NZ Media & other stuff

From behind the door: The interminable art of trying

2010-05-09T19:34:00.004+12:00

Well the morning started off abysmally - late as usual with nary a cup of coffee in sight, and blood on Wall Street slicing the prospects of a straightforward dollar story thrown out the window as the third-quarter earnings of New Zealand's biggest phone company loomed large over me and the boss wasn't in yet and the other boss was in but not making coffee and once Telecom posted its result there wasn't time for me to pick it up because we hadn't had the conversation and it should've been a bit more organised, but that's the life of being behind the door in an office of three, soon to be four, maybe even more, but that's just mere speculation.

So I got through the usual malarkey of getting my soundbite from Mike, he's a good bloke, and my friend says he's very pleasant on the eye and she knows these things so I'll probably tell her to come along next time me and Mike meet up for a beer, though that's likely to be a long way off with the budget looming and other things on the go that I don't even know about yet, and now I'm way off topic so I should get back to finishing off my currency story 'cos it's already 9am and we're trying to get it out earlier and earlier and earlier and Jonathan's got the Telecom result and he's going to do a cheap and nasty version and later on in the day he says we should've sat down and discussed this and made sure that I'd picked it up 'cos I'd done a preview the afternoon before and Telecom's - and the wider telco sphere in general (though I can't call it the telco sphere 'cos Jon hates the word telco and he's the boss after all) - my baby and even though it was challenging at first, I do quite like writing about phone companies and broadband and mobile phones and all the stuff that seems to come in the telecommunications sector.

So I'd managed to encapsulate the cliff that Wall Street dived off after some guy's finger got a little itchy, then I read through Jon's write-through on Telecom and prepared to dial in for the conference - 40 minutes of which was the usual PR flackery that goes on and on and on and turns into a war of attrition until people can actually get an opportunity to ask these masters of the universe questions about the state of their business and what it actually means, and that if the level of disclosure across all the divisions of their company is so great why don't they answer questions when asked, rather than just fob it off as commercially sensitive information, and you know that while you might get something, someone else will use it, which is sometimes a blessing in disguise, 'cos sometimes after an hour and a quarter of listening to people more intelligent and knowledgeable than you, you really don't want to ask your questions because they've been answered in roundabout ways and they aren't really that interesting anyway and you've just taken up 2 minutes that someone else could've used, but instead you gave a nice soundbite to another guy but that's alright because you know that you secretly use their work to give yourself a decent background on the issue, and then you get off the conference and you realise that you don't really have a story, because the numbers were pretty bland, even if they did beat Guy's forecast slightly, and the XT report was pretty lame, even if it did call management immature, which the boss wanted in the write-through, so I had to go for a wander with the boss and try and get my head around what I was going to write about, then I talked to Alan, 'cos he's absolutely lovely and always gives you a good quote and tries to give you something even when there's nothing there, and so I came up with something, and eventually got the write-through, and then the stock price fell to a new low, and I'd already written the story, so I threw that at the top, and lo and behold, it made it to the usual suspects, and everything was alright, but two days on, I'm no wiser about what happened, and if anything, perhaps a little more confused - so until the next thing comes out, it's all business as usual.

And that's life from behind the door.

PB.

Of course that's just my opinion. I could be wrong.

2010-05-09T18:58:00.003+12:00

For some reason I was rather excited about the prospect of an hour-long special commemorating the glory days of Nightline - 20 years was a decent whack, and much of that was through my formative teenage years (though it had to contend with the delightful Newsnight on TV2 which was tops in my book).

After watching that self-indulgent twaddle on Friday, I felt the need to have my own little whine (cue the old blog routine....).

I like 90s nostalgia. I guess that's the rub of it when you're around my age and everything seemed so much better when it was wrapped in nihilistic, self-effacing apathy. Man, Gen X was coooooool.

Anyway, back to my grizzle - TV3 had a wealth of footage to screen. They had 60 minutes (minus advertising to do it). And what did we get (barring the tributes to Ralston and Dylan Taite)?

Talking heads and voiceovers over montages that didn't mean a hell of a lot. Oh, and people saying it was so great then because we could do whatever we wanted 'cos we were a fledgling network with nothing to lose.

Sad, sad, sad, sad.

Don't mean to be a bit of a nonce, but I woulda liked to see the old Belinda/Joanne duo bounce off each other for five minutes, but I guess that was too much to ask. Allusions through interviews about your own programme are a bit, well, lame.

And there was so much to choose from. Crikey.

I guess everyone was just too hyped up to get a free night on the company card than go through the archives and tee-up some awesome stuff.....

Ah well. Venting over. Sorry about that. We shall resume normal service soon.....

PB.

(Oh, and this vapid piece of crap parading as news could have at least tried to find the top five most outrageous things Belinda Todd did when she was on Nightline rather than just pilfer five grabs from the show....... Jeeeeeeez)

Here's a 1991 Nightline mash-up for y'all who wanted to see some of the good stuff....

Footfalls echo in the memory, down the passage we did not take

2010-02-23T19:44:00.005+13:00

I can't blame poor old Dr Reynolds - he hasn't really been in New Zealand very long.

But his choice of words in laying the blame for XT's repeated failure over the past three months could've been better.

"Enough is enough" he cried in his opening plea to the media (and all credit to him for fronting up for what was a gruelling - and often ill-informed - session with hacks from all over).

Unfortunately the only image I can conjure up with this particular phrase is one of one-eyed hatred and ignorant bigotry. Something that was just as powerful at splitting the nation as the foreshore and seabed - and perhaps a tad more depressing when you boil down the root causes.

Admittedly, you can almost understand his frustration with Telecom's french partner, Alcatel-Lucent and p'raps 'twas dark irony the phone company's flack were playing at, but I don't think so.

So credit to the telco for fessing up and paying out to its customers - I can almost feel the pain the CFO's going through opening up the cheque book yet again - but definitely a "could try harder" over the historical allusion.

PB.

Oh - and big ups to the flack at Telecom for being accessible and human - we (read me) had a bit a mare last week with to-ing and fro-ing over a regulator's statement - don't get me started on that one - but all is well after a good old-fashioned conversation. It's good to be a hack.

I'm the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life

2010-02-15T21:16:00.005+13:00

There's nothing I like better than sloppy PR - it gives me a warm feeling when people try to sneak in something under the radar to no avail.

Take Friday's late night announcement by that wonderful institution, NZX. They let the market know at 5.45pm on a Friday that they were going to have write off $20 million from the value of their TZ1 carbon registry which they sold for a stack of cash. No harm in that I suppose, but you'd expect a little more transparency from the bourse regulator about a fairly material impact on its balance sheet.

It wasn't the first time the NZX has put something out late on Friday, but the result was much more satisfying - investors weren't too keen on the announcement, and 8.9% was slashed from the share price, taking it close to a 10-month low.

That's not necessarily a good thing, as the NZX is a very well run company (if somewhat toothless regulator), but it is satisfying when something that looks like a stupid PR ploy backfires.

I can only hope our Labour Minister isn't trying something similar - she put out a fairly innocuous looking document today calling for submissions on a discussion document on Part 6A of the Employment Relations Act. Ms Wilkinson's statement says the law is required to be reviewed after three years, and "affects industries such as cleaning, food and laundry services, where work is often contracted and the change of a contract can create a restructuring or redundancy situation."

What this means, I have no idea as I can't quite draw myself to wade through the document at this stage, but a bit more clarification in the minister's release would've been nice.......

Maybe it'll be some weekend reading.....

PB.

Nothing sways the stupid more than arguments they can't understand

2010-02-11T22:35:00.003+13:00

Here's one for Jacinda and Darien - if you're going to come out swinging at some batshit crazy idea like reintroducing a youth minimum wage, don't just run your attack lines, point out why it's batshit crazy and somewhat (read very) concerning that the Labour Minister is thinking about it.

Youth rate affects workers under the age of 18. Unemployment rate for people between 15 and 19 is 27%. That's roughly 45,000 people. Take out the 18 and 19 year olds and that's what, about 30k? And your participation rate at this level is 53%. Why?

Because they're kids.

They're meant to be in school. Or training. Or figuring out what they're going to do with their lives. Unemployment isn't the most important thing to be worried about at this age.

What's concerning is that the government is considering providing an incentive to employers to tap the labour market at the expense of training (vocational and otherwise), and leaving the 20-24-year-old age brack, with its unemployment rate of 12%, participation rate of 74% and total number of people out of work at about 27,000.

Making school kids a more attractive option for employers is the wrong incentive to offer if you want them to consider some kind of training if school doesn't work out for them.

Making a song and dance about how they need more protection from employers ain't the way to go about it.

And it's not a very good lead-in to have another dig at the gummint's incompetence in creating youth employment opportunities.

So guys. Just look at things like a reptile and they'll all fit into place.

And gawd's sake, it's Roger!!! There's no real need to make a song and dance about what he's doing.....

Jeeeeeez - next you'll be telling me people take Wishart seriously......

PB.

Goddam money. It always ends up making you blue as hell.

2010-02-07T12:48:00.002+13:00

Interlude as I reconsider my silence all these years.....

Isn't it curious that when Helen took over and came out swinging at Winz, it was all about the culture of extravagance with the department's management, and since John picked up the reins it's all about the culture of extravagance by the benes.....

Just sayin'....

PB.

the blog and turfs and the brandywine bankrompers

2009-12-05T17:24:00.003+13:00

I was seriously considering throwing in this blogging thing earlier today - as an experiment, it's essentially failed (if you take aside its initial incarnation as a diversion while at work and the brief flurry while I was at school).

That was until I read an old compadre of mine this afternoon that incensed me for no apparent reason. It's an innocuous entry that makes a small contribution to the ongoing battle between Lew and Chris Trotter over the future of the country's political left.

Yet it was this simple statement that got my goat (my emphasis added):

Lew at Kiwipolitico has the kind of post up at the moment that reminds me why mainstream media is such an unsatisfying read/consume when it comes to political commentary.

There's a common refrain in the blogosphere that the mainstream media has failed, yet I remain unconvinced - yes it has its short-comings, but it can't be everything to everyone.

And that seems to be the over-riding concern for a number of my friends - it doesn't coin things in a paradigm that they've bought into.

For every lament as to why our top political commentators aren't delving into the growing divisions of the Labour Party movement, we get insightful pieces from the likes of Colin James, Pattrick Smellie (I'm contractually obligated for this one), and Fran O'Sullivan as to how political language is being re-written, why Don Brash is a naive idealogue rather than the spawn of Satan, and what the government is doing wrong in addressing youth wages.

