekend (not that that's ever happened before). Reps from BP, Gull, and the AA battled it out in their soundbites, with Gull taking the high road waiting until after the weekend before raising prices. Prime went with the AA in their opening piece, and 3 did their's too, but nothing could compare to Rawdon Christie taking a leaf out of the BBC handbook on broadcasting for beginners, and satnding by a computer graphic of the Middle East, explaining away why Turkey was escalating its blah blah blah. Normally you have to wait until BBC World for that kind of coverage. Oh, and David Young also took the opportunity to point out that the price hike would likely be inflationary in the lead up to the Reserve Bank's announcement on the OCR next week.
- Everyone leaped on the day's remarks by Dr. Pita Sharples of the Maori Party that the terror raids would set back race relations 100 years. Both One and 3 interviewed a couple of organic farmers in Taupo who were most unimpressed with their questioning by the police. While everyone agreed that the nearly all Parliamentarians were distancing themselves from any concrete comment (even Trotskyite Locke), Major Garner managed to have a superb interview with Minister of Maori Affairs Parekura Horomia, who in a rare move, was caught in a concrete statement that he did not believe Tame Iti was a terrorist. Political posturing ahead of the Cabinet reshuffle or just not quick on his feet? Well done Duncan.
- The MSD report on the well-being of New Zealanders got some good traction, as did the condemnation of the police force for sponsoring schoolboy rugby ("They shouldn't have to advertise"), but two goodies were back-to-back on One: NRL clubs antsy about being kept out of the loop over the rape allegations against the Kiwis (the Tigers in particular), and the Christchurch school putting locks on the toilets to prevent errant children from smoking in them (Libertarians of the world unite!).
- Campbell and Close Up had another duel, with Campbell playing a recorded interview with Dr. Sharples, while Sainsbury had Tame Iti's son and grand-daughter. Nothing really interesting.
- Insipid moment of the night had to go to Rawdon, but I did like Amanda Gillies' attempt to get a who's who of activists at a meeting in Auckland: Minto, Oosterman, um, ah, yeah.
Good night.
- 3 opened with an advertising campaign for The Joneses - best PR money can buy when you've got the Associate Minister of Justice backing you over the self-regulatory body. NewstalkZB and RNZ were also over this one. I don't suppose REINZ has many friends. One waited until no-one was watching before they slipped it in (or saw that 3 led it and thought they'd better do so).
- One, on the other hand, opened with the rising petrol prices ahead of Labour Weekend (not that that's ever happened before). Reps from BP, Gull, and the AA battled it out in their soundbites, with Gull taking the high road waiting until after the weekend before raising prices. Prime went with the AA in their opening piece, and 3 did their's too, but nothing could compare to Rawdon Christie taking a leaf out of the BBC handbook on broadcasting for beginners, and satnding by a computer graphic of the Middle East, explaining away why Turkey was escalating its blah blah blah. Normally you have to wait until BBC World for that kind of coverage. Oh, and David Young also took the opportunity to point out that the price hike would likely be inflationary in the lead up to the Reserve Bank's announcement on the OCR next week.
- Everyone leaped on the day's remarks by Dr. Pita Sharples of the Maori Party that the terror raids would set back race relations 100 years. Both One and 3 interviewed a couple of organic farmers in Taupo who were most unimpressed with their questioning by the police. While everyone agreed that the nearly all Parliamentarians were distancing themselves from any concrete comment (even Trotskyite Locke), Major Garner managed to have a superb interview with Minister of Maori Affairs Parekura Horomia, who in a rare move, was caught in a concrete statement that he did not believe Tame Iti was a terrorist. Political posturing ahead of the Cabinet reshuffle or just not quick on his feet? Well done Duncan.
- The MSD report on the well-being of New Zealanders got some good traction, as did the condemnation of the police force for sponsoring schoolboy rugby ("They shouldn't have to advertise"), but two goodies were back-to-back on One: NRL clubs antsy about being kept out of the loop over the rape allegations against the Kiwis (the Tigers in particular), and the Christchurch school putting locks on the toilets to prevent errant children from smoking in them (Libertarians of the world unite!).
- Campbell and Close Up had another duel, with Campbell playing a recorded interview with Dr. Sharples, while Sainsbury had Tame Iti's son and grand-daughter. Nothing really interesting.
- Insipid moment of the night had to go to Rawdon, but I did like Amanda Gillies' attempt to get a who's who of activists at a meeting in Auckland: Minto, Oosterman, um, ah, yeah.
Good night.
Wednesday, 17 October 2007
The Day in Review Oct 17
- Stop all the presses. Hold all the phones. Tame Iti's bail was declined. It gets worse, but I'll get to that.
- 3 bucked the trend with its opening, opting instead for an exclusive with Customs over the types of weapons getting into Utopia. Everything from claymores to M-60s to tommy-guns. I can deal with the latter (kind of takes me back to Prohibition times), but the first two? Michael Morrah gave us the lowdown, pointing out that it was unlikely there was a link between this weaponry and terror camps (someone should let Mark Jennings know you're not meant to let the public in on their ignorance).
- One and Prime jumped on the terror bandwagon tonight - a story that never seems to end (or change). We had Tame, we had the support in Wellington for the detainees, we had Paul Buchanan giving an explanation of what terror is (he's no long a Former Lecturer at Auckland University, rather, he's been given the austere title Former Advisor to the CIA). 3, held off, just keeping to Tame later on in the opening bulletin.
- The Government's crackdown on youth binge drinking came in at number two for 3 and One, with Sia Aston and Kris Faafoi giving us a rundown of what the Government's planning to do. Most people are saying not much or nothing new.
- Kudos to 3 (and RNZ) for putting Lloyd Jones coming up short at the Bookers in at number 3; even if it did say "oh well, at least the book's selling a lot". Poor form to One for relegating it to the end of the second segment.
- One did do well in reporting on Geneva Finance and its pending failure, although Owen Poland couldn't quite land an interview.
- More kudos to 3 for going with the Ministry of Consumer Affairs' report into formaldehyde disputing Target's research. Ed Connolly at The Warehouse was well chuffed.
- Campbell and Close Up had a head-to-head battle with anorexia leading their openings. John followed that up with a drawn-out interview on breast cancer that didn't capture me too much, although I had to admit I couldn't really watch Damien O'Connor explain away the guvmint's youth drinking thing for too long.
- Prime and 3 are joint winners tonight for sharing a moment of utter filth: Mike King has no place in making any comment whatsoever. None. Especially when it's him pontificating on how the arrests in Ruatoki are about this Government trying to do some Maori bashing to get up in the polls. There were much wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Good night.
- 3 bucked the trend with its opening, opting instead for an exclusive with Customs over the types of weapons getting into Utopia. Everything from claymores to M-60s to tommy-guns. I can deal with the latter (kind of takes me back to Prohibition times), but the first two? Michael Morrah gave us the lowdown, pointing out that it was unlikely there was a link between this weaponry and terror camps (someone should let Mark Jennings know you're not meant to let the public in on their ignorance).
- One and Prime jumped on the terror bandwagon tonight - a story that never seems to end (or change). We had Tame, we had the support in Wellington for the detainees, we had Paul Buchanan giving an explanation of what terror is (he's no long a Former Lecturer at Auckland University, rather, he's been given the austere title Former Advisor to the CIA). 3, held off, just keeping to Tame later on in the opening bulletin.
- The Government's crackdown on youth binge drinking came in at number two for 3 and One, with Sia Aston and Kris Faafoi giving us a rundown of what the Government's planning to do. Most people are saying not much or nothing new.
- Kudos to 3 (and RNZ) for putting Lloyd Jones coming up short at the Bookers in at number 3; even if it did say "oh well, at least the book's selling a lot". Poor form to One for relegating it to the end of the second segment.
- One did do well in reporting on Geneva Finance and its pending failure, although Owen Poland couldn't quite land an interview.
- More kudos to 3 for going with the Ministry of Consumer Affairs' report into formaldehyde disputing Target's research. Ed Connolly at The Warehouse was well chuffed.
- Campbell and Close Up had a head-to-head battle with anorexia leading their openings. John followed that up with a drawn-out interview on breast cancer that didn't capture me too much, although I had to admit I couldn't really watch Damien O'Connor explain away the guvmint's youth drinking thing for too long.
- Prime and 3 are joint winners tonight for sharing a moment of utter filth: Mike King has no place in making any comment whatsoever. None. Especially when it's him pontificating on how the arrests in Ruatoki are about this Government trying to do some Maori bashing to get up in the polls. There were much wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Good night.
Tuesday, 16 October 2007
The Day in Review Oct 16
- Another day was encompassed by our terror camps in the Ureweras. Even the Times got in on the act, as Campbell was keen to point out. Again, everyone opened with it, and ran with it, and tried to cover every conceivable aspect of it. Lisa Owen was all over Jamie Lockett's court case, coming back to us after the weather to let us know that the High Court had rescinded his bail (although she didn't get to interview him for Close Up). 3 opened with the bail hearing of Tame Iti, then went on to visit a training camp, where they didn't find any weapons. Fran Mold, sorry, Francesca, told us that the Maori Party wasn't happy with the whole ordeal, raising their issues in Parliament; as did Garner Major. 3 also pointed out that TradeMe was the site where the groups purchased most of their goods. Protests are-a-coming. I'd read Bomber if I were you.
- Tucked behind this biggie was rape allegations against four Kiwis following their drubbing by the Kangaroos. The NZRL hasn't commented yet.
- There was also an earthquake in the South Island.
- Dr. Cullen's talking down tax-cuts (for a change) in the face of the Howard and Costello act.
- And Contact's entered the wind game, announcing it will build it in Waikato. Well, 3 let us know before the half-hour was up.
- Oh, and Barbara Dreaver let us know that the PM was the only dignitary not formally announced at the Pacific Forum.
- Close Up and Campbell did all they could on the big story - Close Up stooping to an interview with Frances Mountier of the Save the Happy Valley Coalition (so she got asked a few questions by a few cops, it's not like they left her to get run down by a train, which I'm sure Dr. Elder would quite like to see), so I'm not going to elaborate. Really.
- Moment of gut-wrenching agony - not Lisa Owen's breaking news, but 3 with its report on the reaction of Ruatoki locals to the harsh brutality of the Auckland police in making their arrests. Not the story in and of itself, but its announcement of the rule of tyranny in Utopia - (I'm paraphrasing) - "One unnamed freedom fighter said the whole situation had been blown out of proportion." Too much of The Clean for that one.
Good night.
- Tucked behind this biggie was rape allegations against four Kiwis following their drubbing by the Kangaroos. The NZRL hasn't commented yet.
- There was also an earthquake in the South Island.
- Dr. Cullen's talking down tax-cuts (for a change) in the face of the Howard and Costello act.
- And Contact's entered the wind game, announcing it will build it in Waikato. Well, 3 let us know before the half-hour was up.
- Oh, and Barbara Dreaver let us know that the PM was the only dignitary not formally announced at the Pacific Forum.
- Close Up and Campbell did all they could on the big story - Close Up stooping to an interview with Frances Mountier of the Save the Happy Valley Coalition (so she got asked a few questions by a few cops, it's not like they left her to get run down by a train, which I'm sure Dr. Elder would quite like to see), so I'm not going to elaborate. Really.
- Moment of gut-wrenching agony - not Lisa Owen's breaking news, but 3 with its report on the reaction of Ruatoki locals to the harsh brutality of the Auckland police in making their arrests. Not the story in and of itself, but its announcement of the rule of tyranny in Utopia - (I'm paraphrasing) - "One unnamed freedom fighter said the whole situation had been blown out of proportion." Too much of The Clean for that one.
Good night.
Monday, 15 October 2007
The Day in Review Oct 15
- Today, all of our broadcasters could go no further than the raids around the country that were covered under the Suppression of Terrorism Act. Everyone tried to outdo the rest. Prime kicked it all off (where excluding Neil Waka for obvious reasons) with pics from 3 and Barry Soper's sober musings on the issue. One had Fran Mold opening their piece, with a threat to the Prime Minister bandied about. Lisa Owen took the hard details, telling us about Hemi Lockett's charge amongst other things. They tried going to Ruatoki direct, but had to wait until after their first ad break before getting a link that worked. 3 took a more sensational approach - not quite quoting 'Apocalypse Now' but really really wanting to (that's a thinly veiled reference to napalm; sorry kids). Garner Major let us know that H1 had been informed of the threat a week earlier, and that her office was aware of the situation several weeks ago. 3 also focused on the raid in the Wellington hippy house on Abel Smith and Willis. They also had an indepth piece on Tame Iti - well, wouldn't you? (All I can think of is Paul Thomas' 'Guerilla Season' and the Aotearoa People's Army - great book.)
- The second segment (yes, TV One and TV3 followed RNZ's lead in having a lead story last longer than 10 minutes) only had the upcoming Oz election in common. 3 had Banksie calling the Guvmint's bluff, while One went with the real estate agent's disciplinary hearing. There were other things, but they were mainly international (including the Brethren conspiracy in Australia).
- Top story went to 3 with Dr. Keith Turner of Meridian warning that the national grid could fail because Transpower turned off an interisland line. Good scoop.
- Close Up and Campbell went with the raids of terror, fighting over who could get Howard Broad first (Sainsbury did, so John had to talk to Tame Iti's lawyer - yikes).
- Nothing too insipid tonight (I'm excluding Banksie), so we'll go with a well done to the Kiwi boys who drive around in a circle for the Sheik's pleasure. And Jonny Reid really is a driver's name.
Good night.
- The second segment (yes, TV One and TV3 followed RNZ's lead in having a lead story last longer than 10 minutes) only had the upcoming Oz election in common. 3 had Banksie calling the Guvmint's bluff, while One went with the real estate agent's disciplinary hearing. There were other things, but they were mainly international (including the Brethren conspiracy in Australia).
- Top story went to 3 with Dr. Keith Turner of Meridian warning that the national grid could fail because Transpower turned off an interisland line. Good scoop.
- Close Up and Campbell went with the raids of terror, fighting over who could get Howard Broad first (Sainsbury did, so John had to talk to Tame Iti's lawyer - yikes).
- Nothing too insipid tonight (I'm excluding Banksie), so we'll go with a well done to the Kiwi boys who drive around in a circle for the Sheik's pleasure. And Jonny Reid really is a driver's name.
Good night.
Thursday, 11 October 2007
The Day in Review Oct 11
- Rugby and energy were today's hot topics on the telly. 3 led with the obvious one - the Government's energy policy, with Sia Aston giving us a blow-by-blow account of what's good for us. They backed it up with a nice piece on Genesis Energy's ongoing battle with Greenpeace in the Court of Appeal over its Rodney plant that was to use fossil fuels (a no-no under the new strategy). When One got around to talking about it, Guyon Espiner gave us his third rendition of the strategy, letting Kris Faafoi run through how it was going to miprove the quality of NZ's substandard housing (something every student post-2030 will appreciate).
- One gave us Dougie first. His web-address (it didn't have much on Narm Hewitt); the $30k bar tab (explained away by numerous All Blacks); management's knowledge of the incident prior to landing and their umming and ahhing over what to do. 3 did the same really. You can't go wrong when an All Black does.
