The Day in Review Sept 26

- It was all about Ruapheu this evening, with a ridiculous amount of time dedicated to how Mr. Pike had his leg cut off at the knee; how skiers were irate at not being warned about the impending lahar; about irate tourists who weren't told of the lahar so they could go see it; how scientists were irate because they couldn't figure out how the warning signals didn't go off until the minute before the eruption; and so on and so forth.
- In other disaster related news, a landslide has created a new lake in the South Island (One), while the earthquakes in Matata weren't caused by Ruapehu (3).
- The other biggie was the National Party's discussion document that saw Tony Ryall get under the party leaders' collective skin when he mentioned that a National Government would remove the fee cap for GPs. Aunty Helen rubbed her hands with glee, and, as Garner Major noted, summonsed the media to Level Nine to discuss how this was indicative of the evils of the Opposition. As usual, not too much substance was released.
- 3 bumped that story to the end of the the opening segment, following the country's first prosecution of a battery chicken farmer for mistreatment of his animals (is there any other way in a battery farm), the Glassie Four getting a criminal charge upgrade, and the death of a NZ movie man in the UK.
- One also did the Glassie Four, but ended its opening with a RWC piece on Tonga's pending clash with England. One's second segment now appears to be the realm of international news. I almost see a return to its old format coming on.
- 3 and Prime followed up on the formation of the Pumpkin Foundation (as did One in the second half), but One's Close Up preferred the Tana Umaga's new foundation, devoting a whopping 20 minutes to Tana and his gang of friends.
- Apparently Telecom was split in three and Air New Zealand's Eagle Air subsidiary was grounded, but most of that was hidden away in later segments on 3, and Neil Waka's 30 minutes of agony on One.
- The Wireless seemed besotted by the Ruapehu lahar. Me, I was fairly non-plussed.
- John Campbell + Human tragedy in the face of a cruel, but amazingly beautiful natural disaster = Campell Live.
- I suppose I could find an insipid moment, but it would just take too much effort on a slack night like this.
Good night.