They are doing what they do, and the majority of them do it very well, even if it doesn't touch on a number of keystone issues that the blogosphere wants to enter the main lexicon.

To be honest, the internal politicking of the wider left-wing movement in New Zealand isn't actually that important when it doesn't have any power, or prospect of taking power in the next five years (just saying).

What I'd be much more keen on seeing would be the internal divisions of the labour movement, which will have a lot of power in the coming years.

So I guess this is really just a gripe, and I've fallen into that trap that so many bloggers (and New Zealanders) do of identifying a problem without providing an answer. So let's pull a Kevin Smith a la Zack and Miri and tack something into the credits: ummmm, bloggers can do thier ultra-specialised commentary that will be taken with a vat of salt and MSM columnists (why am I even getting worked up over columnists - excepting Garth George, Michael Laws, Jim Hopkins, Richard Long, etc etc etc) can stick to their turf of churning something out in 40 minutes as deadline looms.....

Oy vey...

PB.

It is a terrible thing for a man to find out suddenly that all his life he has been speaking nothing but the truth

2009-10-12T09:43:00.003+13:00

Maybe I'm being petty - no, no maybe, I am - but it's recently come to my attention that me and my team (okay, my bosses and their team) really need to boost our profile.

It's more a case of what tabs our esteemed bloggers look at, but last week I stumbled across a presentation by the Treasury secretary which I dutifully wrote up.

We splashed it across the wire and Stuff and the Herald picked it up - no probs there.

Imagine my consternation the following day when I see not only Danyl, but DPF (he who knows all) attributed it as a Herald report. Hmph. I couldn't handle three hours on the Herald, let alone be a part of their politics press team.

I'm still a baby after all.....

Anyways, the curious aspect is that it was up the previous day on both the Herald and Stuff business tabs - my favourite bloggers only picked up on it 'cos the Herald ran it in its political tab too - hence the attribution (I'm looking for any excuse to excuse 'em).

Still, it would've been nice if it was "BusinessWire reported".....

Oh woe is me - will I only ever be taken seriously by the blogging world if I make it into the politcal realm......?

PB.

(Anyone know why Whitehead's out in the trenches rallying the troops....? I for one would love to see an uprising by senior executives and board directors in the coming year..... the streets would run red with Central Otago pinot noir.... 'twould be beautiful....)

Slippery adj. 1. difficult to hold firmly or stand on through being smooth, wet, or slimy

2009-10-10T23:12:00.004+13:00

I've been playing this one out in my mind for quite a while.

It was one of those moments when you realise "ah crap, now I've gone and done it...."

A few weeks back a friendly, but difficult to get hold of, press sec came through for me and tee-ed up a chat with his guy. He's a fairly busy fellow and I don't tend to want much on his major portfolio, so I'm down the pecking order - I can deal with that.

Anyway, here's how the exchange should have gone:

Me: Hello minister, how're you going?

Minister: I'm pretty well -
how're you finding Brent?

Me: You must be working him like a dog,
'cos he's always tough to get a
hold of...

Minister: Ahahahahaha....

Chat proceeds as it should.

Here's how it actually went.....

Me: Hello Minister, how're you going?

Minister: I'm well - how're you finding Brent?

Me: Uhhh, well, he's a bit slippery?

Minister (incredulously): Slippery?!?

Me: Uhh, yeah, I mean, he always returns my calls.... (inward groan)

Chat proceeds - call comes straight away:

Brent: Slippery?!?!?

Me: Uhhhh, I was, it just, I didn't mean....

This is when it pays to remember the second definition of slippery:

2 (of a person) evasive and unpredictable.

Not to mention the amount use it got last year..... jeeeeez being a baby reporter can leave you with a lot of red faces.....

When I'm back on speaking terms I'll let y'all know....

PB.

I never forget a face, but in your case I'll be glad to make an exception

2009-10-04T13:41:00.004+13:00

The life of the baby reporter can often be a disheartening thing.

Not so much because you come across such horror as to send you into a spiral of despair (although that happens too), but from having to front up to the most ridiculous mistakes. Regularly.

Here's a tip for those who have yet to suffer this pitfall:

When you're floating an idea with the flack for a chat with the top guy, be prepared to talk to the guy straight immediately.

I had the pleasure of having a half-decent idea ruminating in my skull for a couple of days - put in the call to the company's minder (not a bad sort) with some vague topic for an interview, and got a call back 30 minutes later sayng I had the head honcho on the phone.

Needless to say, I wasn't prepared and had to put it off.

Fortune smiled on me in this circumstance (it hasn't in the past, but I'll go into those when I try addressing them... my face still burns when I think of one of them), and I got my ten minutes with the guy and should be able to spin a half-decent yarn out of it. I'll tell you about it later...

But god, the flack had a point when he said he'd never expect a hack to turn down an interview with the CEO of one of the country's biggest players.

What was the lesson you ask?

Well sniffing the Smellie breeze, if you can't be prepared, just put your best foot forward and wing it.... I'm not sure if my man under the hill would agree, but I never seem to be short of red faces at the moment..... I'll tell you about them soon.....

PB.

A blanker whiteness of benighted snow with no expression

2009-09-29T21:06:00.007+13:00

What a strange afternoon.....

It was a simple task - follow up on a bank report into fixed interest securities that was saying investment grade corporate bonds (essentially a big safe company offering to borrow money from joe and jane public) were in high demand and find out if that's the case - 250 to 300 words or thereabouts.

Easy pickings - I've got a dozen or so fixed interest guys to call on......

"Hi, is so and so there?"

"No, s/he's away for the week/day/year/month...."

"Okay, thanks, bye."

Change phone number/name, repeat.

After exhausting everyone (including bigwigs at some of the country's largest fund managers), I finally got through to a pleasant chap who gave me a fairly good idea of what was going on, and was happy to get the odd call now and then (which is always handy).

Then, just on the stroke of 5, one of my guys came through for me with the perfect 8 minute interview explaining how everything worked, why it was doing it, and where to from here.

The only question I have, is what on earth would happen if it wasn't a baby reporter ringing but a big-time investor who wanted to know the state of New Zealand's bond market on a Tuesday afternoon?

Some days ya just gotta wonder......

PB.

Question: Which blue chip company likes to put out press releases late in the day to avoid immediate comment for the wire services/talk talk and can completely talk around the issue at hand when it finally comes out......?

Unhelpful and overly cryptic hint:

There will be nothing here for the diary entry

2009-09-28T20:27:00.004+13:00

There was going to be a slightly more interesting blog about nothing and the banality of daylight savings, but then blogger pulled an IE and destroyed all of my beautiful musings.

Just look at the labels and think what might have been.

In the meantime, enjoy this:

PB.

Indeed there will be time to wonder, 'Do I dare? and, 'Do I dare?'

2009-09-24T21:24:00.003+12:00

Sheesh - it's amazing what a good day can do to your attitude.

I'd been toying with the idea of making this a kinda thing that I dip back into when I have something eloquent to say for a while - six odd months to be precise. Unfortunately, it's rather embarrassing when you realise you don't actually have anything to add...

So, in a fit of rage yesterday, I considered turning this into the life and times of a baby reporter.

Am I still a baby? Unsure....

I've been doing this gig for six or so months full-time, which in the scheme of things could make me a veteran to some, but considering the old hacks I hang around with, I'm definitely a baby.

Anyhooo, that's not really what I wanted to say.

Oh yeah, hi, sorry it's been a while, if I could find the xkcd cartoon where it has the panel with the guy who blogs every six months to apologise for not blogging more often, I'd link to it, but I can't, so sorry on that front.

So what did I have to say today?

Just something I found curious about the Herald and Stuff in picking up me currency story and tyring to lose the crux of the story in the head they used.

Stuff did it a couple of days ago when they picked up a PA story on the appointment of David Mayhew as the new financial adviser commissioner.

Which poses the question as to why they don't add or edit the wire stories when they don't say what the web editor wants....

Sure they'll get the hits they want, but somehow that naive idealist in me just sees the reader getting swindled. And journalism ain't about.... is it....

PB.

Oh, as an aside, it was nice to see me currency piece forced PA to pick up on my theme - I'm not particularly one for the free market, but it is refreshing to see how competition can tangibly improve quality...

It pays to be obvious, especially if you have a reputation for subtlety

2009-06-07T23:25:00.003+12:00

But in this case, it's pretty bleedin' true.

My Political Views
I am a left social libertarian
Left: 5.06, Libertarian: 5.18

Political Spectrum Quiz

Didn't expect to be quite as much of a libertarian... but I'm sure we can iron that one out....

Here're the other two thingees...

My Foreign Policy Views
Score: -5.87

Political Spectrum Quiz

and...

My Culture War Stance
Score: -8.19

Political Spectrum Quiz

Well worth a play.

PB.

A tip of the fedora for the irrascible Inventory2

I have nothing to declare but my genius

2009-05-01T16:24:00.004+12:00

I'm going to miss Michael Cullen.

As numerous commentators have already mentioned, his wit was brutal - something I enjoyed when listening to the wireless or traipsing down to Parliament to watch the fun in the Chamber.

So it's obvious that I strolled up to watch his valedictory on Wednesday eager to watch his final set-piece.

If you've bothered to read any of the columns about his speech, you may have noted that the public gallery was full - unfortunately, it wasn't with the public.

When I arrived at 3.50pm (learning from experience having tried to watch Helen Clark's valedictory), I was kindly informed by security that they'd be closing it off at 4pm so friends and family of the good doctor could watch the event.

That's a lot of family and friends.

I can't begrudge the clearing of the gallery so our outgoing MPs can ensure their nearest and dearest can attend their final moment of glory, but I do take umbrage at the prospect the public can't attend what could potentially be historic moments in our Parliament.

I like the fact that we have such unfettered access to our elected representatives; I like the fact that entry to Parliament is so easy; I don't like the fact that attendance, if not participation, isn't encouraged.

I think events like the valedictory speeches of some of our leading Parliamentarians, the Budget, maiden speeches, and opening addresses should be public occasions - people should gather together in Parliament, in front of big screens, or huddle around the wireless to see our politicians at their best, rather than accept the sound-bites of them at their worst.

Ahh, who am I kidding? I'm just bitter that I was thwarted from observing history twice in a month..... enjoy the Herald's cut....