- The crackdown on motorists in South Auckland got a nice piece of coverage on both channels, with One asking the pointed question "is this a revenue gathering exercise?"
- 3 had a nice little piece on the Yellow Pages Group blocking internet access to the White Pages for some groups for fear they are using it for direct marketing. The AA was one of these groups, and our man Doug Wilson was none too pleased.
- 3 also had a good piece on a new study that found people will be willing to pay higher prices for their BZP when it's made illegal, forgoing the BZP-free party pills that will be readily available to the public... oh, they didn't take that into account. Hmmm. Well, there's going to be a black market for BZP, and these pills will probably be laced with things harder than sheep drench. So parents beware.
- One had a brief run on research finding that while police recruits did require some babysitting before graduation, once they were on the beat, they performed their jobs adequately. Maybe they had been listening to Mary Wilson grill the Minister, Annette King earlier in the day.
- The rest of our news was mainly international. Absolutely bizarre.
- The Wireless continued to go with the real estate agent furore, the police graduate research, and a little on A1 milk. Nandor had a good spot on Larry Williams branding John Howard as a racist over his stance against the Bali Bombers' pending execution. I'm sure he could have found a better example than that.
- Close Up went with a woman who was still waiting for breast reconstruction surgery after being bumped off the list three times; Campbell had a wonderful piece on budgeting that I caught the first 20 seconds of before flipping back.
- Insipid brilliance of the evening goes to Barry Soper, Political Editor Extraordinaire, who on Prime News interviewed (separately) the Prime Minister and the Leader of Opposition on their understanding of what the game of rugby means to New Zealanders. Inspired.
Good night.
- One gave us Dougie first. His web-address (it didn't have much on Narm Hewitt); the $30k bar tab (explained away by numerous All Blacks); management's knowledge of the incident prior to landing and their umming and ahhing over what to do. 3 did the same really. You can't go wrong when an All Black does.
- The crackdown on motorists in South Auckland got a nice piece of coverage on both channels, with One asking the pointed question "is this a revenue gathering exercise?"
- 3 had a nice little piece on the Yellow Pages Group blocking internet access to the White Pages for some groups for fear they are using it for direct marketing. The AA was one of these groups, and our man Doug Wilson was none too pleased.
- 3 also had a good piece on a new study that found people will be willing to pay higher prices for their BZP when it's made illegal, forgoing the BZP-free party pills that will be readily available to the public... oh, they didn't take that into account. Hmmm. Well, there's going to be a black market for BZP, and these pills will probably be laced with things harder than sheep drench. So parents beware.
- One had a brief run on research finding that while police recruits did require some babysitting before graduation, once they were on the beat, they performed their jobs adequately. Maybe they had been listening to Mary Wilson grill the Minister, Annette King earlier in the day.
- The rest of our news was mainly international. Absolutely bizarre.
- The Wireless continued to go with the real estate agent furore, the police graduate research, and a little on A1 milk. Nandor had a good spot on Larry Williams branding John Howard as a racist over his stance against the Bali Bombers' pending execution. I'm sure he could have found a better example than that.
- Close Up went with a woman who was still waiting for breast reconstruction surgery after being bumped off the list three times; Campbell had a wonderful piece on budgeting that I caught the first 20 seconds of before flipping back.
- Insipid brilliance of the evening goes to Barry Soper, Political Editor Extraordinaire, who on Prime News interviewed (separately) the Prime Minister and the Leader of Opposition on their understanding of what the game of rugby means to New Zealanders. Inspired.
Good night.
Tuesday, 9 October 2007
The Day in Review Oct 9
- Without the All Blacks dictating what to say, our fearless broadcasters didn't have any unity tonight. The only common stories in One and 3's starting line-ups were the ongoing saga of the Glassies (Nia's mum was charged with manslaughter), the siege in Ohope (which didn't lead on either channel), and feelgood story Steve Williams (Tiger's caddy) donating a million to Starship's Cancer Ward. Sheesh.
- 3 opened with Qantas's announcement that it was upgrading services to cater for the business traveller. One didn't touch.
- One led with a troika of health stories: the trial of a new radiotherapy cancer treatment; a breakthrough in chemotherapy in Oz; and a lung cancer patient in the BoP who's had her operation cancelled three times. On the last one, Francesca Mold managed to through a little name-calling in the House between Pete Hodgson and Tony Ryall, but nothing substantial.
- One also ran the piece on Winston Peters' office receiving a paper from CTAG regarding the Air NZ charter flights to Iraq. Winston was most unimpressed, and not really owning up to much. Guyon gloated, then segued on to the Nat Attack regarding the Ingram Report (anyone remember that?), not that it went very far. 3 didn't touch Winnie, although Mini-Garner did do a piece on the Nat Attack in the second stanza.
- All quiet on the tele's front. The Wireless was mainly interested in the Glassies and the stand-off, and Winston to a degree.
- Close Up went with the drunk vandals who left a couple of kids in hospital, and all ended up in jail. Campbo had Hamster from Top Gear plugging his book.
- Insipid moment was the oddness of it all. It's as though there's enough news for two.
Good night.
- 3 opened with Qantas's announcement that it was upgrading services to cater for the business traveller. One didn't touch.
- One led with a troika of health stories: the trial of a new radiotherapy cancer treatment; a breakthrough in chemotherapy in Oz; and a lung cancer patient in the BoP who's had her operation cancelled three times. On the last one, Francesca Mold managed to through a little name-calling in the House between Pete Hodgson and Tony Ryall, but nothing substantial.
- One also ran the piece on Winston Peters' office receiving a paper from CTAG regarding the Air NZ charter flights to Iraq. Winston was most unimpressed, and not really owning up to much. Guyon gloated, then segued on to the Nat Attack regarding the Ingram Report (anyone remember that?), not that it went very far. 3 didn't touch Winnie, although Mini-Garner did do a piece on the Nat Attack in the second stanza.
- All quiet on the tele's front. The Wireless was mainly interested in the Glassies and the stand-off, and Winston to a degree.
- Close Up went with the drunk vandals who left a couple of kids in hospital, and all ended up in jail. Campbo had Hamster from Top Gear plugging his book.
- Insipid moment was the oddness of it all. It's as though there's enough news for two.
Good night.
Monday, 8 October 2007
The Day in Review Oct 8
- There was one story tonight - the All Blacks and all the possible permutations of their loss. 3 led with Graham Henry's press conference and the NZRU saying he'd be gone by Christmas lunchtime. One gave us the workds of the players. Of course we had the public's response on both channels, as well as the wider social implications (domestic violence, a perceived downturn in the economy (which has only ever occurred after we won in '87)).
- Story number two (aside from the shooting spree in the States) was Chris Kahui signing a memorandum of understanding that he would not be released on bail until all of its issues were ironed out.
- On One, we found out that emergency services had been stretched by bad weather.
- 3 (eventually), we found out an Air Force jet was hit by lightening in Oz, and the mothballed Skyhawks were going to be wrapped in Gladwrap and parked on the footy field. The eradicator of Political Correctness, Dr Wayne Mapp, pointed out that this probably meant the deal to sell them had fallen through.
- Best hidden story went to One, with its Special Report at 6.30pm by David Young on Australian equity firms buying up Kiwi companies and selling them off piece by piece for a profit. In an about-turn, they pointed out their competitor as a company that had been bought by Aussies.
- Laurie Mains and David Moffet on Close Up. Henry on Campbell. Anything interesting? No.
- Insipid story of the eve goes to TV One. I care not that Pam Anderson has married Rick Solomon. Well, maybe a little, but only in an ironic sense of voyeurism.
Good night.
- Story number two (aside from the shooting spree in the States) was Chris Kahui signing a memorandum of understanding that he would not be released on bail until all of its issues were ironed out.
- On One, we found out that emergency services had been stretched by bad weather.
- 3 (eventually), we found out an Air Force jet was hit by lightening in Oz, and the mothballed Skyhawks were going to be wrapped in Gladwrap and parked on the footy field. The eradicator of Political Correctness, Dr Wayne Mapp, pointed out that this probably meant the deal to sell them had fallen through.
- Best hidden story went to One, with its Special Report at 6.30pm by David Young on Australian equity firms buying up Kiwi companies and selling them off piece by piece for a profit. In an about-turn, they pointed out their competitor as a company that had been bought by Aussies.
- Laurie Mains and David Moffet on Close Up. Henry on Campbell. Anything interesting? No.
- Insipid story of the eve goes to TV One. I care not that Pam Anderson has married Rick Solomon. Well, maybe a little, but only in an ironic sense of voyeurism.
Good night.
Friday, 5 October 2007
The Day in Review Oct 5
- Oddly enough, all every broadcaster could lead with tonight was Taito. (I wonder if he'll retain the honourable title if he gets convicted?) The High Court determined that Mr. Field can be charged with 15 counts of corruption as an MP. Test case season really. One ran through the details, and then had the politically astute Hannah Hodson explain the ramifications of the case. 3 tried to handle it properly with comment on the ruling, comment from Mini Garner, and another piece outside Mr. Field's house before playing an interview with the Member.
- Number two for all was John Dewar. Sentenced to four-and-a-half years. Louise Nicholas was awfully chuffed. Dewar, not so much.
- One followed up on the fireball at Mount Maunganui, using journalist extraordinaire, Lisa Owen on location. 3 wasn't overly fussed.
- The Pike family's press conference updating their son's condition got some traction (it is Friday after all).
- Passchendaele got some good props, with all and sundry stating that the PM wants to give the issue a bit more going over. Only Prime pointed out that some All Blacks attended the commemorations. Hmm.
- Close Up had That Guy (alongside a couple of rugby supremos) talking about the Rugby World Cup (do go and have a look at That Guy's World Cup), while Campbell had a cautionary tale about the dangers of Auckland at night, and how the police were unable to crack down on the mean streets of Uptown.
- My moment came not from this evening, but from Maggie Barry this morning in her chat to Carl Nixon. Surely Radio New Zealand National Programme does not have to be so sycophantic in its treatment of New Zealand writers? Surely it doesn't have to discuss the minutiate of their lives and how every moment they spent in the eighth summer of their lives on their great uncle's sheep farm shearing ewes has symbolic reverance in every short story they ever wrote from age nine? Surely they can leave that for Campbell? Surely? (I may or may not be using hyperbole.)
Good Night.
- Number two for all was John Dewar. Sentenced to four-and-a-half years. Louise Nicholas was awfully chuffed. Dewar, not so much.
- One followed up on the fireball at Mount Maunganui, using journalist extraordinaire, Lisa Owen on location. 3 wasn't overly fussed.
- The Pike family's press conference updating their son's condition got some traction (it is Friday after all).
- Passchendaele got some good props, with all and sundry stating that the PM wants to give the issue a bit more going over. Only Prime pointed out that some All Blacks attended the commemorations. Hmm.
- Close Up had That Guy (alongside a couple of rugby supremos) talking about the Rugby World Cup (do go and have a look at That Guy's World Cup), while Campbell had a cautionary tale about the dangers of Auckland at night, and how the police were unable to crack down on the mean streets of Uptown.
- My moment came not from this evening, but from Maggie Barry this morning in her chat to Carl Nixon. Surely Radio New Zealand National Programme does not have to be so sycophantic in its treatment of New Zealand writers? Surely it doesn't have to discuss the minutiate of their lives and how every moment they spent in the eighth summer of their lives on their great uncle's sheep farm shearing ewes has symbolic reverance in every short story they ever wrote from age nine? Surely they can leave that for Campbell? Surely? (I may or may not be using hyperbole.)
Good Night.
Thursday, 4 October 2007
The Day in Review Oct 4
- The major story of the evening for the broadcasters was Pumpkin's custody, which went in favour of her nan, seeing her return to China. Even the Wireless got in on the act. Justice Peter Boshier, Principal Family Court Judge, used a loophole (much like TV3), to allow the heavy media exposure to the story.
- Number two on the list was The Truth. That marvellous rag that now owes more to Deb Hill Cone during her days at the NBR than to its usual page 3 exposes. It named the Christchurch copper, much to the chagrin of the police force and Association. One opened with it, but 3 used the ominous words "TV3 has decied against naming the officer... for now. This decision will be reviewed if the officer is prosecuted.".
- 3 gets kudos this evening for returning to its status as a normal newscaster (obviously the added exposure threw them a little), and actually running a story on the Commerce Commission's decision that Powerco and Vector have been price gouging. Who would have thunk it? Paula Rebstock always seems to enjoy her time in the limelight.
- The PM's pending visit to Passchendaele received a fair amount of coverage. As did her meeting with the top EU peoples.
- Sideshow Cam appeared in court today, and his family and friends were at pains to explain that his behaviour (the mystery of the missing man) was out of character.
- One rounded out its opening with rugby. Is there anything else?
- 3 opened with the South African miners, but the story which really grabbed me was the pending collusion between police and ambulance comms, allowing greater interaction between the two to prevent another fatal mishap from occurring. Well done.
- Close Up followed the dog that couldn't be shot, speaking to a chap who pointed out that the police could have hit each other, while Campbell talked about rugby. Is there anything else?
- The Wireless got excited about The Joneses, up until 5pm, then it seemed like a dead duck.
- Moment of pure brilliance - One News - Story Four - Princess Di's inquest. Will I never get away from her?
Good night.
- Number two on the list was The Truth. That marvellous rag that now owes more to Deb Hill Cone during her days at the NBR than to its usual page 3 exposes. It named the Christchurch copper, much to the chagrin of the police force and Association. One opened with it, but 3 used the ominous words "TV3 has decied against naming the officer... for now. This decision will be reviewed if the officer is prosecuted.".
- 3 gets kudos this evening for returning to its status as a normal newscaster (obviously the added exposure threw them a little), and actually running a story on the Commerce Commission's decision that Powerco and Vector have been price gouging. Who would have thunk it? Paula Rebstock always seems to enjoy her time in the limelight.
- The PM's pending visit to Passchendaele received a fair amount of coverage. As did her meeting with the top EU peoples.
- Sideshow Cam appeared in court today, and his family and friends were at pains to explain that his behaviour (the mystery of the missing man) was out of character.
- One rounded out its opening with rugby. Is there anything else?
- 3 opened with the South African miners, but the story which really grabbed me was the pending collusion between police and ambulance comms, allowing greater interaction between the two to prevent another fatal mishap from occurring. Well done.
- Close Up followed the dog that couldn't be shot, speaking to a chap who pointed out that the police could have hit each other, while Campbell talked about rugby. Is there anything else?
- The Wireless got excited about The Joneses, up until 5pm, then it seemed like a dead duck.
- Moment of pure brilliance - One News - Story Four - Princess Di's inquest. Will I never get away from her?
Good night.
Wednesday, 3 October 2007
The Day in Review Oct 3
- Normally I keep my cringe-worthy moment for the end, but 3 called my bluff tonight, with its 'cats got its cream' moment in announcing how it was going to flout advertising legislation on Sunday mornings during the finals of the RWC. Normally I'd accept this as a news-worthy story, particularly, as was pointed out, because it's a test case. But calling 'perhaps the best sidestep of the Rugby World Cup'? To quote Brooke Howard Smith, 'Shame on you!'
- Not that One's opening piece was any better. Police defending theri actions to pepper a nasty canine with a hail of bullets in suburban Porirua. One was all about the police and guns, with its two subsequent stories on the AOS.
