Written By: - Date published: 8:19 am, October 11th, 2012 - 10 comments
Paula Bennett “can’t find the time” to appear on Morning Report this morning. The release of her White Paper on Vulnerable Children is – as she puts it – “one of the biggest and certainly most significant changes that will be in my time as minister.” So why doesn’t it include any action on Child Poverty? And why is she running from the hard questions? Our government ministers seem to have forgotten about accountability to the voting public.
Written By: - Date published: 12:15 pm, August 22nd, 2012 - 24 comments
It makes no sense to sell the assets National want to sell. But the particular economic cases just keep getting worse. This week it appears things went disastrous. Now we wonder what’s left to sell? Or will it be a firesale against a back-drop of the courts? And why won’t they face the public over what’s happening?
Written By: - Date published: 12:48 pm, May 27th, 2012 - 8 comments
A couple of good BBC articles: what have the Romans done for us? and can we have a society that doesn’t depend on us becoming ill with our fatness? And Kim Hill’s excellent interviewee Steve Keen.
Written By: - Date published: 9:17 am, April 1st, 2012 - 10 comments
The police have announced that they will not be laying charges over John Key’s pre-election radio show. Their reason? “Insufficient evidence”.
Written By: - Date published: 8:06 am, March 30th, 2012 - 42 comments
Judith Collins is suing Radio NZ for airing 2 Labour MPs defamation. The taxpayer will be paying her costs, Radio NZ’s costs and the court costs. Oh, and should Collins win? The taxpayer will pay any settlement…
Written By: - Date published: 2:42 pm, January 18th, 2012 - 23 comments
There’s a documentary on BBC World Service about the Wealth Gap – how the top 0.1% keep earning more and more. Looks worth a listen…
Written By: - Date published: 10:53 am, December 18th, 2011 - 4 comments
Today’s Mediawatch was great, looking back at a fascinating year for the media in NZ. Amongst the big issues covered you can also catch their pick for biggest political suck-up of the year.
Written By: - Date published: 6:42 pm, December 15th, 2011 - 22 comments
There was a very good science piece on Nine-to-Noon this morning, covering some of Kathryn Ryan’s trip to Antarctica. It got me thinking: we need a lot more science in our media – we’d get a better country out of it.
Written By: - Date published: 8:23 am, November 18th, 2011 - 64 comments
John Key has a history of choking under pressure but this time, calling on the police to raid the premises of our national broadcasters TVNZ and RNZ, and our major privately owned newspapers – he’s cracked under the pressure of the campaign and the spectre of losing it all. There’ll be no knighthood if Key becomes the first National PM to lose after just one term.
Written By: - Date published: 12:27 pm, November 17th, 2011 - 7 comments
This is just from one news outlet. Stuff, the Herald, RNZ, TVNZ – they’re all focussing on what’s making Key looking like a fool. They aren’t interested in hearing what National has to say about anything until they fess up. Nine days from an Election, now that’s a spectacular agenda setting fail. Who’s advising Key’s campaign, Melissa Lee?
Written By: - Date published: 3:09 pm, November 1st, 2011 - 45 comments
Public service broadcasting is dying in NZ, and that’s not good enough. Labour’s newly released broadcasting policy promises to preserve it, with the future of the system to be shaped by public debate.
Written By: - Date published: 12:45 pm, October 20th, 2011 - 2 comments
RNZ’s Insight is hosting a debate on the Electoral System Referendum in Wellington. It’s an excellent panel. If you want to be part of the audience, get along to Te Papa’s Sounding’s Theatre at 6pm next Wednesday, October 26.
Written By: - Date published: 2:17 pm, October 13th, 2011 - 78 comments
It’s the one week anniversary of Bomber Bradbury’s appearance on RNZ’s the Panel, and his subsequent shameful banning from same. The usual media commentators have been conspicuous for their silence.
Written By: - Date published: 9:46 am, October 11th, 2011 - 59 comments
The threat of invoking defamation is a standard tactic to intimidate those who can’t afford the legals bills to shut their mouths. Such threats are sometimes known as strategic lawsuits against public participation or SLAPPS. My understanding of Lange v. Atkinson (2000) and the qualified privilege afforded to political commentary that it enshrines, suggests there is no way […]
Written By: - Date published: 10:01 am, October 10th, 2011 - 145 comments
Martyn “Bomber” Bradbury has been banned from appearing on RNZ after strongly criticising Key’s behaviour in the throat slitting incident (video). Rumour now has it that Key is intending to sue Bradbury for defamation. Listen to the audio and judge for yourselves.
Written By: - Date published: 11:00 am, October 9th, 2011 - 151 comments
John “throat slitter” Key behaved disgracefully in Parliament this week. But apparently criticising him for it will get you banned from RNZ.
Written By: - Date published: 9:58 am, July 1st, 2011 - 8 comments
No Right Turn on the Nats’ appointing “nakedly partisan hacks to run our major state broadcasters”.
Written By: - Date published: 2:03 pm, April 14th, 2011 - 53 comments
ChrisH has been goaded to write this post by a couple of Jim Mora panels last week, which created a stronger than usual temptation to throw the radio out the window. Here he writes a scholarly polemic castigating the implied or explicit assumptions of the people involved in these panels.
Written By: - Date published: 8:04 am, April 13th, 2011 - 3 comments
A classic cover with updated lyrics of the 1980’s classic. Now we have “We have no ambition for New Zealand”. Give a big hand to the artists and start asking the radio stations and TV channels when they will be playing it.
Now we know what John Key was so depressed about in this image?
Written By: - Date published: 9:18 am, April 9th, 2011 - 85 comments
Following the release of OIA documentation and questioning in the House, John Key has recanted his earlier statement that he hadn’t met with MediaWork’s Brent Impey to discuss a $43 million Government loan. The PM has now admitted that he did indeed meet with the head of Steven Joyce’s former company MediaWorks, which owns TV3, TV4, […]
Written By: - Date published: 10:37 pm, November 11th, 2010 - 13 comments
A fascinating interview on Nine to Noon this morning – Kathryn Ryan with Jonathan Temm, President of the Law Society, on what the Society sees as the government’s disturbing trend to pass laws that threaten the “rule of law” in New Zealand because they cut out scrutiny from parliament, people and the courts. The specifics […]
Written By: - Date published: 10:06 pm, October 12th, 2010 - 13 comments
RNZ’s Kathryn Ryan talks to Mike Williams and Chris Trotter about Chris Carter’s expulsion.
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