PB.

(Big ups to the Herald for continuing to lead Stuff in the "using cool interweb gadgets" stakes)

Live Faithfully, Fight Bravely, and Die Laughing!

2009-04-21T16:50:00.006+12:00

Well here I was, all ready to don the blogger's quill once more and bore my three readers with anecdotes of life as a J-School grad in the middle of a recession when lo and behold... something twinkled and grabbed my attention.

I don't want to be a Godwin or anything (I already have my favourite angry white man), but I struggle to fathom who my fellows have voted in when I read our Associate Minister of Defence Heather Roy write this sort of garbage (my emphasis):

As well as the main Review, I will personally be leading a set of companion studies. These will focus on our defence industry, on the role of the NZDF in youth programmes and the Cadet Forces, and voluntary national service.

The gleeful announcement that Mrs Roy has secured a review into how our Defence Force can play a role in youth programmes (boot camps anyone?) as one of the three (three?!?) companion studies to the Defence Review that will make up the Minister's White Paper (decisive stuff here guys), put certain images in my head...

Going through the national security policy of our "classic liberal" party I can't find anything that may point to the defence force having a role in youth programmes.

Ah heck, just call Godwin and let's get this over with:

If anyone out there can enlighten me as to what the NZDF has to do with youth programmes that doesn't resemble the Hitler-Jugend, fill me in....

PB.

These fragments I have shored against my ruins

2009-02-25T17:15:00.004+13:00

Initially, I was going to blog about how crazy and hectic my days are as the count-down to graduation looms, and I find myself struggling against the tide.

But then I saw this piece of claptrap - I mean, honestly, what kind of lame PR outfit is looking after Vector Arena these days?

I mean, writing a profile of the chief executive to sneak in some figures about how well the venue did last year, and preview some of the upcoming gigs this year is not my idea of savvy marketing.

My favourite line is the intro: "Passing Auckland’s Vector Arena daily as it was being built in 2006; Guy Ngata would think 'that’s going to be great, I’d love to be part of that'." Barf.

I sincerely hope Star PR isn't still looking after this account - when they started up a few years back, they seemed to know what they were doing.

Compare that to Network PR's latest job to make hay for bankers in the middle of a financial collapse and you can see quite easily who's doing the better job.

(Incidentally, it's nice to see Network have figured out that they really shouldn't be advertising their wares when they're on the job - well done.)

End rant (and destructive procrastination),
PB.

Thanks to words, we have often sunk to the level of demons

2009-02-11T13:50:00.005+13:00

Kudos where it's due.

My initial suspicion that Minister of Housing Phil Heatley merely jumped on to the comment option on the NBR to push forward his own agenda and shut down any criticism of Gateway Housing product has been laid to rest... for now.

The Minister took on board my major concern and responded that my fears would be taken under consideration:

it is our intention to address both the dispersal and concentration issues you cite.

Of course I'm not naive enough to take this at face value - it's a broad enough answer to allow the Minister to wriggle out if he fails to address the potential creation of ghettoes with his housing project.

But it's an encouraging prospect that ministers are willing to make these statements in comment threads that will undoubtedly be used to hold them to account if they fail to deliver, and I can only hope it continues.

Credit where it's due....

Well done Mr Heatley.

PB.

I alone, as the sharer of their way of life, presented a replica of childhood

2009-02-10T15:14:00.004+13:00

This is a first for me - Minister of Housing Phil Heatley commenting on the veracity of a story on the NBR website... in under three hours!!!

I'm not sure how I feel about this - on one hand, it's impressive that Mr Heatley is willing to engage (so far) with the Jazial Crossley's article on National's plan to open up Crown-owned land for the development of low-cost housing, but on the other, he goes to great lengths to refute the points that he's not particularly fond of.

Whether he continues (via his proxies) to engage with commenters on the NBR website remains to be seen, and I honestly hope he does.

If not, well, it'll be another case of Juli Clausen's ill-advised foray into commenting on Colin Espiner's blog a while back, and a pretty cynical (and early) attempt to shut down any critique of the government.

Unfortunately, I'm inclined to think the latter.

He sticks well to the party line, rattling off low interest rates (for which I find it quite concerning that he's trying to tie monetary policy to the whim of the guvmint), lower taxes, and RMA reform, but he opens with:

As Housing Minister I’d like to take a few moments to comment on some of the points and assertions raised in this article, not the least with the headline, which obviously misrepresents National’s intentions with the release of its Gateway Housing product later this year.

and closes with:

Certainly it’s my view that the assertion in the headline is both incorrect and unfair.

Yet, he only makes one attempt to explain why the headline "Why does National want to create poor-people ghettoes?" is incorrect when he says they will be "providing cheap land for first home buyers in places like Hobsonville alongside million dollar homes, in the same suburb, with the affluent living alongside the less well off", but doesn't go into more detail, and doesn't rule out the concentration of low-cost housing that could (and often does) lead to the creation of ghettoes.

He may well be right (and I hope he is), but the hint that there will be some low-cost housing in affluent suburbs and the assertion that the development of low-cost housing in specific areas is not going to lump together impoverished people together seems to me to be a flawed argument.

I'd suggest quizzing the minister and seeing if we can get a decent thread going on the story... that's what I'm doing...

PB.

As a general rule, people, even the wicked, are much more naive and simple hearted than we suppose

2009-02-04T17:41:00.004+13:00

Well I can't say I'm too surprised at the superficial coverage given to our State Services Minister's sleight of hand yesterday evening.

Kudos to Tom Pullar-Strecker at the Dom for pulling together a story for the front page of the business section - at least he gave it a try.

And I guess the Labour Party's belated response in the form of yet another press release kind of fanned the fire.

That fire being the NZPA and its under-resourced pump out the re-written press release machine.

I can't even criticise them 'cos everyone knows that's what they do, but I do lament the lack of scepticism on the part of our full-grown journos who didn't feel like chasing the Hon Mr Ryall and finding out when the tender's going, if anyone's already applied to take over the contract, how many people will lose their jobs (I'd love to see a cost benefit analysis for the sacking public servants - right down to the consultant's fee) and a number of other questions relating to the pruning of the bureacracy.

I do hope Mr Ryall's PR team don't try to sneak through more bad news in the still of the night - it's just not a good look and much easier (and honourable) to face the light of day when you make a ballsy call.

But hey, what do I know...

I'm just a baby journalist...

PB.

Bad taste creates many more millionaires than good taste

2009-02-03T17:21:00.003+13:00

It was only a matter of time.

And in this case, time is the essential item.

I can already hear my socialist friends chanting "slash and burn, slash and burn", because the man with the manifesto to slash red tape in the health bureaucracy has now begun his role as Minister of State Services.

Sitting at my school PC (that's what baby reporters do), I noted a scoop e-mail alert titled "Government Shared Network to be discontinued" pop through at 5.13pm.

The fact that the State Services Minister Tony Ryall is cutting the GSN ("a secure network linking government agencies with high-speed Internet and telecommunications services) is not, in and of itself, overly surprising.

Nor is the fact that the "[p]articipating government agencies will be moved to a new provider in the private sector."

The thing's losing money, and has done since its inception in 2007 (don't ask me why it was supposed to make money), so it was obviously going to be a candidate for slashing under our auspicious minister.

But 5.13pm for the press release?!? After the layout of most morning papers have been drawn up and TV's putting on the finishing touches to its 6pm bulletin?!? Hoping against hope that it gets lost in the avalanche of press releases accompanying the return of the politicians?!?

Puh-leeze - that's just plain stupid.

It looks suspicious and it draws attention to the move when it could have been sneaked through earlier in the day while all the media focus was on the RMA changes.

This is a senior minister with experienced PR professionals in his office, and it's not something that they saw at 3.30pm this afternoon, decided upon at 4.45pm, and wrote up a press release at 5.12pm.

Dumb, dumb, dumb.

Will the media fall for it and ignore a potential follow-up for something that looks, sounds, and smells like scuttling public sector jobs? Probably.

But it shouldn't - and touch wood, someone will pick it up and ask Mr Ryall what else is on the agenda for the slash and burn treatment.

This baby journalist would, but afterschool care's closing up, and I've got a ton of stuff to do.

Maybe I'll leave it to the professionals.... maybe...

PB.

You don't talk with that man - you listen to him

2009-01-28T22:52:00.004+13:00

I'm not really a fan of these types of blog posts, but this column in the Herald was too good to ignore.

Read it - it'll give you a very good basic understanding of the situation in the Congo - and offer some kind of deeper analysis of the situation.

I know - it's a little surprising.

The only thing I think it lacks (or it may merely be my own curious nature) is how the problems in the Congo can be related back to New Zealand, and why it's important for people to care here (and not just in humanitarian terms - which, when you consider the situation, should really be enough).

Thank you granny - gold star for you.

PB.

(The cynic in me wants to link this to an attempt to help sell the Independent's stake in APN, but I just cannae do it - sorry)

These words force you to a new madness

2009-01-26T21:02:00.006+13:00

After what seems an interminable amount of time, I've drawn myself back to the blog.

Two weeks, five weeks, 32 weeks, it all seems like much of a blur at the moment.

I've just come off a two week internship at the Dom Post, which was very much an eye-opening experience. While you can see some of what I managed to achieve here, here, here, and here, let's be perfectly honest about this - I was out of my depth.

Sure, the baby reporter moniker has always been something of a piss-take, but I would not envy anyone jumping into the atmosphere of a metropolitan newspaper (or its equivalent) in an entry level position. It's... it's... it's difficult to explain, so I shan't.

I shall merely say that while it wasn't what I expected, I could take away some serious lessons, and so could my compadre, Sandra the luddite (who was able to start off our internship with this wonderful surprise - which sounded incredibly familiar).

And when this baby reporter grows up, he's going to be a full-grown hack...

Something to look forward to...

PB.

Other intership adventures can be found here and here.

Eureka!

2008-12-31T14:17:00.005+13:00

I've finally figured it out!

The link between John Key and Barack Obama that is.

Everyone scoffed when our PM-to-be likened himself to President-elect Obama in an interview with the Financial Times back in September, but with a little bit of help, I've found out what the link actually is.

Mark Leibovich wrote an excellent piece in the New York Times about the Obama campaign's communications strategy and wider team, and, funnily enough, Brand Key followed this to a tee.

Like Obama's campaign, Key's was "was unusually small and close-knit," which enabled it to "maintain tight control of its information."