- The All Blacks got some good coverage on both biggies, mainly because they lost the coin toss to wear their black jersey.
- Once 3 got their act together and moved away from themselves, rugby, and the police, they got in first to talk about Chris Carter's displeasure with Housing NZ's investigation unit. Mini Garner gave the story, ending on the note that the Honourable Mr. Carter was confident improvements would be made. One didn't tell us about it until after the half hour mark, when everyone's gone to the kitchen before the sports news.
- One did give us an ongoing cry of foul by Simon Power on the Government's new bail rules; all due to a Chris named Kahui.
- The mystery of the missing man from Hastings was covered by both, before receiving an update near the half that he had been found. Case closed. Kind of.
- 3 jumped on the story of the urgent Waitangi Tribunal hearing called by a Maori woman whose Tongan husband was going to be deported. She claims he taonga. Former immigration minister and all-round good guy Tuariki Delamere is acting on her behalf (appropriately enough).
- 3 also ran with the story of The Joneses first, running it in their second segment. We like this one. A real estate agency that is hauled before the REINZ disciplinary tribunal for bringing the industry into disrepute. REINZ wasn't really commenting, as The Joneses allegedly said the industry was ripping people off. The Joneses have a flat fee, not the usual commission of other agents.
- Close Up went out to find stoned drivers, as the Guvmint's cracking down on these sorts. Campbell got in early to talk to the head of the investigation into the mystery of the missing man from Hastings that has been brought to a close, tying up loose ends, and gettting a nice feeling of a happy ending.
- The Wireless focussed on Housing NZ and the tabled transport policy document, although I did note that Rick Friesen didn't turn up on Larry Williams after Lazza noted in his opening piece that TV3 wasn't fooling anyone. A slip of the tongue perhaps.
Good night.
- Not that One's opening piece was any better. Police defending theri actions to pepper a nasty canine with a hail of bullets in suburban Porirua. One was all about the police and guns, with its two subsequent stories on the AOS.
- The All Blacks got some good coverage on both biggies, mainly because they lost the coin toss to wear their black jersey.
- Once 3 got their act together and moved away from themselves, rugby, and the police, they got in first to talk about Chris Carter's displeasure with Housing NZ's investigation unit. Mini Garner gave the story, ending on the note that the Honourable Mr. Carter was confident improvements would be made. One didn't tell us about it until after the half hour mark, when everyone's gone to the kitchen before the sports news.
- One did give us an ongoing cry of foul by Simon Power on the Government's new bail rules; all due to a Chris named Kahui.
- The mystery of the missing man from Hastings was covered by both, before receiving an update near the half that he had been found. Case closed. Kind of.
- 3 jumped on the story of the urgent Waitangi Tribunal hearing called by a Maori woman whose Tongan husband was going to be deported. She claims he taonga. Former immigration minister and all-round good guy Tuariki Delamere is acting on her behalf (appropriately enough).
- 3 also ran with the story of The Joneses first, running it in their second segment. We like this one. A real estate agency that is hauled before the REINZ disciplinary tribunal for bringing the industry into disrepute. REINZ wasn't really commenting, as The Joneses allegedly said the industry was ripping people off. The Joneses have a flat fee, not the usual commission of other agents.
- Close Up went out to find stoned drivers, as the Guvmint's cracking down on these sorts. Campbell got in early to talk to the head of the investigation into the mystery of the missing man from Hastings that has been brought to a close, tying up loose ends, and gettting a nice feeling of a happy ending.
- The Wireless focussed on Housing NZ and the tabled transport policy document, although I did note that Rick Friesen didn't turn up on Larry Williams after Lazza noted in his opening piece that TV3 wasn't fooling anyone. A slip of the tongue perhaps.
Good night.
Tuesday, 2 October 2007
The Day in Review Oct 2
- Kicking off our major two broadcasters tonight was the story of the night - Chris Kahui, alleged filicide, was granted bail. 3 put it down to the Government's new rules that are soft on bail, calling on stalwarts Scott Optican, Simon Power, and Garth McVicar to pass judgement. One went with the more lenient treatment, pointing out that Kahui had to wait until Tuesday when his guardian would be available to look after him. Prime kept this story until the end of its opending segment, putting forward things like the waterfront strike and the National Party's foreign policy.
- One followed this up with an update on the mystery of the missing Hastings' man. Apparently his bank was accessed. 3 had an in-depth investigation into the custody dispute that has resulted in teen pop icon Britney Spears losing her children to K-Fed.
- While 3 went on with Britters, One had a Fran, sorry, Francesca Mold Guyon Espiner tag-team attack on the Government's accusations that Macquarie was poised to profiteer on the National Party's move to have privately built and maintained schools. Labour-light John denied any accusation that he, or anyone in his party, had discussed anything with anyone in the wider business community.
- 3 righted their wrong by having a good discussion on the secret dealings between Meridian and Rio Tinto. Jeanette Fitzsimons, in her capacity as Government Energy Efficiency Spokesperson, had something to say, but Southlanders in general were pleased with the deal.
- Guyon followed up his tag-team effort by talking about the Nats' foreign policy release. I'd elaborate, but there wasn't much to go on.
- The Prime Minister's meeting with Gordon Brown got a nice piece of coverage on both sides of the box; but Andrew Potter was no match for the well-tied-one, Garner Major.
- Big ups for 3 in the form of their piece on the opening of the Buddhist temple in Flatbush. Tainted by the troubles in Myanmar, it's still good to see a widening of the news lens.
- Close Up went with TroubleYouths and YouTube; Campbell had a delightful chat with a worried father whose son has been missing for too long now... someone, maybe even the missing man, knows something, and they should come forward to ease a troubled mind.
- The Wireless was all over the place, but Paul Henry had a bright spot with his interview with Joan Withers, CEO of Fairfax, who is the last female CEO of a New Zealand company that is listed on the NZX... well, obviously they're going to be a New Zealand company because they're listed on the NZX. Nice piece of scripting there. (Ouch.)
- Insipidness has been covered. Although, I'll give extra points for doubling up with a Hollywood reporter giving Campbell the goss on Britters' misfortune. And using a correspondent in Beverly Hills to speculate on how she's feeling, and what will happen, and... you get the idea.
Good night.
- One followed this up with an update on the mystery of the missing Hastings' man. Apparently his bank was accessed. 3 had an in-depth investigation into the custody dispute that has resulted in teen pop icon Britney Spears losing her children to K-Fed.
- While 3 went on with Britters, One had a Fran, sorry, Francesca Mold Guyon Espiner tag-team attack on the Government's accusations that Macquarie was poised to profiteer on the National Party's move to have privately built and maintained schools. Labour-light John denied any accusation that he, or anyone in his party, had discussed anything with anyone in the wider business community.
- 3 righted their wrong by having a good discussion on the secret dealings between Meridian and Rio Tinto. Jeanette Fitzsimons, in her capacity as Government Energy Efficiency Spokesperson, had something to say, but Southlanders in general were pleased with the deal.
- Guyon followed up his tag-team effort by talking about the Nats' foreign policy release. I'd elaborate, but there wasn't much to go on.
- The Prime Minister's meeting with Gordon Brown got a nice piece of coverage on both sides of the box; but Andrew Potter was no match for the well-tied-one, Garner Major.
- Big ups for 3 in the form of their piece on the opening of the Buddhist temple in Flatbush. Tainted by the troubles in Myanmar, it's still good to see a widening of the news lens.
- Close Up went with TroubleYouths and YouTube; Campbell had a delightful chat with a worried father whose son has been missing for too long now... someone, maybe even the missing man, knows something, and they should come forward to ease a troubled mind.
- The Wireless was all over the place, but Paul Henry had a bright spot with his interview with Joan Withers, CEO of Fairfax, who is the last female CEO of a New Zealand company that is listed on the NZX... well, obviously they're going to be a New Zealand company because they're listed on the NZX. Nice piece of scripting there. (Ouch.)
- Insipidness has been covered. Although, I'll give extra points for doubling up with a Hollywood reporter giving Campbell the goss on Britters' misfortune. And using a correspondent in Beverly Hills to speculate on how she's feeling, and what will happen, and... you get the idea.
Good night.
Monday, 1 October 2007
The Day in Review Oct 1
- There wasn't much consensus on tonight's broadcasters, with Prime kicking us off with the latest crime stats, One starting the night with the mystery of the missing Hastings man and the burnt out car, and 3 opening with a preview of of the ongoing Pumpkin saga.
- One kept the mystery going with a report on a $75k reward for an old murder of a Japanese murder. 3 picked it upafter it's piece on Myanmar.
- Pumpkin's return (and the meeting to determine the wee girl's custody) got a fair hearing on the big two.
- One went on with the Government's condemnation of the National Party's proposal to allow public-private partnerships to build and maintain schools. The indignance of Steve Maharey was well-contrasted by John Key's simple assumption that New Zealand parents just want good facilities and don't care where they come from. Guyon Espiner pointed out that the Nats were picking the wrong battles to fight.
- Myanmar continues to unfold.
- While One wrapped up its opening with the Rugby World Cup (fitting, since Bernie was on board for Wendy Petrie), 3 went with a volcanic eruption off Yemen, and the climate scientists' research into the the shrinking Southern Alps.
- One had a Hannah Hodson special on the half-hour, breaking the story that there is opposition to the Government's Electoral Funding Bill from groups like Greenpeace. 3's hidden gem was a study into the needs and wants of dairy cows being conducted by AgResearch.
- Close Up had Louise Nicholas, Campbell had John Hart and Laurie Mains (not in the same room obviously).
- I'm guessing the news was, like me, struggling to come to grips with Daylight Saving. Thank you Mr. Dunne.
- The Wireless did more of the same, although it gave some credence to the failed negotiations between dock workers at the Port of Auckland and their employer which will see a waterfront strike. Where will the industrial anarchy end?
- While 3 could have claimed tonight's award for its moment of insipid brilliance with the cow study, opening (in essence) with the fact that Alinghi sailor Simon Daubney tested positive for cocaine, not cannabis, at the America's Cup has a strong claim on the supreme annual award for non-event of the decade.
Good night.
- One kept the mystery going with a report on a $75k reward for an old murder of a Japanese murder. 3 picked it upafter it's piece on Myanmar.
- Pumpkin's return (and the meeting to determine the wee girl's custody) got a fair hearing on the big two.
- One went on with the Government's condemnation of the National Party's proposal to allow public-private partnerships to build and maintain schools. The indignance of Steve Maharey was well-contrasted by John Key's simple assumption that New Zealand parents just want good facilities and don't care where they come from. Guyon Espiner pointed out that the Nats were picking the wrong battles to fight.
- Myanmar continues to unfold.
- While One wrapped up its opening with the Rugby World Cup (fitting, since Bernie was on board for Wendy Petrie), 3 went with a volcanic eruption off Yemen, and the climate scientists' research into the the shrinking Southern Alps.
- One had a Hannah Hodson special on the half-hour, breaking the story that there is opposition to the Government's Electoral Funding Bill from groups like Greenpeace. 3's hidden gem was a study into the needs and wants of dairy cows being conducted by AgResearch.
- Close Up had Louise Nicholas, Campbell had John Hart and Laurie Mains (not in the same room obviously).
- I'm guessing the news was, like me, struggling to come to grips with Daylight Saving. Thank you Mr. Dunne.
- The Wireless did more of the same, although it gave some credence to the failed negotiations between dock workers at the Port of Auckland and their employer which will see a waterfront strike. Where will the industrial anarchy end?
- While 3 could have claimed tonight's award for its moment of insipid brilliance with the cow study, opening (in essence) with the fact that Alinghi sailor Simon Daubney tested positive for cocaine, not cannabis, at the America's Cup has a strong claim on the supreme annual award for non-event of the decade.
Good night.
Thursday, 27 September 2007
The Day in Review Sept 27
- Leading all the way was the police shooting in Christchurch last night. Prime opened up with witnesses claiming the deceased was unarmed, and had the Police Association saying now was a good time for tasers, 3 went with the police defending the shooting, while One went with the account that the man was about to whack the officer with a hammer. 3 went on to the push for tasers, and yesterday's e-mail saga in Christchurch (although the man wasn't wielding a knife), whereas One went on to discuss the police's official gun policy. Steven Wallace's mother went on the wireless, and the parallels were easily made. Which letter will be added to this constable's name?
- One followed up this piece with the reopening of Mount Ruapehu, and had the lovely Sonya Wilson frolicking in the ski-fields. She reported on lahars too. Oh, and had a GNS scientist for credibility. 3 waited until after the break before returning to William Pike, preferring to note a head-on collision near Queenstown that was the site of a fatal unimog accident a few years back.
- The mystery body in the Bay of Plenty got some props, with Tokoroa police believing it to be Jimmy Slater; a man missing for 20 years.
- Darin Gardiner was found guilty of murder (surprise surprise).
- 3 let Garner Major loose on Tony Ryall, who was deeply apologetic for omitting the move to lose the GP fee cap from National's discussion paper. Earlier on NewstalkZB, Barry Soper pointed out that he had mentioned it once before... kind of.
- 3 also let us know that Pumpkin wanted to go to China with her nan.
- One did hide a nice little piece in its 6.30 ixposay, with Guyon Espiner grilling Mary Anne Thompson of the Department of Labour over the department report finding serious shortcomings at the border. Needless to say, Winston appeared on camera, armed with his crocodile smile and smooth coiffure.
- The Wireless was wrapped up in the shooting, as was Mark Sainsbury and John Campbell. Superintendent Sandra Manderson appeared live on Close Up, leaving John Boy to play one of those silly replay interviews where he asks the questions and she answers as though it were actually taking place for all the viewers to watch (much like an All Black replay). Reminiscent of the hey-day of Close Up when Susan Wood was hosting it, really.
- Insipid moment - One News. Melissa Stokes following in the footsteps of her predecessor, Lisa Owen (I had to get that in there). Read the summary:
French choreographer Angelin Preljocaj has turned the haka into a ballet performed by women in heels. Four All Blacks have watched the show in the South of France.
Good night.
- One followed up this piece with the reopening of Mount Ruapehu, and had the lovely Sonya Wilson frolicking in the ski-fields. She reported on lahars too. Oh, and had a GNS scientist for credibility. 3 waited until after the break before returning to William Pike, preferring to note a head-on collision near Queenstown that was the site of a fatal unimog accident a few years back.
- The mystery body in the Bay of Plenty got some props, with Tokoroa police believing it to be Jimmy Slater; a man missing for 20 years.
- Darin Gardiner was found guilty of murder (surprise surprise).
- 3 let Garner Major loose on Tony Ryall, who was deeply apologetic for omitting the move to lose the GP fee cap from National's discussion paper. Earlier on NewstalkZB, Barry Soper pointed out that he had mentioned it once before... kind of.
- 3 also let us know that Pumpkin wanted to go to China with her nan.
- One did hide a nice little piece in its 6.30 ixposay, with Guyon Espiner grilling Mary Anne Thompson of the Department of Labour over the department report finding serious shortcomings at the border. Needless to say, Winston appeared on camera, armed with his crocodile smile and smooth coiffure.