Both campaigns (tried) to speak "with a single voice and a precise message and only when they wanted to. They did it with a smile, not complaining — at least not publicly — about how the press was the enemy."

And who used this style of campaigning so effectively in the past you may ask?

Well, none other than...

Ain't it grand...

PB.

(Hat tip to PR Watch for helping me put 8 and 39 together...)

Some day you'll know. They're calling to you too.

2008-12-30T18:36:00.005+13:00

It is with a heavy heart that I read Colin James' last column in the Herald today.

For the last ten years, Mr James has given Granny readers a taste of analysis over the usual empty rhetoric that passes for columns these days, and to my mind, it seems an absolute waste that the Herald's decided to give him the flick.

What's most concerning for this baby journalist, though, is if luminaries like Mr James have grown either too stale for the Granny's taste or too expensive, what's going to be left?

Are newswrooms shrinking to such a state that columnists will now be on staff?

Is long-term analysis that tends to shy away from any strong partisan position no longer in vogue? (I know I know... it never really was...)

Are quality hacks being cut down one by one, in order for them to be replaced by drones waiting for their $60k comms job?

I couldn't even turn to the blogosphere for answers, as his demise doesn't seem to have attracted much attention (he got a tribute from the Tailor on Panama St, and nods from DPF, IrishBill and Adam Smith).

I hope I'm being paranoid...

But I've got a sneaking sensation I'm not...

PB.

(PS - check out the Tailor's blog - methinks it'll be a goodie... and not of the Bill Odie kind)

Flights of fancy - I've seen 145 out of 239 films

2008-12-29T16:24:00.006+13:00

To prove that I don't just spend my days reading blogs (and not writing my own), I've stolen DPF's facebook theft and put it up here.

(Okay - so maybe I actually wanted to see how many crap movies I've watched - there are a lot.)

(x) Rocky Horror Picture Show
(x) Grease
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest
(x) Boondock Saints
(x) Fight Club
( ) Starsky and Hutch
( ) Neverending Story
(x) Blazing Saddles
(x) Airplane (Flying High)
Total: 8

(x) The Princess Bride
(x) AnchorMan
(x) Napoleon Dynamite
(x) Labyrinth
(x) Saw
( ) Saw II
( ) White Noise
( ) White Oleander
(x) Anger Management
(x) 50 First Dates
( ) The Princess Diaries
( ) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
Total so far: 15

(x) Scream
(x) Scream 2
(x) Scream 3
(x) Scary Movie
(x) Scary Movie 2
(x) Scary Movie 3
( ) Scary Movie 4
(x) American Pie
(x) American Pie 2
(x) American Wedding
( ) American Pie Band Camp
Total so far: 24

(x) Harry Potter 1
(x) Harry Potter 2
(x) Harry Potter 3
(x) Harry Potter 4
(x) Harry Potter 5
(x) Resident Evil 1
(x) Resident Evil 2
(x) The Wedding Singer
( ) Little Black Book
( ) The Village
(x) Lilo & Stitch
Total so far: 33

(x) Finding Nemo
(x) Finding Neverland
(x) Signs
(x) The Grinch
(x) Texas Chainsaw Massacre
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
( ) White Chicks
(x) Butterfly Effect
( ) 13 Going on 30
( ) I, Robot
( ) Robots
Total so far: 39

( ) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
(x) Universal Soldier
(x) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
(x) Along Came Polly
( ) Deep Impact
(x) KingPin
(x) Never Been Kissed
(x) Meet The Parents
(x) Meet the Fockers
( ) Eight Crazy Nights
( ) Joe Dirt
( ) KING KONG
Total so far: 46

(x) A Cinderella Story
( ) The Terminal
( ) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( ) Passport to Paris
(x) Dumb & Dumber
( ) Dumber & Dumberer
(x) Final Destination
( ) Final Destination 2
( ) Final Destination 3
(x) Halloween
(x) The Ring
(x) The Ring 2
( ) Surviving X-MAS
(x) Flubber
Total so far: 53

( ) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
(x) Practical Magic
(x) Chicago
( ) Ghost Ship
(x) From Hell
(x) Hellboy
(x) Secret Window
( ) I Am Sam
(x) The Whole Nine Yards
( ) The Whole Ten Yards
Total so far: 59

(x) The Day After Tomorrow
(x) Child’s Play
( ) Seed of Chucky
(x) Bride of Chucky
(x) Ten Things I Hate About You
(x) Gothika
(x) Nightmare on Elm Street
(x) Sixteen Candles
(x) Remember the Titans
( ) Coach Carter
(x) The Grudge
(x) The Grudge 2
(x) The Mask
( ) Son Of The Mask
Total so far: 70

(x) Bad Boys
( ) Bad Boys 2
( ) Joy Ride
( ) Lucky Number Slevin
(x) Ocean’s Eleven
(x) Ocean’s Twelve
(x) Bourne Identity
(x) Bourne Supremecy
( ) Lone Star
(x) Bedazzled
(x) Predator I
(x) Predator II
( ) The Fog
( ) Ice Age
( ) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
( ) Curious George
Total so far: 78

(x) Independence Day
( ) Cujo
( ) A Bronx Tale
( ) Darkness Falls
(x) Christine
(x) ET
(x) Children of the Corn
( ) My Bosses Daughter
( ) Maid in Manhattan
( ) War of the Worlds
(x) Rush Hour
(x) Rush Hour 2
Total so far: 84

( ) Best Bet
(x) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
(x) She’s All That
( ) Calendar Girls
( ) Sideways
(x) Mars Attacks
( ) Event Horizon
(x) Ever After
(x) Wizard of Oz
(x) Forrest Gump
(x) Big Trouble in Little China
(x) The Terminator
(x) The Terminator 2
( ) The Terminator 3
Total so far: 93

(x) X-Men
(x) X-2
(x) X-3
(x) Spider-Man
(x) Spider-Man 2
( ) Sky High
( ) Jeepers Creepers
( ) Jeepers Creepers 2
(x) Catch Me If You Can
( ) The Little Mermaid
(x) Freaky Friday
( ) Reign of Fire
(x) The Skulls
(x) Cruel Intentions
( ) Cruel Intentions 2
() The Hot Chick
(x) Shrek
( ) Shrek 2
Total so far: 103

( ) Swimfan
( ) Miracle on 34th street
(x) Old School
( ) The Notebook
( ) K-Pax
( ) Krippendorf’s Tribe
( ) A Walk to Remember
( ) Ice Castles
( ) Boogeyman
(x) The 40-year-old Virgin
Total so far: 105

(x) Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring
(x) Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
(x) Lord of the Rings Return Of the King
(x) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(x) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(x ) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Total so far: 111

( ) Baseketball
( ) Hostel
(x) Waiting for Guffman
(x) House of 1000 Corpses
( ) Devils Rejects
( ) Elf
(x) Highlander
(x) Mothman Prophecies
(x) American History X
( ) Three
Total so Far: 116

(x) The Jacket
( ) Kung Fu Hustle
( ) Shaolin Soccer
(x) Night Watch
( ) Monsters Inc.
( ) Titanic
(x) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
(x) Shaun Of the Dead
( ) Willard
Total so far: 120

( ) Club Dread
(x) Hulk
( ) Dawn Of the Dead
(x) Hook
( ) Chronicles Of Narnia The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
( ) 28 days later
( ) Orgazmo
( ) Phantasm
(x) Waterworld
Total so far: 123

(x) Kill Bill vol 1
(x) Kill Bill vol 2
(x) Mortal Kombat
( ) Wolf Creek
( ) Kingdom of Heaven
(x) The Hills Have Eyes
( ) I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman
( ) The Last House on the Left
( ) Re-Animator
(x) Army of Darkness
Total so far: 128

(x) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
(x) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
(x) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
(x) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(x) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
(x)Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
(x) Ewoks Caravan Of Courage
(x) Ewoks The Battle For Endor
Total so far: 136

(x) The Matrix
(x) The Matrix Reloaded
(x) The Matrix Revolutions
( ) Animatrix
(x) Evil Dead
(x) Evil Dead 2
(x) Team America: World Police
(x) Red Dragon
(x) Silence of the Lambs
(x) Hannibal
Total so far: 145

Curses - beaten by Farrar again...

When first we practise to deceive

2008-12-10T21:31:00.005+13:00

I shouldn't really pass judgement on the purveyors of public relations as I spent a considerable amount of time trying to enter their hallowed ranks (only to be rebuffed at every turn), but perhaps one of our larger spinsters should wipe their fingerprints from certain releases they issue.

Network PR, a trans-Tasman comms company, is no novice. They know what they're doing, and they tend to do it very well.

Which makes me wonder why they didn't wipe their name from a press release for Tritec Manfacturing which announced the sacking of 25 workers two weeks out from Christmas.

Sure, they slipped in "Attempts have been made to minimise the impact by reducing costs", but I note Tritec didn't deem it necessary to let their public relations consultants go.

I wonder how many staff members could have kept their job if the manufacturer had penned its own press releases?

As it stands, we don't even know how much redundancy the workers will get - it looks like negotiations with the union have stalled and the workers will only get four weeks.

And to think I wouldn't have batted an eyelid at another round of lay-offs if I hadn't seen Network PR's handiwork.

Gee, I wonder what Network's rate card is looking like right now...

PB.

Blood, most certainly, is thicker than water

2008-12-08T22:11:00.005+13:00

I like to think that I can be a productive kind of guy, but honestly, I don't know how some people are able to maintain a viable social life, keep on top of work, and keep a blog that's interesting and relevant. Mine most certainly hasn't been for quite some time.

Check out what I've been up to at NewsWire and Scoop - I've got a reason for being a tardy blogger... honestly. (Actually I don't - I'm just lazy - which you would be aware of had you delved back many many months.)

Since this is an effort to ease myself into the fine art of blogging, I wanted go to my favourite lobby group... Family First.

Today they put out this press release on the BSA ruling upholding a complaint about a gay sex scene on Shorters.

I'm going to leave the actual issue to far better minds than mine in explaining the problems with both of these pieces of literature.

I have but one problem facing me that one could possibly construe as a Monday night rant.

Go up to the Family First press release, scroll down to the fifth paragraph and read this stupid, stupid line:

"Television viewing is an integral part of family life"

There is something tragically wrong when an organisation that proclaims itself as putting the family before anything else, makes a statement like this.

It's reminiscent of Newmarket Business Association GM Cameron Brewer's wonderful phrase: "shopping these days is a favourite family leisure activity."

Bob McCroskie and Mr Brewer are not unintelligent people - why they believe such drivel will be bought by a media savvy public I do not know. Perhaps that's why they're earning the dark dollars of public relations, and I'm pursuing the relative hardship of journalism...

Anyways, when a lobbyist can convince me that watching television or exchanging currency for goods or services (most likely goods) makes an integral family leisure activity, please inform my nearest and dearest that they may need to have me committed.

If you can drag them away from the telly or the mall that is...

PB.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times

2008-11-08T18:29:00.003+13:00

Like Luddite Journo and Applebyline, I've been going crazy this week.

The baby journos have been hitting the hustings chasing politicos and pundits with our election week special at NewsWire.

A glut of stories means we haven't been starved for content, and we're capping it off with live updates all night as we monitor the eleciton.

Check it out - we've got some great stories. My pick would be LJ's muzzling of the National Party candidates - I'm surprised that didn't come out earlier.

I certainly haven't been short of a story, and you should definitely check me out - I need every plug I can get. I've chatted with Don Brash, Oliver Driver, secret insiders, Chris Trotter, and David Farrar and Marian Simms to name a few.

Oh, and I've also been pretending to be a full-grown journo, writing content on ShareChat every morning. If you ever need someone to blag about the fluctations in the NZ dollar, I'm your man.

Hope y'all had a happy election day - I know I did.

PB.

Votes should be weighed, not counted

2008-10-17T16:04:00.005+13:00

Sad, sad, sad. Yet another cynical attempt to manipulate voters.

And I'm disappointed to see it coming from The Standard Team, they're better than that and have kept the negative campaigning to a tolerable level, while focusing on what really matters... what's actually coming out in terms of policy.

So why did they have to come out and call on Progressive Party supporters to cast their party vote for another party on the left and create an overhang? Because it will "help the Greens or Labour get another seat."

Highlighting the problems with the alternative, and a bit of negative campaigning never goes amiss, but this is plain wrong.

Manipulation of the electoral system is never a good option - that's why it was refreshing to see Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia pushing their two-tick campaign. It minimises the overhang and makes it easier for the Maori Party to deal with either major party without alienating the majority of the electorate by wielding disproportionate power (the only person in this nation allowed to do that is Winston).

I hate to quote Brooke Howard-Smith from TV3's Target, but Standard team, shame on you.

PB.

The hope only Of empty men

2008-10-16T16:22:00.010+13:00

Far be it for me to criticise laziness (my prolonged absence from the blogosphere can attest to that), but - there's always a but - I'm a little disappointed with John Roughan's profile of Steven Joyce in the Herald yesterday. It looks remarkably like Dwayne Alexander's blog post at the start of September.

I'm being unfair. Mr Roughan did actually address a couple of timely issues in his interview with Mr Joyce, such as the Labour Party's response to the economic crisis and the unveiling of the universal student allowance policy. And Mr Joyce, to his credit, addressed them - even if it was merely to bat them away.

However, after his auspicious start, a fairly lame profile piece followed - something that is happening in far too many papers at the moment. I don't think I'm alone in considering a straight profile of a political candidate to be boring and unambitious.

Sure, give us a general outline of who the candidates are and what they have done in their previous lives, but stick with a line of questioning where the reader might actually get some handle on what the candidate stands for, what their motivations for entering public office are, and what they plan to do, given the opportunity, when they take the reins of power.

Y'know, act like a representative of the Fourth Estate and all that jazz.

OR, if you must do a profile (and I'm feeling charitable here)...

Don't make it a promo listing all of the candidates' achievements... we know these people are talented - it's generally why they manage to get into the party hierarchy. What's more interesting is how they've acted in their previous incarnations, and how this may relate to how they'll represent us in the future.

Using Mr Joyce as an example, what Mr Roughan could have done was delve into the crossover of Mr Joyce's radio career and his position as campaign manager of the Nats. In the lead-up to, and fall-out from, the 2005 general election, he was the drive show host on RadioLive. I remember listening to Mr Joyce every afternoon (as was the wont of my employer at the time), completely oblivious to his position with the Nats (which was never disclosed). I merely thought he was another of those crazy talkback hosts that loved the phrase "nanny state" (he replaced Paul Henry who was forced to resign by TVNZ, and was up against Larry Williams on ZB, who models his show on Bill O'Reilly's). We should also note that, by this stage, Mr Joyce had sold his holding in RadioWorks to the Canadians (better known as CanWest) - not that Mr Joyce let his listeners' knew of his former association with the station.

Curiously, a quick google search finds few acknowledgements of Mr Joyce's tenure ever occurring: there's a post by DPF at the end of November 2005 and another, which no longer exists, but has an extract available on Lawswatch.

I find nothing untoward about commericial radio holding a conservative bias - it's a natural fit, much like the perceived liberal bias associated with public radio - it's just that, y'know, I would have liked to have been made aware of the fact that there was some active political campaigning going on in the lead-up to a tight election that some 30-odd thousand people were listening to every day.

I can see the argument that would likely be put up - my opinions are obvious to anyone who listens to me, and my audience, in the main, agrees with my point of view, but that's a little different form being active in a party political campaign while putting out your views as an independent voice (albeit, a conservative one).

I know all of this screams conspiracy, and I don't actually have a problem with figures in the media holding a political bias. I think it's good for views contrary to my own being pushed and discussed in an open forum. But an open forum requires a certain level of disclosure, and Mr Joyce's inability to let his listeners know that he was actively campaigning for the Nats in '05 leads me to conclude there's only one position he wants after November 8...

... and that's the role of Machiavelli's Prince, Murray McCully.

Thus ends my case study and wildly inaccurate conclusion.

I'm sure the nation's fearless army of journalists would be happy to dig a little deeper when approaching their candidates for a simple profile piece - it's certainly a lot more fun to do (and read). And maybe, just maybe, it might inform the public of whom, and what, they're actually voting for.

Dreaming of better journalism,

PB.

My rant over "self-inflicted death"

2008-09-11T21:43:00.006+12:00

This morning saw me and my fellow baby journalists attend the SPINZ seminar on the media's role in suicide prevention. Tuckr has a fine post on suicide reporting (he should, it's the speech he gave at the Auckland conference), so I'm going to take it as a given that you know we can't really report suicides very well - no details, be sensitive, don't glamourise it, don't rationalise it, oh heck, my guidelines are on the other side of the bed, so I guess I'll have to wing it.

The forum was useful - some interesting research was raised and I made sure to grab a copy of what the Ministry of Health's trying to do to stop suicide. Unfortunately, in a free and frank forum about a subject that's taboo, everything was sanitised. Prime example: self-inflicted death. Not suicide. Not killing yourself. Not topping yourself. But self-inflicted death. No details. A violent death rather than slashed wrists. A body found in an area; not jumped to his/her death. I don't know how this encourages open discussion about a difficult topic, especially a topic that people are so scared to talk about, let alone report on.

The one word that kept coming to mind as I scribbled down my notes was propaganda. We were constantly told that the MoH didn't want to censor journos; merely ensure they reported correctly and safely. I actually agree with the concept that suicide is nobody else's business, and I'm not overly fussed about the restrictions on reporting, but I do object to the national strategy for suicide prevention having a specific goal dedicated to sanitising media coverage. I don't think it's good for strong reporting of the issues, and I don't think it will lead to anything other than wider censorship.

This wasn't helped by the fact that although the research dismissed a causal link between fictional suicide representations and actual suicide, it was implied that this was an element (I mean the whole basis of the research came from the impact a novel had in encouraging suicide). What's the next activity that requires guidelines?

The way people were speaking, it seemed as though every time suicide was metioned, there was a spate of copycat episodes. I don't mean to make light of the situation, but I couldn't get the final scene of Hedda Gabbler out of my head, and I envisioned an audience getting up after her death, walking out of the theatre and shooting themselves.

I did have a fair amount of time for Paul Thompson (Fairfax's Group Editor) when he wasn't plugging the typical media line "we do our job and we do it well". And he made a fine point in asking for more openness in reporting on suspected suicides. I can't fault his logic; if it's suspected, the hidden code "There were no suspicious circumstances" doesn't quite explain that (and while it pains me to admit my own naivety, I didn't pick up on the code until Jim pointed it out to us earlier this year -sheesh).

I think he was wrong when he claimed we can only write features on suicide every couple of months as there's no appetite for them. I think there's enormous public appetite for stories about suicide and I think people want to be able to speak about it openly. By leaving suicide stories under-reported or left as a token feature every few months, we continue to marginalise it, making it difficult to cover stories about suicide that may actually help reduce suicide rates (causes of suicide, general trends, ways to approach suicidal people). The more education people have about a topic, the greater their capacity for discussing and debating it intelligently. (I'm just trying to balance out my cycnicism with some idealism here.)

Having read back through this post, I can't find any real unifying theme, and I suppose that's because I just needed to vent after the seminar (which seems normal considering the content of the day). I guess I'm just disappointed: I expected some real discussion on what the media can do to make things better, not listen to what the media needs to do to minimise harm.

Whew. Now I've got that out of the system, the critical thought can begin...

It pains me to say this...

2008-09-08T12:46:00.003+12:00

I don't think I'll ever forgive her for naming Constable A all those years ago, but Deb Hill Cone was spot on in her column about the evils of TradeMe in today's Herald.

I used to be an avid user (when I had some money to waste on second hand books), but, like Deb, I struggled to buy in to the whole feedback thing. Like Facebook's friend tally, your feedback stars turn into a bragging competition about your online popularity (probably because your real life is slightly less flattering).

The constant pestering for positive feedback - even when neither party is satisfied with the outcome seems somewhat absurd - and I really feel for the old hack:

The whole experience made me feel cross. Is it really so unreasonable to simply
want to buy something without all this other bossy palaver? I am fed up with
companies wanting to have a "relationship" with me. From now on I say no to
loyalty cards, corporate Facebook groups and folksy company newsletters. I have
taken a vow of commercial celibacy.

I applaud the stand Deb's taking, but somehow, I don't think I can cut myself off from the TradeMe juggernaut. It ain't easy finding cheap digs or work, and this baby journo ain't nearly good enough at networking to join Ms Hill Cone in her valiant stand.

(She also gives a good serve to Vodafone.)