- The Wireless was wrapped up in the shooting, as was Mark Sainsbury and John Campbell. Superintendent Sandra Manderson appeared live on Close Up, leaving John Boy to play one of those silly replay interviews where he asks the questions and she answers as though it were actually taking place for all the viewers to watch (much like an All Black replay). Reminiscent of the hey-day of Close Up when Susan Wood was hosting it, really.
- Insipid moment - One News. Melissa Stokes following in the footsteps of her predecessor, Lisa Owen (I had to get that in there). Read the summary:
French choreographer Angelin Preljocaj has turned the haka into a ballet performed by women in heels. Four All Blacks have watched the show in the South of France.
Good night.
Wednesday, 26 September 2007
The Day in Review Sept 26
- It was all about Ruapheu this evening, with a ridiculous amount of time dedicated to how Mr. Pike had his leg cut off at the knee; how skiers were irate at not being warned about the impending lahar; about irate tourists who weren't told of the lahar so they could go see it; how scientists were irate because they couldn't figure out how the warning signals didn't go off until the minute before the eruption; and so on and so forth.
- In other disaster related news, a landslide has created a new lake in the South Island (One), while the earthquakes in Matata weren't caused by Ruapehu (3).
- The other biggie was the National Party's discussion document that saw Tony Ryall get under the party leaders' collective skin when he mentioned that a National Government would remove the fee cap for GPs. Aunty Helen rubbed her hands with glee, and, as Garner Major noted, summonsed the media to Level Nine to discuss how this was indicative of the evils of the Opposition. As usual, not too much substance was released.
- 3 bumped that story to the end of the the opening segment, following the country's first prosecution of a battery chicken farmer for mistreatment of his animals (is there any other way in a battery farm), the Glassie Four getting a criminal charge upgrade, and the death of a NZ movie man in the UK.
- One also did the Glassie Four, but ended its opening with a RWC piece on Tonga's pending clash with England. One's second segment now appears to be the realm of international news. I almost see a return to its old format coming on.
- 3 and Prime followed up on the formation of the Pumpkin Foundation (as did One in the second half), but One's Close Up preferred the Tana Umaga's new foundation, devoting a whopping 20 minutes to Tana and his gang of friends.
- Apparently Telecom was split in three and Air New Zealand's Eagle Air subsidiary was grounded, but most of that was hidden away in later segments on 3, and Neil Waka's 30 minutes of agony on One.
- The Wireless seemed besotted by the Ruapehu lahar. Me, I was fairly non-plussed.
- John Campbell + Human tragedy in the face of a cruel, but amazingly beautiful natural disaster = Campell Live.
- I suppose I could find an insipid moment, but it would just take too much effort on a slack night like this.
Good night.
- In other disaster related news, a landslide has created a new lake in the South Island (One), while the earthquakes in Matata weren't caused by Ruapehu (3).
- The other biggie was the National Party's discussion document that saw Tony Ryall get under the party leaders' collective skin when he mentioned that a National Government would remove the fee cap for GPs. Aunty Helen rubbed her hands with glee, and, as Garner Major noted, summonsed the media to Level Nine to discuss how this was indicative of the evils of the Opposition. As usual, not too much substance was released.
- 3 bumped that story to the end of the the opening segment, following the country's first prosecution of a battery chicken farmer for mistreatment of his animals (is there any other way in a battery farm), the Glassie Four getting a criminal charge upgrade, and the death of a NZ movie man in the UK.
- One also did the Glassie Four, but ended its opening with a RWC piece on Tonga's pending clash with England. One's second segment now appears to be the realm of international news. I almost see a return to its old format coming on.
- 3 and Prime followed up on the formation of the Pumpkin Foundation (as did One in the second half), but One's Close Up preferred the Tana Umaga's new foundation, devoting a whopping 20 minutes to Tana and his gang of friends.
- Apparently Telecom was split in three and Air New Zealand's Eagle Air subsidiary was grounded, but most of that was hidden away in later segments on 3, and Neil Waka's 30 minutes of agony on One.
- The Wireless seemed besotted by the Ruapehu lahar. Me, I was fairly non-plussed.
- John Campbell + Human tragedy in the face of a cruel, but amazingly beautiful natural disaster = Campell Live.
- I suppose I could find an insipid moment, but it would just take too much effort on a slack night like this.
Good night.
Tuesday, 25 September 2007
The Day in Review Sept 25
- Pumpkin was reunited with nan today, and this was universally the biggest story among the broadcasters. Warm fuzzies all round (until you take into account that the Family Court will decide on whether or not nan can look after Pumpkin). The ongoing investigation got a lot of coverage too. I suppose when a story leads the networks in the States, we can follow their lead.
- Story number two (for the talkies) was the investigation into the death of a ten-month-old in Manurewa.
- Jim Anderton's lowering of the fishing quota got a lot of coverage (especially on the wireless), although 3 waited until no-one was tuned in before going wtih that story. Understandable, as Jim's hardly in their demographic. Smarmy Eric Young (over on Prime) pointed out that this was going to lead to job-losses. Smart man.
- 3 (and Prime) took the news that New Zealanders now outstripped Britons as the number one immigrants to Oz. John Key was appalled, because something has to be done to stop this braindrain caused by over-taxation in a heavily regulated environment propped up by a strong union movement.
- The new election boundaries were well-covered on the Wireless, but no-one shared the glee of Barry Soper on Prime (and Newstalk) when pointing out that it took the shifting boundaries to get rid of renegade Nat MP Brian Connell (or O'Connell if you're former 3 Political Editor Stephen Parker). Actually, I tell a lie; Bill English had a gleeful look when commenting on that story. Unsure if he had the same glee when Kris Faafoi rang him up for comment on the allegations by GayNZ.com that his son had been posting anti-gay messages on his Bebo site. (Good ol' muckraking at its best.)
- There was more of the same on the All Black jersey debacle, so I won't elaborate.
- Oh, and the PM opened a new prison, which according to prison guards who spoke to the wunderkind Jessie Peach is the most comfortable gaol in the country. It's going to fill up pretty quick too. And it's going to focus on rehabilitation.
- Close Up opened with a never-ending piece on sunblocks that don't do what they claim (and followed that with the new revolutionary cure to smoking; then that dress in the Christchurch Casino). Campbell opened up with his defence of the beauty of the female body, chatting to the icon of feminism in New Zealand, Christine Rankin (not a self-serving spotlight-hungry shrew as some would have us believe), on the right of Heather Simpson (not H2) to wear an evening gown in Christchurch Casino without being asked to leave. Christine mused on her own experience at the hands of the phallocentric bureacracy, wondering out loud if State Services Commissioner Dr. Mark Prebble had moved into the gaming business, along with his mysogyny. John followed this up with a shameless comparison to Nicky Watson, who readily admitted that she had never been turned away for wearing low-cut dresses. (Sorry, one of the afore-mentioned people gets my goat.)
- I was going to award TV One for an insipid half-hour today (I finally watched the entirety of Neil Waka's news at 4.30pm), but I gotta hand it to 3. A tweens' story AND Christine Rankin pontificating. Beautiful.
Good night.
- Story number two (for the talkies) was the investigation into the death of a ten-month-old in Manurewa.
- Jim Anderton's lowering of the fishing quota got a lot of coverage (especially on the wireless), although 3 waited until no-one was tuned in before going wtih that story. Understandable, as Jim's hardly in their demographic. Smarmy Eric Young (over on Prime) pointed out that this was going to lead to job-losses. Smart man.
- 3 (and Prime) took the news that New Zealanders now outstripped Britons as the number one immigrants to Oz. John Key was appalled, because something has to be done to stop this braindrain caused by over-taxation in a heavily regulated environment propped up by a strong union movement.
- The new election boundaries were well-covered on the Wireless, but no-one shared the glee of Barry Soper on Prime (and Newstalk) when pointing out that it took the shifting boundaries to get rid of renegade Nat MP Brian Connell (or O'Connell if you're former 3 Political Editor Stephen Parker). Actually, I tell a lie; Bill English had a gleeful look when commenting on that story. Unsure if he had the same glee when Kris Faafoi rang him up for comment on the allegations by GayNZ.com that his son had been posting anti-gay messages on his Bebo site. (Good ol' muckraking at its best.)
- There was more of the same on the All Black jersey debacle, so I won't elaborate.
- Oh, and the PM opened a new prison, which according to prison guards who spoke to the wunderkind Jessie Peach is the most comfortable gaol in the country. It's going to fill up pretty quick too. And it's going to focus on rehabilitation.
- Close Up opened with a never-ending piece on sunblocks that don't do what they claim (and followed that with the new revolutionary cure to smoking; then that dress in the Christchurch Casino). Campbell opened up with his defence of the beauty of the female body, chatting to the icon of feminism in New Zealand, Christine Rankin (not a self-serving spotlight-hungry shrew as some would have us believe), on the right of Heather Simpson (not H2) to wear an evening gown in Christchurch Casino without being asked to leave. Christine mused on her own experience at the hands of the phallocentric bureacracy, wondering out loud if State Services Commissioner Dr. Mark Prebble had moved into the gaming business, along with his mysogyny. John followed this up with a shameless comparison to Nicky Watson, who readily admitted that she had never been turned away for wearing low-cut dresses. (Sorry, one of the afore-mentioned people gets my goat.)
- I was going to award TV One for an insipid half-hour today (I finally watched the entirety of Neil Waka's news at 4.30pm), but I gotta hand it to 3. A tweens' story AND Christine Rankin pontificating. Beautiful.
Good night.
Monday, 24 September 2007
The Day in Review Sept 24
- Or a tale of two murders. The deaths of a 74-year-old engineer in Kenya and a Year 13 boy in London were the hot topics on our big broadcasters and the Wireless today. (There is no depression in New Zealand or We don't know how lucky we are - your pick.)
- The ongoing saga of Nai Yin Xue and Anan Liu saw more coverage with Superintendent Neville Matthews arriving in LA to help with the investigation. Kate Lynch was on location for 3 (who killed Laura Palmer?), while Tim Wilson was our man in the States for One. Lisa Owen was also on location, at Auckland International Airport (note for those who don't know Auckland too well, that's quite a distance from the Death Star on Hobson St).
- The other big story our broadcasters felt it important enough to make the top of the bulletin was the Prime Minister's displeasure with the Parliamentary Rugby Team (despite it rollicking success), as the players receive commercial sponsorship (as opposed to tax-payer funded). I just don't know anymore.
- A story that got traction on 3 (and the Wireless with Jim Mora) was proposed legislation to ban driving under the influence of drugs (pharmaceuticals included). Boy there's a big row about to break out, as Mini-Duncan (Scott Campbell) pointed out to us. Metiria Turei was the voice of reason on this one. (Irony included at your own discretion.)
- The other big story hidden in the second Act, was given much better depth by our man Garner Major. After a review, it has been decided that Landcorp will not be selling Whenuakite land, nor will it sell other farms without first consulting the iwi involved. Perhaps the Guvmint should have contacted John McInteer of the Hauraki Maori Trust Board before Duncan did, at 4pm. One soon followed suit with a snippet (I'll be waiting for Hirini Henare to cover it on Te Karere personally).
- Oh, and Doug Howlett managed to eclipse Christian Cullen's try-scoring record for the All Blacks (of course it made the first Act), along with the confusion over the colour of the jerseys (Only on One).
- The Wireless didn't really have too much to say, although it did give us some nice coverage on National's attempt to sneak in partial privatisation on a Sunday/Monday morning. Smooth Bill, smooth.
- The insipid moment of the night could have gone to One News for changing its format (ever so slightly), and its awful AWFUL re-introduction of Jim Hickey (Wendy should be seen and not heard), but 3's effort to stick to the hard news wins with a piece that would not end on Shane Warne's ongoing fidelity issues. (I refuse to go into further detail.)
Good night.
- The ongoing saga of Nai Yin Xue and Anan Liu saw more coverage with Superintendent Neville Matthews arriving in LA to help with the investigation. Kate Lynch was on location for 3 (who killed Laura Palmer?), while Tim Wilson was our man in the States for One. Lisa Owen was also on location, at Auckland International Airport (note for those who don't know Auckland too well, that's quite a distance from the Death Star on Hobson St).
- The other big story our broadcasters felt it important enough to make the top of the bulletin was the Prime Minister's displeasure with the Parliamentary Rugby Team (despite it rollicking success), as the players receive commercial sponsorship (as opposed to tax-payer funded). I just don't know anymore.
- A story that got traction on 3 (and the Wireless with Jim Mora) was proposed legislation to ban driving under the influence of drugs (pharmaceuticals included). Boy there's a big row about to break out, as Mini-Duncan (Scott Campbell) pointed out to us. Metiria Turei was the voice of reason on this one. (Irony included at your own discretion.)
- The other big story hidden in the second Act, was given much better depth by our man Garner Major. After a review, it has been decided that Landcorp will not be selling Whenuakite land, nor will it sell other farms without first consulting the iwi involved. Perhaps the Guvmint should have contacted John McInteer of the Hauraki Maori Trust Board before Duncan did, at 4pm. One soon followed suit with a snippet (I'll be waiting for Hirini Henare to cover it on Te Karere personally).
- Oh, and Doug Howlett managed to eclipse Christian Cullen's try-scoring record for the All Blacks (of course it made the first Act), along with the confusion over the colour of the jerseys (Only on One).
- The Wireless didn't really have too much to say, although it did give us some nice coverage on National's attempt to sneak in partial privatisation on a Sunday/Monday morning. Smooth Bill, smooth.
- The insipid moment of the night could have gone to One News for changing its format (ever so slightly), and its awful AWFUL re-introduction of Jim Hickey (Wendy should be seen and not heard), but 3's effort to stick to the hard news wins with a piece that would not end on Shane Warne's ongoing fidelity issues. (I refuse to go into further detail.)
Good night.
Friday, 21 September 2007
The Day in Review Sept 21
- Tonight we were given two major stories to dwell on that our major broadcasters alternated on. One led with the ongoing saga of Anan Liu, and how the police admitted (not their first mistake, but perhaps one that any politician tries to avoid) that they could have opened the boot earlier, while 3 gave it to us in position number two. We were given more details on the investigation, told that the courts would decide on who would gain custody of Pumpkin, and that the police were considering sending over officers to the States to hunt down Xue. It was nice to One News strategist Lisa Owen taking over this story and giving us her two cents worth.
- 3 led with the rescue of some school students in a cave who were trapped by floodwaters, and how they had to hold their collective breath and duck their heads underwater to escape. One gave it to us second.
- Fires in Wanaka, the Iranian President's visit to the States, the McCanns, and the fact that Nightline would have the Supreme Award Winner at WOW on followed up. 3 ended their first opening segment with the cat fight at Fashion Week (Aja Rock and Nicky Watson).
- One gave us bits on how a crane had to be taken down to let Queenstown Airport continue operating, and followed this up with Taupo Motorsport Park looking to a public float to earn a bit of cash (what's $3m between investors?).
- The Wireless bored me so I ignored it. Sorry.
- Close Up (Henry) continued their exclusives on Anan Liu with more of her family, while Campbell had a lovely chat with Rachel Hunter. 'Nuff said.
Good night.
- 3 led with the rescue of some school students in a cave who were trapped by floodwaters, and how they had to hold their collective breath and duck their heads underwater to escape. One gave it to us second.