Let us be diverse and without prejudice

2008-09-07T17:15:00.009+12:00

There has been a bit of commentary about the Diversity Forum held by MSD last week. I've obviously heard a fair amount about it as one of the NewsWire babies who listened to Arlene Morgan speak about diversity in the newsroom, and I have to admit to being somewhat pleased by Deb Coddington's column in the HoS today. Her back-handed contrition, however (some objectors are better than others), continues to play into the same old divisive stereotypes that compel the need for forums like the diversity one and for offices like the Race Relations Conciliator.

Karl du Fresne admirably defends his distaste for meddling in the affairs of "free speech" - yet the crux of his argument is market driven and summed up nicely with:

The main thing about the controversy over the Clydesdale paper, however, was
that it demonstrated that a free and open society, if left to function properly,
tends to be self-correcting.

Self-correcting implies that every citizen, nay, every reader, is equal in intelligence and experience and able to disseminate a piece of information with the same veracity as the next one. That's the kind of idealistic twaddle you'd expect from a socialist like meself, not a curmudgeon like Mr du Fresne.

Which leads me on to prejudice (I know - this is a long one). The inimitable Jim Tucker plugged our push for diversity here, here, and here, but it was his latest post on his reading prejudices that ties in nicely with my fear for the fragmentation of voices in the media. One of the winners of the Excellence in Reporting Diversity Awards was Justin Latif, a chap who doesn't think his stories are diverse - they just are. This is all well and good, but as Jim points out:

We all, I suspect, choose our information sources according to deep-seated
biases created over lifetimes.

Which leads me to believe that as our media sources converge under the umbrellas of the major players, minority voices will be ignored in favour of the mainstream market (a continuation of a current theme), and our minorities will create their own media (much like we're already seeing in our local Asian communities).

While this isn't new, the growth of Asian media is a worrying trend - if we (read white, middle-class males) can't reach out and gather news like Justin, we're going to be holding the shortest straw when the interweb finally destroys flagship news outlets and the fragmentation of news sources is so diverse as to make it impossible to have any kind of "authoritative news".

This might not necessarily be a bad thing, but it does play to Jim's prejudices - we'll only read news and commentary that re-affirms our own experiences and ideologies. I don't see me being the token whitey in a newsroom as a bad thing, but I do see the creation of niche media that doesn't challenge its own assertions as one step closer to endgame. Here's hoping someone can allay my fears - as yet, no-one's managed the task.

Gratuitious plug number three

2008-09-03T12:09:00.003+12:00

And three is for me. Check it out - my first lead.

Feedback is always helpful team...

Nats likely to be furious over having to pay for Crosby Textor

2008-09-02T23:43:00.006+12:00

The boys at The Standard will be well-chuffed with Yoda's column in the Herald on Saturday - after a sharp campaign of explaining away the evils of Crosby/Textor, John Armstrong became the first to indulge them when he wrote:

However, selling "Brand Key" as a breath of fresh air in an otherwise fetid political atmosphere was hardly credible if National was going to team up with Peters once the election was over.

July was definitely the cruellest month to Jonkey, with 15 posts tagged to the brandkey moniker (13 in the first fortnight). A good place to start for research's sake is here.

With a solid strike-rate like that, I'm certain C/T will be keeping an eye our liberal lads, and who knows where that could lead?

Is that DPF I hear, reminiscing over yesteryear?

Sanity has returned

2008-09-02T15:47:00.005+12:00

EXCLUSIVE: I popped into my local New World last week and was relieved to see Investigate Magazine back at the back of the magazine stand and the NBR down to the midrange level. That was a close call (although Pulp is now on the front row next to Time, but, y'know, beggars can't be choosers).

UPDATE: I spoke too soon - after popping down to NW this evening, it appears as though the NBR has sold out and Ian's rag has moved up to mid-rack status. Oh how I wish I could find a conspiracy theory that fits.

I know I'm falling into the marketing ploy, but...

2008-08-26T09:55:00.007+12:00

When I go to my local supermarket, I tend to spend a good twenty minutes flicking through the magazines. This is purely because I'm too cheap to buy them (I'm a student) and I'm too lazy to go to the library.

That being said, I was in for a bit of a shock in my last visit.

They've had a bit of a reshuffle of the titles at the Chaffers St New World - a jockeying for position of sorts - and I was most unimpressed.

Right at the front of the current affairs section was the leading luminary of conspiracy theorists - Investigate Magazine. I'm not so pretentious as to deny flicking through it every now and then (while the prose and content is normally atrocious, I'll grant that Ian does break the odd good story), but I held my head in my hands when I considered that this rag was seated next to Time and The Economist (and only two away from New Scientist) while the NBR (a fine publication - even for a liberal like me) was hidden in the back row.

I know it coincides with the release of his new TGIF digital edition, but surely Howling at the Moon Publishing does not have the cash to buy front row slots for Investigate in the nation's magazine sections.

All I want are two things:

- for someone to confirm that the public does not have an appetite for Investigate's ongoing inquiries into the PM's sexual preference or the Feminist-Islamo-Fascist conspiracy;

- and that Mr Wishart doesn't have the money to pay for this kind of marketing manipulation and is reaping the benefits from some nefarious figure lurking in the background (everyone loves a conspiracy).

Somebody?

Anybody?

Please...?

N2N - When a baby journalist speaks to a baby consultant

2008-08-22T15:54:00.009+12:00

I was talking with Baby Consultant last week (it may help that I live with her), and she's taken to listening to the radio while working on her projects.

I take full responsibility - she tends to disregard our best news media outlet (Radio NZ), dismissing it as "the talk talk" because all they do is talk - as I weaned her on to it with late night talkback, and while she usually listens to the cream of New Zealand (daytime talkback radio), I left it on RNZ as I walked out the door and she couldn't get the station to change.

Left with Kathryn Ryan on Nine to Noon, she listened intently to the programme for its duration and came away unimpressed.

Her major criticism was Ms Ryan's tendency to let people say what they want and avoid asking probing questions, and hadn't done enough research - something I would have thought to be the prime requisite for an interviewer on a broadcaster's flagship programme.

The piece which swayed her opinion of Ms Ryan was her interview with Sheriff Arpaio. There's a moment (18 minutes into the interview) where Ms Ryan asks about several legal challenges our favourite hardliner is facing, and he dismisses her concerns, stating the class action began 35 years ago, before he was sheriff. When she raised this issue, she mentioned this was one of several challenges, but her response to his answer was "Okay." Changing tack and trying to corner him into slipping up on prisoners' human rights didn't help matters - it was weak. I've been informed by Baby Consultant, that it also ignored the class action against the sheriff by the American Civil Liberties Union - the major action against Sheriff Joe and something Ms Ryan could have followed up on quite easily.

I've been an advocate for Ms Ryan in the past, I fondly remember her as the political editor of RNZ - I had a lot of time for her analysis in the lead-up to the last election (it was actually there) - and I wasn't overly impressed with number of snide comments made when she took over the chair of N2N regarding her thick NZ accent (although I did make a few).

But when someone who has traveled the world and watched, read, and listened to all types of media speaks, I pay attention, and when Baby Consultant opened her mouth (she is a baby consultant after all), I had to agree.

I was going to let this post slide a couple of days ago, but I saw John Drinnan's media column in the Herald (an excellent weekly read), and I couldn't let it slide:

NINE TO GLOOM
Radio New Zealand is standing by its survey assessing the cumulative audience for National Radio, despite the fact that they are comparing different methodologies. RNZ is claiming the results in its latest survey - comparing 2006 figures - show an increase in all shows. But it is understood that other figures dating back to June, while solid among most shows, was disappointing for the Nine To Noon show with Kathryn Ryan. My sources say that RNZ - which recently appointed producer Allen Walley to work on the show, has become concerned with the tone and ratings for Nine To Noon. It is a subjective matter of course. But under Ryan, Nine To Noon had become rooted in "Ailment of the Day" with bleak schoolmarmish discourse and mini-lectures. Walley carries high hopes for change, but RNZ insiders say Ryan is not known for taking advice and continues to dominate on air and off.

Interesting to see the insiders aren't happy with N2N either. We can only hope that it'll improve soon.

Democracy encourages the majority to decide things about which the majority is ignorant.

2008-08-19T14:42:00.007+12:00

Thank you Colin James - thank you very much.

It seems that unlike the majority of pundits, Mr James picked up on the fact that National's campaign pledge for a referendum on MMP is actually major news.

When the Nats put out their ten election pledges (August 3 - a Sunday), RNZ jumped on to the MMP aspect, as did Stuff and the Herald. Some superficial coverage followed, but no-one actually asked any questions about why they were pursuing the referendum, and why Jonkey was the under the assumption that "the country may well vote MMP out but I think they will vote in another proportional system," (my emphasis). Supplementary Member was later touted as a possible replacement, and while DPF gave us a fairly good comparison with MMP, Idiot/Savant shot it down pretty quickly.

My point is - the only people who seem to be railing against MMP are the same reactionaries who railed against it when it was voted in, and have railed against it ever since. People like Garth George.

Everyone I know (and I am aware I'm a weekend socialist) seems to be rather fond of MMP. In fact, some go as far to say that they actually like the fact that gummints can't ram through legislation willy-nilly as they could in yesteryear.

I'm no constitutional expert, I leave that to Palmer and Son, but there's something inherently wrong with either major party lobbying for a less representational system (and we all know both would love to see a return to the glory days).

Like most of my peers (unfortunately I fall into Gen Y), I can't really remember the glorious years of unbridled power, and that (ironically) makes me slightly more cynical than James, who seems to think the public has been well-served by the Fourth Estate and can make an informed decision on most matters:

So Key's self-serving referendum may actually be superfluous. The electorate is wiser than he credits it. It owns the party system and is working out how many parties it wants in Parliament.

I don't think so.

One of my guilty pleasures is listening to talkback radio, and while I think it has enormous potential in offering the wider populace a platform for their opinions and the ability to debate the issues (much like blogging), it usually falls well short, degenerating into the cynical sensationalist broadcasting that attracts the lowest common denominator, and often becomes a strong indicator of public sentiment - it's why the powers that be keep an eye on the watchmen.

If this is the case and Mr Key's assumption is correct, as George Bernard Shaw wrote, we shall be governed no better than we deserve.

The lady doth protest too much, methinks

2008-08-18T16:53:00.007+12:00

Taking DPF's advice, I aim to do this in under 30 minutes.