- Fires in Wanaka, the Iranian President's visit to the States, the McCanns, and the fact that Nightline would have the Supreme Award Winner at WOW on followed up. 3 ended their first opening segment with the cat fight at Fashion Week (Aja Rock and Nicky Watson).
- One gave us bits on how a crane had to be taken down to let Queenstown Airport continue operating, and followed this up with Taupo Motorsport Park looking to a public float to earn a bit of cash (what's $3m between investors?).
- The Wireless bored me so I ignored it. Sorry.
- Close Up (Henry) continued their exclusives on Anan Liu with more of her family, while Campbell had a lovely chat with Rachel Hunter. 'Nuff said.
Good night.
Thursday, 20 September 2007
The Day in Review Sept 20
- A more indepth review would be a bonus today, but alas, there were only two stories according to our broadcasters, and one required much more coverage on the other. That of course would be the body in the boot, or the ongoing saga of Pumpkin. Every conceivable (to a journo) angle was covered, from how slowly the police took to open said boot (everyone), to how many journos did stories in front of the boot (Amanda Gillies on 3), to the police conference in Wellington defending their actions (everyone), to Lisa Owen pontificating (One), to Simon Dallow's exclusive interview with friends of Anan Liu (One), to Clayton Cosgrove making sure that Pumpkin's gran can come to NZ (everyone). Oh, and Sainsbury had an exclusive with Qian Xun's sister.
- The other biggie was the Government's climate change/carbon trading story. Again, our broadcasters broke it down to how it was going to impact on you (One had a grumpy old pensioner, 3 had optimistic youths (demographically speaking of course)), followed by their respective political editors explaining the actual policy away, because only Guyon and Duncan can do that for you (and are interested enough to do that for you), backed up by a story on how the Government was finally giving the forestry sector a break by allowing them to keep their carbon credits pre-1990. I thought agriculture got the biggest break myself, but hey, I don't have a farmer's moan to back me up. Oh, and Campbell had an exclusive with an Antarctic chap who swears that in eight years, the world will know climate change.
- These two aside, not much else happened. The murdered Auckland kid's accused was named; Gordon Copeland walked from his Christian Party; OJ was granted bail.
- The Wireless wasn't much better.
- Insipid and unnecessary (excluding Lisa Owen): Britney has to undergo alcohol tests in the hours preceeding her custody of the kids as her custody battle with K-Fed heats up.
Good night.
- The other biggie was the Government's climate change/carbon trading story. Again, our broadcasters broke it down to how it was going to impact on you (One had a grumpy old pensioner, 3 had optimistic youths (demographically speaking of course)), followed by their respective political editors explaining the actual policy away, because only Guyon and Duncan can do that for you (and are interested enough to do that for you), backed up by a story on how the Government was finally giving the forestry sector a break by allowing them to keep their carbon credits pre-1990. I thought agriculture got the biggest break myself, but hey, I don't have a farmer's moan to back me up. Oh, and Campbell had an exclusive with an Antarctic chap who swears that in eight years, the world will know climate change.
- These two aside, not much else happened. The murdered Auckland kid's accused was named; Gordon Copeland walked from his Christian Party; OJ was granted bail.
- The Wireless wasn't much better.
- Insipid and unnecessary (excluding Lisa Owen): Britney has to undergo alcohol tests in the hours preceeding her custody of the kids as her custody battle with K-Fed heats up.
Good night.
Wednesday, 19 September 2007
The Day in Review Sept 19
- Pumpkin and her mum led the way, with the discovery of the body of an Asian woman taking hold of every anchors' lips. So much so, that TV3 devoted its entire opening segment to Pumpkin, her family, the investigation, and how Chinese New Zealanders like to use Skykiwi to talk to the authorities as it's less daunting than anything else. 'Nuff said I say.
- John Key's call to give Clint Rickards a nice Golden Handshake got considerable coverage, with 3 focusing on Key wanting the matter dealt with (and Peter Dunne sidling up to John Boy), while One took the Prime Minister's dismissal of Mr. Key's political naiveity and complete disregard for legal process. Odd seeing the State broadcaster backing the State on this one.
- One also had the only coverage previewing tomorrow's big climate change/carbon trading announcement, with Guyon Espiner waxing lyrically about how the agricultural sector was going to be given (another) break. They followed that up with a piece on Qantas accepting that NZers liked the idea of carbon neutrality.
- 3 jumped on the opportunity to stick it to Sky following its victory in the High Court, banning Sky from using RWC coverage on its lifestyle programmes. There's nothing like a good winner I say.
- The Fed Reserve's decisison to lower interest rates in the States saw some traction, as did the fall-out from the new Christian party. But all-in-all, it was a fairly quiet night (again).
- Campbell gushed over a poor woman who had to stay indoors because she developed an intolerance to sunlight, poor old gal. While Sainsbury had us feel sorry for the family of a special needs kid who drowned on a school outing.
- Not much else to say, other than Go OJ Go.
Good night.
- John Key's call to give Clint Rickards a nice Golden Handshake got considerable coverage, with 3 focusing on Key wanting the matter dealt with (and Peter Dunne sidling up to John Boy), while One took the Prime Minister's dismissal of Mr. Key's political naiveity and complete disregard for legal process. Odd seeing the State broadcaster backing the State on this one.
- One also had the only coverage previewing tomorrow's big climate change/carbon trading announcement, with Guyon Espiner waxing lyrically about how the agricultural sector was going to be given (another) break. They followed that up with a piece on Qantas accepting that NZers liked the idea of carbon neutrality.
- 3 jumped on the opportunity to stick it to Sky following its victory in the High Court, banning Sky from using RWC coverage on its lifestyle programmes. There's nothing like a good winner I say.
- The Fed Reserve's decisison to lower interest rates in the States saw some traction, as did the fall-out from the new Christian party. But all-in-all, it was a fairly quiet night (again).
- Campbell gushed over a poor woman who had to stay indoors because she developed an intolerance to sunlight, poor old gal. While Sainsbury had us feel sorry for the family of a special needs kid who drowned on a school outing.
- Not much else to say, other than Go OJ Go.
Good night.
Tuesday, 18 September 2007
The Day in Review Sept 18
- The little Pumpkin girl dominated proceedings tonight, with further details released, such as the police investigation into the disappearance of the girl's mother (on everyone) and the Unitec film about the father's missing daughter from a prior marriage (exclusively on 3), and the Australian response (with Garth Bray on One), and the CYF revelation that they had previously investigated the family (on the Wireless). My money goes to Tze Ming Mok and her patch.
- 3 followed up this mega-story with further probing into ACC's decision to pay for the victim of a gang-shooting who was on AFFCO property. Unfortunately, Mini-Garner (Scott Campbell) was covering it as Garner Major (Duncan Garner) was at the Destiny NZ disestablishment. While Minister Ruth Dyson claimed in the House that AFFCO took some responsibility in return for discounted levies, AFFCO stated it did no such thing. One gave the piece a 40-second slot later on regarding Anne Tolley's question in the Chamber.
- Our second big story of the night was the official announcement of the disestablishment of Destiny NZ as a political party, and its alignment with Gordon Copeland's new and improved Christian Coalition. The highlight was when Gordon admitted he didn't know he would be a co-leader with Richard Lewis (formerly of Destiny NZ).
- One had a nice little number on the Government hinting it was going to ask property developers to build low-cost housing. Colin Dallas of Kingdom Residential Housing believes it will be effective. I just can't seem to wipe the sneer off my face.
- 3 combatted this with a story on the investigation into a Burnham Army Camp fire truck that fell into a Canterbury Creek en route to a fire when a farm bridge collapsed... it failed to take the twelve tonne truck. No apiarists were harmed.
- Other big story of the night. Becks. Stadium. Big bucks forked out. Big bucks to be made.
- John Boy and Mark were smitten with Pumpkin, and continued along that railway line. Me, I switched off. Sorry.
- Moment of the evening: OJ. It's nice to know that there are people out who are ignorant enough to try and mess with The Juice.
Good night.
- 3 followed up this mega-story with further probing into ACC's decision to pay for the victim of a gang-shooting who was on AFFCO property. Unfortunately, Mini-Garner (Scott Campbell) was covering it as Garner Major (Duncan Garner) was at the Destiny NZ disestablishment. While Minister Ruth Dyson claimed in the House that AFFCO took some responsibility in return for discounted levies, AFFCO stated it did no such thing. One gave the piece a 40-second slot later on regarding Anne Tolley's question in the Chamber.
- Our second big story of the night was the official announcement of the disestablishment of Destiny NZ as a political party, and its alignment with Gordon Copeland's new and improved Christian Coalition. The highlight was when Gordon admitted he didn't know he would be a co-leader with Richard Lewis (formerly of Destiny NZ).
- One had a nice little number on the Government hinting it was going to ask property developers to build low-cost housing. Colin Dallas of Kingdom Residential Housing believes it will be effective. I just can't seem to wipe the sneer off my face.
- 3 combatted this with a story on the investigation into a Burnham Army Camp fire truck that fell into a Canterbury Creek en route to a fire when a farm bridge collapsed... it failed to take the twelve tonne truck. No apiarists were harmed.
- Other big story of the night. Becks. Stadium. Big bucks forked out. Big bucks to be made.
- John Boy and Mark were smitten with Pumpkin, and continued along that railway line. Me, I switched off. Sorry.
- Moment of the evening: OJ. It's nice to know that there are people out who are ignorant enough to try and mess with The Juice.
Good night.
Monday, 17 September 2007
The Day in Review Sept 17
- Leading our bulletins tonight was the lost little pumpkin girl at the Melbourne railway station and the plane going down in Phuket. I'll avoid all cynical comments - it's too early in the week.
- 3 followed this up with some good ol' self-promotion by covering its rescue mission for the two Kiwis chasing the All Blacks in France who had been ripped off. Good PR all round for the three sponsors (Heineken, BNZ, and Telecom) who came to the rescue. And the good hearted All Blacks who are going to let the couple into one of their training sessions.
- One preferred a Climate Change survey which found 36% of New Zealanders (read respondents) wanted the Government to consider nuclear power in addressing this global phenomenon. The PM had a raft of reasons to decline their plea.
- OJ's ongoing criminal career got a bit of coverage, as did Sir Richard Branson's support for the McCanns, and the Emmy Awards too.
- 3 snuck in a piece on Destiny New Zealand's pending announcement, which Duncan Garner tips to be a disestablishment of the political powerhouse to allow a new coalition of the Christian kind. Somehow, I just can't see moderate Christianity cuddling up to Destiny, but that's just me.
- The Wireless didn't give much respite, with another slow news night seeing both Close Up and Campbell gushing over Pumpkin in Melbourne and the cruel heartless father who abandoned her. I suppose Campbell's gushing over Clive James was always going to happen, but that doesn't make it less passe.
- Sorry folks; the news was the loser.
Good night.
- 3 followed this up with some good ol' self-promotion by covering its rescue mission for the two Kiwis chasing the All Blacks in France who had been ripped off. Good PR all round for the three sponsors (Heineken, BNZ, and Telecom) who came to the rescue. And the good hearted All Blacks who are going to let the couple into one of their training sessions.
- One preferred a Climate Change survey which found 36% of New Zealanders (read respondents) wanted the Government to consider nuclear power in addressing this global phenomenon. The PM had a raft of reasons to decline their plea.
- OJ's ongoing criminal career got a bit of coverage, as did Sir Richard Branson's support for the McCanns, and the Emmy Awards too.
- 3 snuck in a piece on Destiny New Zealand's pending announcement, which Duncan Garner tips to be a disestablishment of the political powerhouse to allow a new coalition of the Christian kind. Somehow, I just can't see moderate Christianity cuddling up to Destiny, but that's just me.
- The Wireless didn't give much respite, with another slow news night seeing both Close Up and Campbell gushing over Pumpkin in Melbourne and the cruel heartless father who abandoned her. I suppose Campbell's gushing over Clive James was always going to happen, but that doesn't make it less passe.
- Sorry folks; the news was the loser.
Good night.
Friday, 14 September 2007
The Day in Review Sept 14
- Following the Zaoui hangover, today was a slow news night for our broadcasters. Prime kept up its Zaoui routine, focusing on Winston Peters' accusations that New Zealand is a soft touch followed by Barry Soper dismissing all of Winston's laments. Prime also managed to give Ced Simpson from Amnesty a say. When our big two got into their Zaoui routines, One pointed out that Ahmed had to go into Ramadan, and 3 stated that his family will have to wait to get into NZ. MP reaction remained the same. Guyon Espiner noted that the Winie was not a happy chap when it came to the SIS, but our PM dismissed his bawling.
- One opened with an exclusive on a research grant of $150k to test the voices of patients to determine whether or not they had quit smoking. Needless to say, the Opposition's spokesman Tony Ryall was none too impressed, and even the Health Research Council was concerned that it only had novelty value.
- 3 led with Madeleine McCann. Then followed that up by hoisting its own petard by reporting on the dispute between itself and Sky regarding Sky's coverage of the RWC. Lawyers Julian Miles QC (the good guy ie 3) and Graeme Hall (the bad guy ie Sky) had their say. The judgement was reserved until next week, keeping the injunction going over the weekend.
- One followed up its first exclusive with another (I know, they're working overtime) on Fonterra raising the cost of wholesale butter and cheese. Bakeries around the country are livid.
- 3 continued its run on yesterday, with police conceding that a Wellington hunter who died had to wait too long for an ambulance. Inquiries are underway.
- The rest of the news was doom and gloom, with murder trials, funerals, minimal troop withdrawals from Iraq, and Gordon from the first Australian Big Brother dying in unusual circumstances in China. Wowee.
- The wireless didn't add too much tonight, although Newstalk ran with the Sky-TV3 debacle for a while. RNZ didn't have too much on offer, although RadioLive did have Pamela Stirling explain the methodology behind The Listener's 50 most powerful people. Way over my head.
- Close Up ran with a parolee murderer, while Campbell had a heart-rending story about a long-married couple who were separated in their twilight years by an uncaring bureacracy. Is this how we treat our elderly people; our forebears, who put their lives on the line for us in their youth? Paul Henry did manage to celebrate the second anniversary of the Skyhawk (non-)sale in an oh-so-amusing piece.
- Comeback of the day had to got to Damien O'Connor who helped NZ receive an award for its efforts in combatting tobacco by with his tireless work to introduce pictorial warnings on cigarette packets.
-Silliest hairdo goes to Hannah Hodson (I know I'm picking on her, but she makes it too easy) with her headband pulling her hair up in a style reminiscent of a caricature.
Good night.
- One opened with an exclusive on a research grant of $150k to test the voices of patients to determine whether or not they had quit smoking. Needless to say, the Opposition's spokesman Tony Ryall was none too impressed, and even the Health Research Council was concerned that it only had novelty value.
- 3 led with Madeleine McCann. Then followed that up by hoisting its own petard by reporting on the dispute between itself and Sky regarding Sky's coverage of the RWC. Lawyers Julian Miles QC (the good guy ie 3) and Graeme Hall (the bad guy ie Sky) had their say. The judgement was reserved until next week, keeping the injunction going over the weekend.
- One followed up its first exclusive with another (I know, they're working overtime) on Fonterra raising the cost of wholesale butter and cheese. Bakeries around the country are livid.
- 3 continued its run on yesterday, with police conceding that a Wellington hunter who died had to wait too long for an ambulance. Inquiries are underway.
- The rest of the news was doom and gloom, with murder trials, funerals, minimal troop withdrawals from Iraq, and Gordon from the first Australian Big Brother dying in unusual circumstances in China. Wowee.
- The wireless didn't add too much tonight, although Newstalk ran with the Sky-TV3 debacle for a while. RNZ didn't have too much on offer, although RadioLive did have Pamela Stirling explain the methodology behind The Listener's 50 most powerful people. Way over my head.
- Close Up ran with a parolee murderer, while Campbell had a heart-rending story about a long-married couple who were separated in their twilight years by an uncaring bureacracy. Is this how we treat our elderly people; our forebears, who put their lives on the line for us in their youth? Paul Henry did manage to celebrate the second anniversary of the Skyhawk (non-)sale in an oh-so-amusing piece.
- Comeback of the day had to got to Damien O'Connor who helped NZ receive an award for its efforts in combatting tobacco by with his tireless work to introduce pictorial warnings on cigarette packets.
-Silliest hairdo goes to Hannah Hodson (I know I'm picking on her, but she makes it too easy) with her headband pulling her hair up in a style reminiscent of a caricature.
Good night.
Thursday, 13 September 2007
The Day in Review Sept 13
- Prime bucked the trend by leading with Damien O'Connor's humble return to Parliament where he offered his most sincere apologies for being rather dim. No-one else was too interested by DO'C anymore.
- Because the SIS decided Ahmed Zaoui wasn't that much of a risk anymore, and decided to leave him be. We got Zaoui's history, the background of the case, a few more tidbits that hadn't been released to the public, and an assertion that he had put any dodgy dealings behind him, swearing on the Qur'an. The PM wasn't saying too much, aside from the fact that she was confident in Warren Tucker's ability as the Director of the SIS. Winston was none too pleased, as he, unlike many other MPs, hadn't read the memo that circulated last night. As our wonderful networks tend to do, the story went into overkill, with Deborah Manning having much to say, but Amnesty was strangely silent (despite them issuing a press release and attending the hoopla).
- 3 threw in a couple of Asian P convictions and an earthquake in Indonesia into its opening segment before moving on to the RWC. One waited until it had lauded Leighton Smith (an effort in itself) for talking to a woman in the midst of a suicide attempt; reported on an inquiry into a parolee who committed a little violent crime (what's murder between friends); and ran a piece on a police pursuit, before getting into Portugal's chances against the All Blacks.
- The depositions hearing for the Edgeware Road hit and run got a little coverage, and 3 went on about Professor Keith Woodford's book on the evils A1 milk while One talked about the 1080 protesters threatening to unleash the dogs on poor unsuspecting kiwi, otherwise it was more on the McCanns.
-Apparently the Reserve Bank held the OCR as is, but you wouldn't really know.
- The wireless ran with Zaoui. Nat Radio for (sorry, RNZ). NewstalkZB against. David Farrar probably had the most sensible thing to say about it on his blog (I see the irony).
- Campbell and Close Up played milk and Zaoui tag, with John having a wonderul conversation with Ahmed and his fesity, yet lovely and attractive, lawyer Deb before talking hard and fast about the dangers of milk with Professor Woodford. Sainsbury did it in reverse.
- I'm sure I had an insipid moment, but really, the saddest thing I saw today was on the New Zealand Herald's web-site (usually a fine place to find news, despite the typos) where Simon Cowell's comment that Britney's career was over made today's top ten stories. Lamentations abound.
Good night.
- Because the SIS decided Ahmed Zaoui wasn't that much of a risk anymore, and decided to leave him be. We got Zaoui's history, the background of the case, a few more tidbits that hadn't been released to the public, and an assertion that he had put any dodgy dealings behind him, swearing on the Qur'an. The PM wasn't saying too much, aside from the fact that she was confident in Warren Tucker's ability as the Director of the SIS. Winston was none too pleased, as he, unlike many other MPs, hadn't read the memo that circulated last night. As our wonderful networks tend to do, the story went into overkill, with Deborah Manning having much to say, but Amnesty was strangely silent (despite them issuing a press release and attending the hoopla).
- 3 threw in a couple of Asian P convictions and an earthquake in Indonesia into its opening segment before moving on to the RWC. One waited until it had lauded Leighton Smith (an effort in itself) for talking to a woman in the midst of a suicide attempt; reported on an inquiry into a parolee who committed a little violent crime (what's murder between friends); and ran a piece on a police pursuit, before getting into Portugal's chances against the All Blacks.
- The depositions hearing for the Edgeware Road hit and run got a little coverage, and 3 went on about Professor Keith Woodford's book on the evils A1 milk while One talked about the 1080 protesters threatening to unleash the dogs on poor unsuspecting kiwi, otherwise it was more on the McCanns.
-Apparently the Reserve Bank held the OCR as is, but you wouldn't really know.
- The wireless ran with Zaoui. Nat Radio for (sorry, RNZ). NewstalkZB against. David Farrar probably had the most sensible thing to say about it on his blog (I see the irony).
- Campbell and Close Up played milk and Zaoui tag, with John having a wonderul conversation with Ahmed and his fesity, yet lovely and attractive, lawyer Deb before talking hard and fast about the dangers of milk with Professor Woodford. Sainsbury did it in reverse.
- I'm sure I had an insipid moment, but really, the saddest thing I saw today was on the New Zealand Herald's web-site (usually a fine place to find news, despite the typos) where Simon Cowell's comment that Britney's career was over made today's top ten stories. Lamentations abound.
Good night.
Wednesday, 12 September 2007
The Day in Review Sept 12
- Again, the case of the adolescent fingered as a murderer on the social networking web-site Bebo led our broadcaters' news bulletins. This aside, everything was fairly higgledy-piggledy.
- The on-going scalp of Damien O'Connor blighted our screens, with Hannah Hodson putting on her best impression of a hard-hitting political journlist on One. Our man Duncan over on 3 was bemused that the Minister was refusing to answer any questions at his tourism conference in Auckland. Gee.
- New regulation for finance companies managed to get an airing on Prime with Dr. Cullen dictating to the reoprters that things were going to get better. Not so our beloved big two, who thought the ongoing sagas of Osama and the McCanns was a good example of hard-hitting international news that would inform AND entertain the average viewer, who doesn't want to know about... y'know, financial stuff, like what a secured debenture is when a finance company's offering 11%. It's secured. It's gotta be safe.
- 3 trumped One with its piece on the police and St. John's Ambluance under fire for failing to send out a chopper to pick up a hunter out of Wellington last night quick enough. The chap died, and despite the Westpc Lifeflight Trust pilot Dave Greenberg telling us it would have been a difficult lift, 40 minutes was too long and questions are being asked.
- Rugby got a good beating in the opening segments. The best of which was 3's coverage of its successful temporary injunction against Sky broadcasting any RWC coverage. I have never heard a more contented cat that got its milk.
- One aired another sycophantic piece on Peter Jackson, who saved a chapel owned by the Sisters of Mercy. Nice to see our Wellington Mayor Kerry Prendergast use it for all it's worth in the lead-up to her election campaign. It's a shame Rexy didn't finish all of his projects; then she wouldn't have to serve another term.
- The Wireless gave good coverage to the nurses' pay-rise with the DHBs. Still underpaid and overworked. Poor wee things.
- Close Up devoted its first segment to a South African woman who was jilted by her husband, had lost residency, and failed to get a visa. Thanks to Close Up's involvement (late in the piece after the Taranaki Daily News had been an advocate for her for some time), Immigration relented and she was allowed to stay. Sainsbury followed that up with a nice little piece with Roger Moses, the venerable headmaster of Wellington College, and Steve Tew of the NZRU on the dwindling numbers playing rugby. Campbell on the other hand, did the hard yards, investigating the rise of Melanotan 2, the cure-all jab to give you a tan, suppress your appetite, and increase your libido, all in one. Nice one John.
- No insipid moment tonight (they're all above). The feel-good story of the evening was the Nobel Peace Prize Nomination for the Spirit of Adventure Trust. I never set foot on the boat, but I know a lot of people who have.
Good night.
- The on-going scalp of Damien O'Connor blighted our screens, with Hannah Hodson putting on her best impression of a hard-hitting political journlist on One. Our man Duncan over on 3 was bemused that the Minister was refusing to answer any questions at his tourism conference in Auckland. Gee.
- New regulation for finance companies managed to get an airing on Prime with Dr. Cullen dictating to the reoprters that things were going to get better. Not so our beloved big two, who thought the ongoing sagas of Osama and the McCanns was a good example of hard-hitting international news that would inform AND entertain the average viewer, who doesn't want to know about... y'know, financial stuff, like what a secured debenture is when a finance company's offering 11%. It's secured. It's gotta be safe.
- 3 trumped One with its piece on the police and St. John's Ambluance under fire for failing to send out a chopper to pick up a hunter out of Wellington last night quick enough. The chap died, and despite the Westpc Lifeflight Trust pilot Dave Greenberg telling us it would have been a difficult lift, 40 minutes was too long and questions are being asked.
- Rugby got a good beating in the opening segments. The best of which was 3's coverage of its successful temporary injunction against Sky broadcasting any RWC coverage. I have never heard a more contented cat that got its milk.
- One aired another sycophantic piece on Peter Jackson, who saved a chapel owned by the Sisters of Mercy. Nice to see our Wellington Mayor Kerry Prendergast use it for all it's worth in the lead-up to her election campaign. It's a shame Rexy didn't finish all of his projects; then she wouldn't have to serve another term.
- The Wireless gave good coverage to the nurses' pay-rise with the DHBs. Still underpaid and overworked. Poor wee things.
- Close Up devoted its first segment to a South African woman who was jilted by her husband, had lost residency, and failed to get a visa. Thanks to Close Up's involvement (late in the piece after the Taranaki Daily News had been an advocate for her for some time), Immigration relented and she was allowed to stay. Sainsbury followed that up with a nice little piece with Roger Moses, the venerable headmaster of Wellington College, and Steve Tew of the NZRU on the dwindling numbers playing rugby. Campbell on the other hand, did the hard yards, investigating the rise of Melanotan 2, the cure-all jab to give you a tan, suppress your appetite, and increase your libido, all in one. Nice one John.
- No insipid moment tonight (they're all above). The feel-good story of the evening was the Nobel Peace Prize Nomination for the Spirit of Adventure Trust. I never set foot on the boat, but I know a lot of people who have.
Good night.
Tuesday, 11 September 2007
The Day in Review Sept 11
- Leading our bulletins was the ongoing saga of the Auckland teen murder, with breaking news that a chap was arrested and charged. Bebo played an all-important role in tracking down the alleged culprit.
- 3 ran the disestablishment of the Serious Fraud office second, while One held it back a little. The Police Association welcomed the changes, and while 3 ran the Government's line, One went to Simon Power, who hoped its new incarnation worked better than its predecessor.
- Damien O'Connor's offer to resign received the appropriate coverage, with John Key taking every opportunity to accuse the PM of being opportunisitic in holding back until her reshuffle. 3 seemed to be more interested in the fact that D.O'C tried to quit via text message.
- Hackers in the system got a reasonable level of reporting, and while H1 knows who tried their luck, she's not saying anything.
- 3 covered REINZ's housing report on how we had finally become slothful. Nothing surprising.
- Rounding out our opening segments were reports on the US commander on Iraq and the police alert in Germany over a US airport on 3, and the deaths of the the Body Shop founder and actress Jane Wyman kept us on One.
- The wireless gave us a bit more info on the NZRU's decision to pump some more cash into community rugby, with Steve Tew talking to Willie Lose, and Murray Deaker pontificating with Larry Williams.
- Close Up opened with the evils of youth and how the world was coming to an end, while Campbell continued with the Opotiki exhumation before having a heated discussion between Associate Minister of Health Jim Anderton and that wonderfully kooky Health Spokesman Nandor Tanczos on banning BZP.
- The worst story ever has to go to TV3 for its piece on whether Paris Hilton was going to find a nice Kiwi lad, as her friend is coming to NZ as a celebrity judge at the World Cocktail Champs. I don't know why I bother sometimes.
Good night.
- 3 ran the disestablishment of the Serious Fraud office second, while One held it back a little. The Police Association welcomed the changes, and while 3 ran the Government's line, One went to Simon Power, who hoped its new incarnation worked better than its predecessor.
- Damien O'Connor's offer to resign received the appropriate coverage, with John Key taking every opportunity to accuse the PM of being opportunisitic in holding back until her reshuffle. 3 seemed to be more interested in the fact that D.O'C tried to quit via text message.
- Hackers in the system got a reasonable level of reporting, and while H1 knows who tried their luck, she's not saying anything.
- 3 covered REINZ's housing report on how we had finally become slothful. Nothing surprising.
- Rounding out our opening segments were reports on the US commander on Iraq and the police alert in Germany over a US airport on 3, and the deaths of the the Body Shop founder and actress Jane Wyman kept us on One.
- The wireless gave us a bit more info on the NZRU's decision to pump some more cash into community rugby, with Steve Tew talking to Willie Lose, and Murray Deaker pontificating with Larry Williams.
- Close Up opened with the evils of youth and how the world was coming to an end, while Campbell continued with the Opotiki exhumation before having a heated discussion between Associate Minister of Health Jim Anderton and that wonderfully kooky Health Spokesman Nandor Tanczos on banning BZP.
- The worst story ever has to go to TV3 for its piece on whether Paris Hilton was going to find a nice Kiwi lad, as her friend is coming to NZ as a celebrity judge at the World Cocktail Champs. I don't know why I bother sometimes.
Good night.
Monday, 10 September 2007
The Day in Review Sept 10
- The top story of the day according to our favourite television executives was the investigation into the murder of an Auckland teen. Most interesting was the make of car implicated... a Mercedes.
- The accident in Christchurch that claimed the lives of three teens also received a lot of coverage, with all the usual suspects calling for an end to youth driving.
- The hit and run trial rounded out our trio of terror at the top of the hour.
- New Zealand's working holiday agreement with the US got a lot of coverage, although the broadcasters all had to institute that wonderful NZ xenophobia and include the protests to such a heinous agreement.
- The fate of Damien O'Connor didn't get quite the coverage expected, with it seeming likely that everyone will have to wait until the reshuffle to see the good Minister go.
- Pharmac's investigation into the the high number of children on antidepressants got a bit of a spread, with Dr. Peter Moodie doing all he can to ensure he and his are not to blame.
- Throw in the McCann investigation for a bit of an international mix, and that's the major bulletins rounded out (excluding 3's RWC package which was missing from One's opening segment (sigh of relief)).
- Close Up ran with an expert on the dangers of cruise liner living, while Campbell had Geeks on Wheels talking about how they had benefited so much in the wake of Telecom's Bubble being burst, proving that he won't bow to sponsors by pointing out that Telecom refused to be interviewed tonight, and sending his great journalistic off-sider, the lovely Carol, out on to the streets of Mangere to see how a small budgeting service that helped those less privileged people in the greater Auckland area struggled to get anywhere with the heartless beast that is Telecom NZ.