Tory hack writes:

The Sunday Star-Times best efforts to re-elect the Government continue. They try a double header today.

Socialist hack writes:

Tracey Watkins is said by some of her colleagues to be spending an ‘unseemly’ about of time hanging out in John Key’s office, she’s certainly spent enough time at National HQ recently to get similar with the wall hangings. So, it’s fairly safe to say we know where her loyalties lie, and it’s not with journalistic independence.

Baby hack hopes partisan communication specialists who engage in tit-for-tat games on the interwebs recognise irony.

Paranoia's not the problem - it's the reptiles that we should be worried about

2008-08-09T17:33:00.007+12:00

I dutifully read Fran O'Sullivan this morning and thought well done. Well done indeed. It's given me the opportunity to fly the latest in my long line of conspiracy theories that I often keep under wraps, and both Bomber and Jafapete have only themselves to blame (points were deducted from Jafapete for hat-tipping to the Standard - loverly guys but this vid was a poor piece of propoganda).

Theory number one comes from people (like myself) who like the long game. I've had theories about how the Hon Bill English is one of these people - I won't bore you with the details, but the general gist is this. If you go back to the end of last year, Fran's wish-list for the top stories of 2008 holds this wee gem:

4. John Key and Bill English cut succession deal Key offers English a secret deal that he will step down as Prime Minister after two terms in favour of his Treasurer (English). The former currency trader recognises that English - who virtually single-handed ran the Electoral Finance Bill story that catapulted National back up the polls - deserves to succeed him. This assumes Key has read the lessons from the reigns of Tony Blair and John Howard about what happens to unity when talented finance supremos are left to fester for too long.

Lew will pooh-pooh me as he thinks Key is "It's a dog eat dog world and I've got bigger teeth than you," but I like to think of Fran in her Winebox days - if something smells fishy, that's probably because there's a snapper lying around.

Tenuous correlation number two came from reading the Armstrong-O'Sullivan combo, and isn't linked to the above at all. Yoda wrote:

National will know soon enough from its own private polling just how big a hit it has taken. Many people will wonder what all the fuss is about. Others will simply blame Labour for the dirty tricks. As a minimum, however, National can probably wave goodbye to securing a majority in its own right. (My emphasis)

Obviously, it was the last line that caught my attention.

I've got a bet with a few friends that ACT's going to ring in 6% of the vote. Seems obvious to me - you've got 5% of the population who are libertarian, neo-lib, and neo-con nutters, just like you've got 5% of the population who not only like Winston, but actually believe him too.

The issue is that 45% is not too much of a stretch for the Nats, and if you tack on ACT in a formal coalition you've got a prime opportunity to go back on any promises you made on the campaign trail ("we don't want to, it's Rodney's and Roger's fault"). Expediency is a wonderful thing.

This is only wild speculation on my part - I'm sure there are many minds that can rip this flight of fancy to pieces - but if our next Government (and even this pinko commie's coming around to a centre-right coalition) is blue and yellow, I'm looking forward to front row seats. I was too young for Lockwood's about-face last time and I wouldn't mind witnessing a repeat.

To all the blogs I've loved before.

2008-08-08T19:48:00.005+12:00

When I read Vernon Small's blog on blogging and journalism this morning I pegged it as rant worthy for later in the day. Unfortunately, being a baby journo, I hit the bar with some of my classmates instead, and now I've found every half decent (yes, it's an exaggeration) blogger has already covered it in much greater depth than I would have. So instead of reading my rants and raves, check out Dim, DPF, Idiot/Savant and Adam Smith, and make sure you wade through the comments too. My 2c go to Dim, purely because I/S sounded way too smart for me at this time of a Friday night.

Oh, and check this out on stuff, it's the best news for a poor beleagured (rich) girl in a long time (hey someone's gotta have a soft spot for the gal).

REDUX: Thank the blogging gods for this thread! It's finally given Queen Bee the opportunity to write something worth reading - something she's been struggling to do for quite some time (it's all Winston's fault naturally). Her coverage of Georgia is keeping me optimistic...

Stuffs' subs seize the day

2008-08-05T15:50:00.004+12:00

Just noticed the Speaker's quote on my previous post that had been dutifully copied and pasted had a typo - "impolications" instead of implications.

It was a breaking story and the need to beat out Herald (and more importantly, DPF) was high, so the little glitch is forgiven, especially when all was rectified by the time I hit refresh.

Well done Stuff subs - it almost makes up for the dismal showing by your spokesman on the latest installment of Mediawatch.

Almost.

The Whinebox Inquiry

2008-08-05T15:11:00.009+12:00

It's finally happened - Tracy Watkins of the Dompo's reported that Winston's up before Parliament's privileges committee.

Admittedly it's only the ongoing Owen Glenn donation that wasn't but actually was, and not the latest debacle with Bob Jones' money (that's a doozey), but it isn't often that Winnie has to account for his dealings.

I love the direct/indirect quote from the Speaker Margaret Wilson:

She told Parliament Mr Peters had provided her with a "very full and compelling"explanation of his position, but she had referred to the privileges committee because of the "high public interest and the impolications for the reputation of members and the institution of Parliament".

Here's hoping for some compelling drama to come. Regardless, it'll be prime pickings for Dim.

For services to the crown, I dub thee Sir Robert

2008-07-30T13:57:00.014+12:00

I don't know much about honorifics, but they have been doing the rounds here, here and here, gathering some attention in the microcosm of our classroom.

In my brief time of 20-something years, I don't remember anyone ever calling Sir Bob Jones, "Sir Robert". In fact, I always recall him affectionately referred to as "Bob" or "Bob Jones" (I do have one friend who would baulk at me saying "affectionately", but that's because he bothered to read the New Zealand Party manifesto).

Take a look at the TVNZ website - they've got him down in their Good Morning roll call as Sir Bob (they don't even have the Sir in the bio's text), but their latest hard news story (take what you want out of that statement) has him as Sir Robert.

TVNZ isn't the only one - every news service is calling him Sir Robert, yet everyone quoted in these stories calls him Bob. The briefest respite came in Audrey Young's blog, but it was oh so brief.

And it's not that long ago (last month) that Stuff opened one of their articles like this:

Sir Bob Jones is trying to bankrupt a co-founder of failed property investment company Blue Chip by pursuing court action for office rent.

My point (and it is a fairly meek and mild one) is that everyone's calling him Sir Robert as though he's a law lord on the Privy Council breathing fire down the necks of our corrupt politicians and not the cheeky raconteur Sir Bob that the public (thinks it) knows and loves.

While I could rant and rave about how the media is using "Sir Robert" to add gravitas to their claims about the Rt Hon Mr Peters, I really can't be bothered.

And heck, if you go back up a wee ways, you'll see that Sir Bob ain't Sir Robert on wikipedia - and that's saying something.

REDUX: Gots to give some props to the Sunday Star-Times' Donna Chisholm - just noticed she didn't fall into the Sir Robert trap.

Waka ama works for me.

2008-07-28T15:26:00.005+12:00

Well, I didn't realise it at the time, but my 28th birthday saw my name in print. My first story published on paper (the one on the gals going to Sacramento for the waka ama world champs) - not the whole thing (that's here), but it's got the byline and that's enough for me (at the moment).

Thanks Mat and the team at the Kapi-Mana News - much appreciated. (Guess that makes me a Fairfax fiend... sigh.)

The art of communication

2008-07-25T12:19:00.003+12:00

Went to the Rita Angus exhibition yesterday (still waiting for Te Papa's excellent blog to post on it), and I was going to post on it before I noticed the Greenslade thing, but the writing for the exhibition was fairly vapid.

When I pretend to knowledgeable about art and stand in front of a pretty picture for five minutes thinking to myself I know very little about how impressionists impacted on later modernist artists, I like to get a little education from the curator who has spent a lot of time preparing said exhibition and knows exactly what I don't.

I don't particularly like reading about how the soft rolling hills and sharp mountains of the background are indicative of the spiritual, naturalist, and pacifist beliefs of the artist. Over. And over. And over again. Maybe a comment on how the nature pieces have moved toward the older impressionist movement? Or something about how the artist has played with the audience's perception of depth and why? Or perhaps her relevance in the wider world of art?

I guess that would be thinking too highly of those people who go out of their way to learn a little about the artist and their art. My bad.

12000 miles and they're still quicker

2008-07-24T20:28:00.005+12:00

Typical. 12,000 miles away and our colonial masters are still quicker than us.

I'm talking about this lil' piece from NZPA on the Herald's website. Has anyone noticed this in NZ? Maybe, but this link aside, no-one else in Utopia knows that the Daily Chronicle in Horowhenua-Kapiti will probably go from being published five days a week to two and be given away free.

And how did I get on to this - not through my wonderful google reader which has media/journalism stories fed from the Herald website. No, I tip my hat to greenslade and his headline, "New Zealand daily cuts publication", 12,000 miles away on the Guardian's website.

Understandably, the only reason this is making waves down/up there is because the Chronicle's an APN publication and part of the O'Reilly empire (an ongoing saga on greenslade), but with APN's CEO Martin Simons saying, "We have been publishing in the Horowhenua-Kapiti region for 115 years, and we will continue to do so, but the current economics mean we have to change strategies to meet the market," I'd rather see some homegrown comment from people in the know.

The way I see it, it's another sad day for the state of NZ's media. D-Day is August 4 - I will be waiting with baited breath.

A day at the movies

2008-07-24T11:22:00.006+12:00

As usual, it’s a little bit late, but I went down to see a couple of movies at the festival on Tuesday, and while I didn’t get around to it on the night (that would be far too organised), I knew straight away that I should really write about them (even though I’m the only one reading it).

First up was The Hollow Men. Yes, I’ve read the book. Yes, I’ve seen the play. And yes, I have now seen the movie. Read the DimPost’s review – I’ve got to say it’s pretty much spot on.
To be honest, it was lacking. A recap of the book with some pretty pictures to go along with it, yadda yadda yadda. I wanted something new, and the endnote that Jonkey was using Crosby Textor didn’t quite do it for me.

I know I was the target audience, and I felt the appropriate moral outrage required of a typical white middle-class liberal (I still do, but that’s another story altogether), but that was part of the issue for me – in taking the moral high ground over emotive messages to influence elections, you should really try and avoid them yourself, something I think both Hager and Barry are guilty of (this isn’t to say that I condone the hatchet jobs levelled at Hager for the last couple of weeks, he's still our best investigative journo, and that’s a topic I eventually plan to get around to).