-And 60 Minutes had a piece on NZ's drinking culture (but that's still in the future so I don't know exactly how we stack up).
Good night.
- The accident in Christchurch that claimed the lives of three teens also received a lot of coverage, with all the usual suspects calling for an end to youth driving.
- The hit and run trial rounded out our trio of terror at the top of the hour.
- New Zealand's working holiday agreement with the US got a lot of coverage, although the broadcasters all had to institute that wonderful NZ xenophobia and include the protests to such a heinous agreement.
- The fate of Damien O'Connor didn't get quite the coverage expected, with it seeming likely that everyone will have to wait until the reshuffle to see the good Minister go.
- Pharmac's investigation into the the high number of children on antidepressants got a bit of a spread, with Dr. Peter Moodie doing all he can to ensure he and his are not to blame.
- Throw in the McCann investigation for a bit of an international mix, and that's the major bulletins rounded out (excluding 3's RWC package which was missing from One's opening segment (sigh of relief)).
- Close Up ran with an expert on the dangers of cruise liner living, while Campbell had Geeks on Wheels talking about how they had benefited so much in the wake of Telecom's Bubble being burst, proving that he won't bow to sponsors by pointing out that Telecom refused to be interviewed tonight, and sending his great journalistic off-sider, the lovely Carol, out on to the streets of Mangere to see how a small budgeting service that helped those less privileged people in the greater Auckland area struggled to get anywhere with the heartless beast that is Telecom NZ.
-And 60 Minutes had a piece on NZ's drinking culture (but that's still in the future so I don't know exactly how we stack up).
Good night.
Friday, 7 September 2007
The Day in Review Sept 7
- Leading all bulletins was the man with the mad eyes, Antonie Dixon, having his murder conviction quashed by the Court of Appeal. Most of the ruling's findings were suppressed, but the judge's direction appears to be the cause. Defence lawyer Barry Hart was upset that he had not been able to talk to Antonie (personally, I think that would be a good thing), while Crown Prosecutor Simon Moore was upset for other reasons. One and 3 ran their stories side by side, and until the summing up, were virtual replicas.
- One ran an exclusive on the man from Cromwell whose car may or may not have been bugged by police. 3 caught up with a bit piece later on in the day.
- APEC got a good going over, with most of the focus on the mad lads who have become the toast of the town withe their antics getting international coverage. There was also a little bit on Helen Clark's stance on nuclear power, with 3 focusing on how she was trying not to alienate anyone. Guyon Espiner ran with the push for an FTA on One, hinting that the deal was getting closer.
- 3 also ran the announcement that we've got an Osama video on the way in time for the sixth anniversary of 9/11.
- Rounding out the first segment were pieces on the RWC. Zinzan's return and comment on the All Blacks founds its place on 3, along with Mike McRoberts showing his ability as a foreign correspondent by giving us a brief preview of the opening ceremony (how can his Iraq pieces compare to that?). One went with Dan Carter's meeting with Zidane. The comparison will not be commented on. They followed it up with a feel good piece on a blind grandmother's preparation for the Warriors' play-off match.
- Close Up and Campbell had a great head-to-head - Steve Price with Sainsbury vs. a RWC preview with Carol Hirschfeld (and Wynne Grey). Classic.
- Too quiet for an insipid moment. Maybe 'Mister Pip' being the favourite to win the Booker. I just don't know.
Good night.
- One ran an exclusive on the man from Cromwell whose car may or may not have been bugged by police. 3 caught up with a bit piece later on in the day.
- APEC got a good going over, with most of the focus on the mad lads who have become the toast of the town withe their antics getting international coverage. There was also a little bit on Helen Clark's stance on nuclear power, with 3 focusing on how she was trying not to alienate anyone. Guyon Espiner ran with the push for an FTA on One, hinting that the deal was getting closer.
- 3 also ran the announcement that we've got an Osama video on the way in time for the sixth anniversary of 9/11.
- Rounding out the first segment were pieces on the RWC. Zinzan's return and comment on the All Blacks founds its place on 3, along with Mike McRoberts showing his ability as a foreign correspondent by giving us a brief preview of the opening ceremony (how can his Iraq pieces compare to that?). One went with Dan Carter's meeting with Zidane. The comparison will not be commented on. They followed it up with a feel good piece on a blind grandmother's preparation for the Warriors' play-off match.
- Close Up and Campbell had a great head-to-head - Steve Price with Sainsbury vs. a RWC preview with Carol Hirschfeld (and Wynne Grey). Classic.
- Too quiet for an insipid moment. Maybe 'Mister Pip' being the favourite to win the Booker. I just don't know.
Good night.
Life in the fast lane
Again I find myself apologising to the netherworld where no-one really resides.
I'm no longer subjected to the insane rantings of talkback radio, but I suppose I've sold my soul by going into the sales aspect of this crazy community.
This aside, what I shall endeavour to do is provide you with a brief review of the evening's news. In fact, it's not even that; rather it's a summary of the opening segments on the big two, with a few other things thrown in if I feel the need. Here we go again.
I'm no longer subjected to the insane rantings of talkback radio, but I suppose I've sold my soul by going into the sales aspect of this crazy community.
This aside, what I shall endeavour to do is provide you with a brief review of the evening's news. In fact, it's not even that; rather it's a summary of the opening segments on the big two, with a few other things thrown in if I feel the need. Here we go again.
Friday, 13 July 2007
My my my, said the spider to the fly...
Yeah. Well. What can I say? I'm slack. Sue me.
In fact, the only reason I'm actually back is because someone actually read and commented on one of my musings. Thanks Grant. You're wrong in respect to RNZ National, but thanks for waking me up from my malaise. Here's why.
There is no such thing as objective reporting, nor does any broadcast or print journo (let alone some filthy blogger) aspire to it. They may claim to offer 'just the facts', but that's an impossibility. Everything they include is subject to editorial approval, and their own personal agenda. They do not, and cannot, offer 'just the facts'. That's a fact of life. You must be sceptical of what you read, and you must question the agenda behind the story.
In other news, the story of the week has to be Brian McClennan's resignation as coach of the Kiwis. So much fun. Yesterday, in particular, when the rage of Tony Veitch, Goran Paladin, and Kath Harby-Williams built to crescendo level in taking talkback calls defending the NZRL and the ultimate announcement that Andrew Chalmers and Graham Lowe would appear on Telfer's show (this is all on Radio Sport) was absolutely brilliant. Everyone loves the little guy, and everyone loves being suspicious of the corporate structure.
Even Telf's interview had all the confrontation of a veteran broadcaster grilling a couple of very experienced and intelligent people about something they were not too comfortable answering questions on. Maybe not on par with being a little creep, but good fun nonetheless. The general consensus was that there was a conspiracy theory, and although Joseph Romanos didn't quite agree today, his heated exchange with Telf regarding Bluey's exit was more of the fiery fun we like to listen to.
Today's best moment of the morning was (surprise surprise) Marcus Lush's disdain for the Youth Parliament. People people people. Don't make these kids grow up before they have to. People like Peter Dunne are sad for reading Hansard from age 11. I love Marcus. He makes life worth living. He makes you want to get out of bed, and enjoy the simple things in life. Just go here and get a taste of it. Please. Let's get RadioLive's breakfast show some real ratings.
In fact, the only reason I'm actually back is because someone actually read and commented on one of my musings. Thanks Grant. You're wrong in respect to RNZ National, but thanks for waking me up from my malaise. Here's why.
There is no such thing as objective reporting, nor does any broadcast or print journo (let alone some filthy blogger) aspire to it. They may claim to offer 'just the facts', but that's an impossibility. Everything they include is subject to editorial approval, and their own personal agenda. They do not, and cannot, offer 'just the facts'. That's a fact of life. You must be sceptical of what you read, and you must question the agenda behind the story.
In other news, the story of the week has to be Brian McClennan's resignation as coach of the Kiwis. So much fun. Yesterday, in particular, when the rage of Tony Veitch, Goran Paladin, and Kath Harby-Williams built to crescendo level in taking talkback calls defending the NZRL and the ultimate announcement that Andrew Chalmers and Graham Lowe would appear on Telfer's show (this is all on Radio Sport) was absolutely brilliant. Everyone loves the little guy, and everyone loves being suspicious of the corporate structure.
Even Telf's interview had all the confrontation of a veteran broadcaster grilling a couple of very experienced and intelligent people about something they were not too comfortable answering questions on. Maybe not on par with being a little creep, but good fun nonetheless. The general consensus was that there was a conspiracy theory, and although Joseph Romanos didn't quite agree today, his heated exchange with Telf regarding Bluey's exit was more of the fiery fun we like to listen to.
Today's best moment of the morning was (surprise surprise) Marcus Lush's disdain for the Youth Parliament. People people people. Don't make these kids grow up before they have to. People like Peter Dunne are sad for reading Hansard from age 11. I love Marcus. He makes life worth living. He makes you want to get out of bed, and enjoy the simple things in life. Just go here and get a taste of it. Please. Let's get RadioLive's breakfast show some real ratings.
Wednesday, 20 June 2007
Leaves of Grass
Yeah, this blogging thing requires diligence doesn't it. Yeah. I'd say I've been busy, but I blame the cold sapping the nous that I usually show in writing down some silly thoughts. I'll get better. I promise.
Tuesday, 12 June 2007
The Mighty Mighty Boss Tone
Mayor Laws was off the topic of Samoan families in South Auckland today, and there was a collective sigh of relief, from not only myself, but his listeners too. (There wasn't.) Today's topic was childhood obesity, Government intervention, and what you can do.
Mayor Laws actually liked the idea that the Government was banning the sale of unhealthy foods in school canteens, likening the whining of teachers to something you wouldn't expect unless they'd had a 10% pay-cut. A little harsh methinks, but no-one else did.
Anyway, the general consensus was that there are many causes for these fat little tykes, most of the lazy parents who just don't know how to cook. Not that many answers were proffered to address the issue. The one Miguel liked the most was a fat tax. Like cigarettes. Like liquor. Kind of like drink-driving. You know, two-pronged approach. Education and regulation. Carrot and stick. A voice of reason in the face of those barking mad libertarians who think that because they can make an informed choice on everything they do (they lead blameless lives), everyone else can too.
Tax the fat people. It will only make them skinny.
Mayor Laws actually liked the idea that the Government was banning the sale of unhealthy foods in school canteens, likening the whining of teachers to something you wouldn't expect unless they'd had a 10% pay-cut. A little harsh methinks, but no-one else did.
Anyway, the general consensus was that there are many causes for these fat little tykes, most of the lazy parents who just don't know how to cook. Not that many answers were proffered to address the issue. The one Miguel liked the most was a fat tax. Like cigarettes. Like liquor. Kind of like drink-driving. You know, two-pronged approach. Education and regulation. Carrot and stick. A voice of reason in the face of those barking mad libertarians who think that because they can make an informed choice on everything they do (they lead blameless lives), everyone else can too.
Tax the fat people. It will only make them skinny.
The Wonerful Wizard of Oz
Mr. Holmes has found his wizard, and all he wants is a brain. Lucky for him, and us, Gareth Morgan, economist, is available to us in short snappy bites. With a wilted wisp as well. The name of the game is bag the Governor, and our Guv is right up there right now. He takes with one hand and gives with the other. Who else could I be talking about but the poor Dr. Bollard.
Who would really want to run the Reserve Bank? Really. Thankless job, and all you can do is irritate people with your hawkish statements and throttle on interest rates.
Anyway, as you and I well know, Dr. Bollard has intervened in the currency markets. What he did is your guess as well as mine. (I think it goes along the lines of selling New Zealand dollars to increase its supply available, and, according to the law of supply and demand, lowering its value. The market does dictate after all.) Anyway, Mr. Morgan, that nice chap who likes to get heard by the herd, gave him impression of the move, and decided it was all a big risk that wasn't going to pay off. What Dr. Bollard really has to do is lower interest rates via the OCR, and all will be righted in this turbulent land. Lucky for him, he has a sycophant in Mr. Holmes. Who wuddha thunk it? (Oh yeah, so you're meant to love every word he says too. Remember, it was his progeny that gave us TradeMe, so he can't be all bad.)
Who would really want to run the Reserve Bank? Really. Thankless job, and all you can do is irritate people with your hawkish statements and throttle on interest rates.
Anyway, as you and I well know, Dr. Bollard has intervened in the currency markets. What he did is your guess as well as mine. (I think it goes along the lines of selling New Zealand dollars to increase its supply available, and, according to the law of supply and demand, lowering its value. The market does dictate after all.) Anyway, Mr. Morgan, that nice chap who likes to get heard by the herd, gave him impression of the move, and decided it was all a big risk that wasn't going to pay off. What Dr. Bollard really has to do is lower interest rates via the OCR, and all will be righted in this turbulent land. Lucky for him, he has a sycophant in Mr. Holmes. Who wuddha thunk it? (Oh yeah, so you're meant to love every word he says too. Remember, it was his progeny that gave us TradeMe, so he can't be all bad.)
Monday, 11 June 2007
Your breaking entertainment news stories, for your pleasure
The thing on everyone's lips today has been that that overbearing government of ours is forcing our educators to stop selling fatty foods in their tuck shops. Worse still, they're going to force these administrative guidelines through in a year's time. A whole year. How dear they?!?
I hope I have the appropriate amount of indignation. Surely the government has no role in trying to stop our children from becoming morbidly obese. And as that nice woman Katherine Rich points out, it's only making another layer of bureaucracy to destroy our schools. What next indeed? Next they might start asking for a return on their investment. (Actually, that might be a good idea. Problems in education run deeper than anyone's willing to accept.) Damn that liberal media. And damn the man.
I hope I have the appropriate amount of indignation. Surely the government has no role in trying to stop our children from becoming morbidly obese. And as that nice woman Katherine Rich points out, it's only making another layer of bureaucracy to destroy our schools. What next indeed? Next they might start asking for a return on their investment. (Actually, that might be a good idea. Problems in education run deeper than anyone's willing to accept.) Damn that liberal media. And damn the man.
The Outsiders
Well, the kids on bFM are always fun to listen to. I suppose I'm young enough to be part of their demographic. Shame I'm in Wellington. Good that we have the magical interweb.
For the students of Auckland University, the most important thing was the Press Council's condemnation of journo Deborah Coddington in respect to her article in North and South. Go here and here, or even just here if you want the good ol' liberal approach to the story. Obviously, Ms. Coddington's former status as an ACT Party MP doesn't stand her in good stead as she chatted to Jose Barbosa. It's always fun listening to people get indignant when their integrity is questioned.
And as the ideological 20-something that you are, listening away to podcasts of bFM, you loved every second of it. Not that anyone else cares. When you think about it. Even those of us who have suffered from Deb's columns, sound-bites, and rantings with Larry Williams, have to admit that the Press Council is a fairly toothless organisation. I don't know, maybe you're a fourth-year student and are thinking about your future, and have maybe thought that being a conservative isn't that bad, because, hell, you know, it's a material world and all of that.
Anyway, kids like us say money's bad (because we don't have it), so remember Deb's just avoiding paying her bill, and accepting she was wrong to unfairly criticise Asian crime.
(To be honest, while Deb's interview was somewhat intriguing for someone like m'self who enjoys self-flagellation, the rest of the issue bores me sick. Deb made some valid points about the use of emotive language in feature articles, and, much as I hate to admit it, she is a reasonably good journo who tends to do her homework. At least she's not one of the journo school clones that seem to be polluting our airways these days. Those kids struggle to string a sentence together, and man, they can't pull off broadcast segment without sounding like a kid from the sticks putting on a bad impression of Warwick Burke. Sorry guys. The story just wasn't worth the effort. Hate speech is hate speech is hate speech is hate speech is not some article in North and South by Deborah Coddington. Not that anything interesting's happening today. Sorry about inconsistent ramble. Won't happen again today.)
Update: Yeah, big story. Go to scoop, scroll down, and compare the Editor's Picks with the Sitewide Most Read stories. First versus third.
For the students of Auckland University, the most important thing was the Press Council's condemnation of journo Deborah Coddington in respect to her article in North and South. Go here and here, or even just here if you want the good ol' liberal approach to the story. Obviously, Ms. Coddington's former status as an ACT Party MP doesn't stand her in good stead as she chatted to Jose Barbosa. It's always fun listening to people get indignant when their integrity is questioned.
And as the ideological 20-something that you are, listening away to podcasts of bFM, you loved every second of it. Not that anyone else cares. When you think about it. Even those of us who have suffered from Deb's columns, sound-bites, and rantings with Larry Williams, have to admit that the Press Council is a fairly toothless organisation. I don't know, maybe you're a fourth-year student and are thinking about your future, and have maybe thought that being a conservative isn't that bad, because, hell, you know, it's a material world and all of that.
Anyway, kids like us say money's bad (because we don't have it), so remember Deb's just avoiding paying her bill, and accepting she was wrong to unfairly criticise Asian crime.
(To be honest, while Deb's interview was somewhat intriguing for someone like m'self who enjoys self-flagellation, the rest of the issue bores me sick. Deb made some valid points about the use of emotive language in feature articles, and, much as I hate to admit it, she is a reasonably good journo who tends to do her homework. At least she's not one of the journo school clones that seem to be polluting our airways these days. Those kids struggle to string a sentence together, and man, they can't pull off broadcast segment without sounding like a kid from the sticks putting on a bad impression of Warwick Burke. Sorry guys. The story just wasn't worth the effort. Hate speech is hate speech is hate speech is hate speech is not some article in North and South by Deborah Coddington. Not that anything interesting's happening today. Sorry about inconsistent ramble. Won't happen again today.)
Update: Yeah, big story. Go to scoop, scroll down, and compare the Editor's Picks with the Sitewide Most Read stories. First versus third.
How loonies get the vote
Well, Monsieur Laws is not too impressed with the hijacking that took place on his show today. You, the people, have decided not to really address the immigration question that he wanted to know about. Damn those Asians, and damn those Poms. All they do is cause crime and go back to their country, respectively of course.
Instead, you the people wanted to talk about mental illness. You've decided to complain about how easy it is to get an invalids benefit. You've decided to complain about how there is a lack of understanding of mental illness. And Miguel has decided to sit on the fence, with too many people diagnosed with mental illness, and not enough real cases of mental illness being recognised.
It's this kind of schizophrenic response that prove we've got a real problem with 32,000 mentally unwell people in the country. (I know I've misused the word schizophrenic. It just doesn't seem appropriate to put [sic] next to it. Sorry, my bad.)
So remember, everything's wrong in the case of mental illness. There are no right answers. What we really think is that the mounting billions being plunged into healthcare are not being properly utilised. I'm sure we can infer that it's all a cause of the burgeoning bureaucracy. And dammit, things like quality spending on mental health just isn't occurring.
Oh, and we should probably sterilise those people with mental illness because we know it's hereditary. Thank you Miguel. Always a pleasure doing business with you. And a lot of people just think they have mental health problems when they really can't handle the stress of everyday life. (I'm not too sure about that one. It isn't often that Michael quotes anyone in a "namby pamby organisation like the Mental Health Foundation", but he has on this occasion, without using my quotation marks. Crazy.)
thereisnocurethereisnoendinsightrepentpeoplerelentmaybepopsomeprozacjustkeepclearofthehospitalsandmajorleaguebaseball
Instead, you the people wanted to talk about mental illness. You've decided to complain about how easy it is to get an invalids benefit. You've decided to complain about how there is a lack of understanding of mental illness. And Miguel has decided to sit on the fence, with too many people diagnosed with mental illness, and not enough real cases of mental illness being recognised.
It's this kind of schizophrenic response that prove we've got a real problem with 32,000 mentally unwell people in the country. (I know I've misused the word schizophrenic. It just doesn't seem appropriate to put [sic] next to it. Sorry, my bad.)
So remember, everything's wrong in the case of mental illness. There are no right answers. What we really think is that the mounting billions being plunged into healthcare are not being properly utilised. I'm sure we can infer that it's all a cause of the burgeoning bureaucracy. And dammit, things like quality spending on mental health just isn't occurring.
Oh, and we should probably sterilise those people with mental illness because we know it's hereditary. Thank you Miguel. Always a pleasure doing business with you. And a lot of people just think they have mental health problems when they really can't handle the stress of everyday life. (I'm not too sure about that one. It isn't often that Michael quotes anyone in a "namby pamby organisation like the Mental Health Foundation", but he has on this occasion, without using my quotation marks. Crazy.)
thereisnocurethereisnoendinsightrepentpeoplerelentmaybepopsomeprozacjustkeepclearofthehospitalsandmajorleaguebaseball
Dis Capital
Bizarre Monday morning. Staffing has boosted, so now I find it harder to get a wider group of shows to listen to. 'Tis a mixed blessing, as I can't really play the shows on a faster speed. The likes of Paul Holmes, John Banks, Leighton Smith, Michael Laws, hell, all of them really, are much easier to listen to when you don't have the time to have their words sink in.
On the flipside, I can try and give you stuff that's slightly more up to date. Go figure.
On the flipside, I can try and give you stuff that's slightly more up to date. Go figure.
Sunday, 10 June 2007
The late Mr. McBeth
Yeah, kind of couldn't be bothered writing up more of the same on Thursday and Friday. Don't worry, it'll change. A handful of people actually read this stuff. And here I was thinking I was just inflating my own ego and shooting letters off into the void.
Anyway, Leighton wanted less state, more market (read money in his hands), and a return to the normal (read 1950s nuclear family dominated by a patricarchal oppressor).
Holmesie wanted, well, he wanted, well, he didn't really know what he wanted. Maybe a juicy story. Maybe a return to TVNZ, maybe a decent replacement for him on TVNZ. Maybe an end to this PC nonsense. Maybe he really wants the America's Cup. Maybe his precious To be honest, I (and by association, you) was not paying much attention.
Miguel Laws was on a rant. He really does not like us liberal PC types who have (and this is in his Sunday Star-Times column) a covert racism against Islanders. We're patronising you see. Pepole in the loweset socio-economic brackets don't want help. Nor do they want to be condescended to. They want a straight-talking reactionary conservative telling them that they should either fill in the underclass and do the jobs we (meaning us white people (really, us white middle-aged male people who never should have given the vote to anyone else)) don't want to do. This was on the Muliaga thing, of which I will say no further. Until later on that is.
I can't remember too much else. My mind often purges itself of the banalities that confront it every day, but rest assured, I will improve. Tomorrow. I'll do it tomorrow, for tomorrow is another day.
Oh, and listen to Marcus Lush. Please. I hate the thought that he rates comparably with John Banks (and RadioLive does). He is well worth it, even if it's just for Roger Whittaker's stirring rendtion of New World in the Morning.
Anyway, Leighton wanted less state, more market (read money in his hands), and a return to the normal (read 1950s nuclear family dominated by a patricarchal oppressor).
Holmesie wanted, well, he wanted, well, he didn't really know what he wanted. Maybe a juicy story. Maybe a return to TVNZ, maybe a decent replacement for him on TVNZ. Maybe an end to this PC nonsense. Maybe he really wants the America's Cup. Maybe his precious To be honest, I (and by association, you) was not paying much attention.
Miguel Laws was on a rant. He really does not like us liberal PC types who have (and this is in his Sunday Star-Times column) a covert racism against Islanders. We're patronising you see. Pepole in the loweset socio-economic brackets don't want help. Nor do they want to be condescended to. They want a straight-talking reactionary conservative telling them that they should either fill in the underclass and do the jobs we (meaning us white people (really, us white middle-aged male people who never should have given the vote to anyone else)) don't want to do. This was on the Muliaga thing, of which I will say no further. Until later on that is.
I can't remember too much else. My mind often purges itself of the banalities that confront it every day, but rest assured, I will improve. Tomorrow. I'll do it tomorrow, for tomorrow is another day.
Oh, and listen to Marcus Lush. Please. I hate the thought that he rates comparably with John Banks (and RadioLive does). He is well worth it, even if it's just for Roger Whittaker's stirring rendtion of New World in the Morning.
A day in the life of...
Get all of your breaking entertainment news HERE! Or flick to channel 11 on Sky. Or open any major daily to the international section. Maybe just watch Fox for a little.
Ignore the G-8 Summit. Forget about the state of the economy. Nothing much is happening.
Except for the fact that Paris Hilton's going back to jail to serve her entire 45 sentence of breaching the parole conditions of her reckless driving conviction.
Yeah sure, it's all a little sad that a princess has to spend some time in a correctional facility, but the convergence of helicopters on the Hilton estate only goes to show how far evolution has subsided. Alas my friends, the ape must surely be upon us.
Ignore the G-8 Summit. Forget about the state of the economy. Nothing much is happening.
Except for the fact that Paris Hilton's going back to jail to serve her entire 45 sentence of breaching the parole conditions of her reckless driving conviction.
Yeah sure, it's all a little sad that a princess has to spend some time in a correctional facility, but the convergence of helicopters on the Hilton estate only goes to show how far evolution has subsided. Alas my friends, the ape must surely be upon us.
Wednesday, 6 June 2007
A Literary Man of Letters
Joe Bennett, what happened? You used to be a pillar of literary integrity, with your regular slot on Book Time Zone of MoonTV fame, leading to the world of words, but, alas, your current column in the DomPost shows you know not who Hank is. Alas.
If you have no idea what I'm talking about, Joe's latest column in the Dom showed his ignorance in all things Bukowski. I'm not saying that's incredibly uncommon, but Mr. Bennett is usually a literate chap, who should no better. Thankfully, the column isn't on Stuff yet, so I won't have to give a link and cause you to lament like me.
For the record, Charles Bukowski is a fine, fine poet, and, really, more poetry should follow his nihilistic lead than that of the self-indulgence of the Beats and subsequent poetry slammers. I suggest all of you go out and at the very least find Barfly, the Mickey Rourke movie of a typical period in Bukowski's life.
And Joe, please hurry up and read one of his novels. It's well worth it.
If you have no idea what I'm talking about, Joe's latest column in the Dom showed his ignorance in all things Bukowski. I'm not saying that's incredibly uncommon, but Mr. Bennett is usually a literate chap, who should no better. Thankfully, the column isn't on Stuff yet, so I won't have to give a link and cause you to lament like me.
For the record, Charles Bukowski is a fine, fine poet, and, really, more poetry should follow his nihilistic lead than that of the self-indulgence of the Beats and subsequent poetry slammers. I suggest all of you go out and at the very least find Barfly, the Mickey Rourke movie of a typical period in Bukowski's life.
And Joe, please hurry up and read one of his novels. It's well worth it.
Hermes is a better name
Mercury Energy, the gift that keeps on giving. By now, you will all know that Folole Muliaga's funeral was held today, and our PM made an appearance, paying tribute to the family for daring to forgive. Not something done too regularly in New Zealand. Well the media continued, well and truly, to dig deep in this story. There are still things to come out, and it is with baited breath that we wait.
Paul Holmes continued his stream of consciousness on the issue, tapping the spirit that is NewstalkZB's political editor, Barry Soper, to update the issue. Barry's a good Labour man, so obviously Helen was looking after the issue well (he is loathe to condemn her), and he gave us a quick rundown of how the Government plans to stop their heartless SOEs from squeezing the bejeezus out of us. I actually thought Fran O'Sullivan's column on the issue (thank you Mr. Farrar) summed up the dichotomy of trying to run an efficient business while being socially responsible fairly well (it surprised me too). Next up the gnome on the hill had Shane Jones and Katherine Rich punch out their predictable party lines. Nothing new for the punters to read there.
Leighton (and the thought does make me a little ill) held his line that there were a number of factors in the death of Folole Muliaga, although he did have the tact not to criticise her obesity in light of the fact that her funeral was held today. Credit's always given when it's due. The Government, of course, was making the wrong decision in regulating. Why can't they just privatise everything and be done with it. The market is a much better decider than any kind of socially responsible collective. Oh, and local government's no better with the ratcheting of water rates, and rates in general. Just in case you couldn't figure that one out.
Willie and JT over on RadioLive roused their usual rabble. JT managed to get the first half hour by himself, as Willie was at the funeral, and managed to dish out a salient ramble on how Ms. Clark had no other choice under the current realpolitik but appear and speak at the funeral, but man it's sad that she has to do so. Willie, when he finally stormed in, roundly condemned JT and his sycophantic callers, all heartless bastards the lot of them, before standing up and saying Helen really does care for us all. And she's doing good things for his underprivileged Samoan brothers. Bit of a headtrip listening to the Brown Brothers. One works for the evil forces of the Right, the other for the extreme forces of the Left. What's a simple media monitor to do?
Paul Holmes continued his stream of consciousness on the issue, tapping the spirit that is NewstalkZB's political editor, Barry Soper, to update the issue. Barry's a good Labour man, so obviously Helen was looking after the issue well (he is loathe to condemn her), and he gave us a quick rundown of how the Government plans to stop their heartless SOEs from squeezing the bejeezus out of us. I actually thought Fran O'Sullivan's column on the issue (thank you Mr. Farrar) summed up the dichotomy of trying to run an efficient business while being socially responsible fairly well (it surprised me too). Next up the gnome on the hill had Shane Jones and Katherine Rich punch out their predictable party lines. Nothing new for the punters to read there.
Leighton (and the thought does make me a little ill) held his line that there were a number of factors in the death of Folole Muliaga, although he did have the tact not to criticise her obesity in light of the fact that her funeral was held today. Credit's always given when it's due. The Government, of course, was making the wrong decision in regulating. Why can't they just privatise everything and be done with it. The market is a much better decider than any kind of socially responsible collective. Oh, and local government's no better with the ratcheting of water rates, and rates in general. Just in case you couldn't figure that one out.
Willie and JT over on RadioLive roused their usual rabble. JT managed to get the first half hour by himself, as Willie was at the funeral, and managed to dish out a salient ramble on how Ms. Clark had no other choice under the current realpolitik but appear and speak at the funeral, but man it's sad that she has to do so. Willie, when he finally stormed in, roundly condemned JT and his sycophantic callers, all heartless bastards the lot of them, before standing up and saying Helen really does care for us all. And she's doing good things for his underprivileged Samoan brothers. Bit of a headtrip listening to the Brown Brothers. One works for the evil forces of the Right, the other for the extreme forces of the Left. What's a simple media monitor to do?
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