And I completely agree with Dim on the footage of Peter Keenan – pap filth was what came to mind - not the feeling you want conflicting with that self-righteous satisfaction at knowing the manipulators of the New Right are still out there.

So yeah, disappointing (even if it did strike the right chords with me).

Number two was In Bruges. An excellent flick starring Colin Farrell as an Irish hitman lying low in Bruges (Ralph Fiennes is superb). The violence went a little over the top, but the dialogue was delightful (and cringeworthy at times for a pinko like meself). And it knew how to end itself.
Goddamit, that ending was perfect, and I wish more flicks had that same kind of awareness. If you get the chance, go see it.

REDUX: Had to get in this link, everyone loves validity.

Leaving the limelight for some real power

2008-07-17T17:18:00.003+12:00

Well, it's about time - Theresa Gattung is finally out of her sabbatical funk and back on the corporate wagon.

The great thing about this is due her previous life as the top executive of Telecom, we might get some real coverage of how she slots into the back door dealings of the boardroom (I know, I know, it's a stretch). As Chair of PGG Wrightson's and Wool Grower Holdings' The Wool Company, it'll be interesting to see how well she slots into the role - I'd love to see how she handles her directors, 'cos she be a strong woman (and not one I'd be willing to take on).

Gratuitous plug numbers 2, 3 (and kind of 4)

2008-07-17T10:30:00.004+12:00

Well, I guess I have to do this one (I tried yesterday, but my stoopid interweb decided not to work): if you have passing interest in the media and how it operates, subscribe to Tuckr. I know what you're thinking, he's his tutor so he's got to do this, but hell, everyone knows you've got to sign up to a site where the author actually knows what they're talking about (a rarity at the moment). Kind of forces us lesser mortals to lift our game as well (three posts on his first day - I think it took me three weeks to manage that effort).

Plug number two goes to Dave Lee dot backslash dot net dot ad infinitum - as most of my friends will tell you, I often lament about anyone who's younger than me (I figure I'm struggling enough so they can't stand a chance), but this guy's summat else. If you just wanna read this one post and nothing else, you'll be the better for it (and able to set up your own news website).

And just for laffs on governance issues, keep an eye on this one. Richard Westlake seems
to know what he's talking about, and I'm coming around to the point of view that what goes on in the boardroom (and occasionally plays out in the media) has as much melodrama as parliament.

Gratuitous plug number 1

2008-07-16T11:21:00.004+12:00

I honestly don't know how the real web hacks do it - several posts a day (hell, even one) is a stretch. When was my last one? A few weeks back on Back Benches. If I could keep up with the big boys, I would.

Anyway, got to plug our website NewsWire.co.nz, we're all pretty chuffed with ourselves. First day was the truckers' protest (don't get me started on that - stupidest thing I've ever seen), and we were out in force taking pics and getting the talking heads.

I've still yet to see any coverage on that day that beats Apple Byline's - well done son, well done.

Love-in part two falls to Sandra, who landed our first front page for her ongoing investigation into our roading authorities' disdain for cyclists (maybe I'm being a little unfair there).

And last but not least is our first entry into the annals of media history that is the Dominion Post - kudos to our Anne (with an 'e' no less) for covering our Nic.

The greatest place on Wednesday night in Wellingtown...

2008-06-26T13:06:00.007+12:00

Come on down to the Backbencher across the road from Parliament. It used to be an institution (when they actually played parliamentary radio over the PA for political hacks to enjoy), but now it's a run-of-the-mill pub/restaurant with "satirical political themed menus (The B.B. Dining Amendment Act) and unique puppetry mounted on the walls" - they've really got to update their site.

Anyway, Wednesday nights find the TVNZ7 programme Back Benches hosted at the Bencher in a vain attempt to hark back to the good ol' days where people who gave a toss about politics tuurned up to listen to a bunch of people point score. It kicks off at 9pm and runs for about 20 minutes, but it's well-worth turning up to for a good laugh. And hey, if it's good enough for our favourite Kiwiblog, it's good enough for a baby hack like meself.

'Twas a solid show last Wednesday (yes I know I'm a day late in reviewing this - sue me) - nothing outstanding but a good group who got some nice too-ing and fro-ing. Definitely worth having a watch on the web-site.

Hone Harawira continues to impress me - he's a solid speaker who's getting quicker in his retorts. He was the obvious candidate to dominate.

Lynne Pillay was better than I expected, and while she didn't stamp her authority on the show, she held her own as she sidled up next to Hone. And she got extra points for hanging around afterwards.

Doug Woolerton (and here's a turn for the books) was the one who you could turn to for acting as the voice of reason (yes, it was difficult to type that), although the most telling slip for me was when talking about the Guvmint, in something of a Benson-Pope moment, he called it "we".

Eric Roy should have done better. Even for a lil' ol' mouthpiece, something more interesting should have come out. The moment that I realised he was going to be a muppet was his explaination about how the 'boys in blue' should be the only legal gang - I found myself shrinking in embarrassment. Poor poor Eric, better luck next time.

Is there anybody out there?

2008-06-20T12:32:00.003+12:00

Yeah, obviously not me. I've been a filthy salesman for the last however many months - living off the words of others. A giant leap has been taken - I've gone back to school, and am doing Whitireia's Diploma in hackdom - otherwise known as a foot in the door to a career in journalism.
We be playing with some fancy stuff that's way beyond my limited ken, but I shall endeavour to be slightly more interesting than I have been in the past (I gots my Nokia N95 yesterday - it's a dream. There's even a button that will summon a family of migrants that come do your bidding, but due to the costs involved, it isn't utilised much).
Anyway, I think I'll try and get into this gig again - I seem to have a bit more time, but we haven't started running yet. Might have a couple of interesting side-gigs going soon as well, but there's time for us to talk about that later.

Until I have something more interesting to say,
Pablo.

Because I love the interweb

2007-12-26T13:04:00.000+13:00

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.

"Hi, I found your blog by google interesting is well liked this post. I would like to talk about the CresceNet. The CresceNet is a provider of Internet dial that pays its users for the time connected. Exactly what you read, you are paying to connect. The provider pays 20 cents per hour with a dial-up connection local call for more of 2100 cities in Brazil. The CresceNet have an accelerator of connection, which lets your connection up to 10 times faster. Who uses broadband may also gain, simply register at CresceNet and when to sleep connect by dial, it is possible to pay for ADSL only with the money from the dial. In times of single minute spent on the phone is minimal and the return on CresceNet generous. If you want to link the Cresce.Net (www.provedorcrescenet.com) in your blog I would be grateful, and even more success."

The Day in Review Nov 2

2007-11-02T19:33:00.000+13:00

- 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.

The Day in Review Nov 1

2007-11-01T19:29:00.000+13:00

- 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.

The Day in Review Oct 31

2007-10-31T19:57:00.000+13:00

- 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 Day in Review Oct 30

2007-10-30T19:54:00.000+13:00

- 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 Day in Review Oct 29

2007-10-29T20:01:00.000+13:00

- 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 Day in Review Oct 25

2007-10-25T19:53:00.000+13:00

- 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.

The Day in Review Oct 24

2007-10-24T19:44:00.000+13:00

- 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.

The Day in Review Oct 23

2007-10-23T19:43:00.000+13:00

- 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.

The Day in Review Oct 19

2007-10-19T19:30:00.000+13:00

- 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.

The Day in Review Oct 18

2007-10-18T20:04:00.000+13:00

- 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.

The Day in Review Oct 17

2007-10-17T20:12:00.000+13:00

- 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.

The Day in Review Oct 16

2007-10-16T19:44:00.000+13:00

- 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.

The Day in Review Oct 15

2007-10-15T19:43:00.000+13:00

- 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 Day in Review Oct 11

2007-10-11T19:58:00.000+13:00

- 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.

The Day in Review Oct 9

2007-10-09T20:09:00.000+13:00

- 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.

The Day in Review Oct 8

2007-10-08T19:56:00.001+13:00

- 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.

The Day in Review Oct 5

2007-10-05T19:41:00.000+13:00

- 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.

The Day in Review Oct 4

2007-10-04T20:03:00.000+13:00

- 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.

The Day in Review Oct 3

2007-10-03T19:56:00.000+13:00

- 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.

The Day in Review Oct 2

2007-10-02T19:43:00.000+13:00

- 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.

The Day in Review Oct 1

2007-10-01T19:51:00.000+13:00

- 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.

The Day in Review Sept 27

2007-09-27T19:47:00.001+12:00

- 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.

The Day in Review Sept 26

2007-09-26T19:57:00.000+12:00

- 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.

The Day in Review Sept 25

2007-09-25T19:47:00.000+12:00

- 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.

The Day in Review Sept 24

2007-09-24T19:56:00.000+12:00

- 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 Day in Review Sept 21

2007-09-21T19:27:00.000+12:00

- 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.

The Day in Review Sept 20

2007-09-20T20:21:00.000+12:00

- 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 Day in Review Sept 19

2007-09-19T20:27:00.001+12:00

- 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.

The Day in Review Sept 18

2007-09-18T19:56:00.000+12:00

- 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.

The Day in Review Sept 17

2007-09-17T19:49:00.000+12:00

- 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.

The Day in Review Sept 14

2007-09-14T20:30:00.000+12:00

- 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.

The Day in Review Sept 13

2007-09-13T20:35:00.000+12:00

- 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.

The Day in Review Sept 12

2007-09-12T19:55:00.000+12:00

- 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 Day in Review Sept 11

2007-09-11T20:01:00.000+12:00

- 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.

The Day in Review Sept 10

2007-09-10T19:23:00.000+12:00

- 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 Day in Review Sept 7

2007-09-07T19:37:00.001+12:00

- 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.

Life in the fast lane

2007-09-07T19:34:00.000+12:00

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.

My my my, said the spider to the fly...

2007-07-13T11:53:00.000+12:00

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.

Leaves of Grass

2007-06-20T09:53:00.000+12:00

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.

The Mighty Mighty Boss Tone

2007-06-12T17:47:00.000+12:00

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.

The Wonerful Wizard of Oz

2007-06-12T17:37:00.000+12:00

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.)

Your breaking entertainment news stories, for your pleasure

2007-06-11T15:49:00.000+12:00

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.

The Outsiders

2007-06-11T14:26:00.000+12:00

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.

How loonies get the vote

2007-06-11T11:24:00.000+12:00

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