Chinese Herald changed Herald articles to be more China friendly

Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, January 15th, 2019 - 70 comments
Categories: Abuse of power, articles, China, human rights, jacinda ardern, journalism, Media, newspapers, Politics, Propaganda, the praiseworthy and the pitiful - Tags: ,

Stuff has reported that its opponent, the New Zealand Herald, has via its Chinese version amended stories to make them more acceptable to the Chinese Government.

From Henry Cooke and Laura Walters at Stuff:

The Chinese edition of the NZ Herald edited translated articles from the NZ Herald to put a better light on the Chinese government.

It has also omitted articles entirely that discuss the Chinese Government in a negative way, in one case taking a much more sanitised version from a Chinese wire service.

The Chinese NZ Herald is the result of a 2016 joint venture between NZME, which own the NZ Herald, and long-running Chinese publication The Chinese Herald. The website and WeChat channel, which use the NZ Herald branding, feature both translated pieces from the English-language Herald, articles from the Chinese Herald, and stories from other Chinese news sources.

But several pieces translated for the website omit information that would make the Chinese government uncomfortable.

The examples mentioned are quite topical. One omitted the fact that a robbery victim was a Falun Gong follower. Another sanitised an article about Chinese Government critic Anne-Marie Brady and took out critical comments made by her and by Jacinda Ardern. And almost none of the reporting of Brady’s analysis was translated or reported by the Chinese NZ Herald.

The Herald said that the issues had been discussed with their Chinese counterparts. Editor Shayne Currie said this:

We made clear to the Chinese NZ Herald that all articles from the NZ Herald must be fully and accurately translated, and we have been given assurances on this …

Operationally, it is over to the editor of the Chinese NZ Herald as to which NZ Herald articles he and his editorial team wish to translate. It is also the Chinese NZ Herald’s call as to which articles it sources from other agencies.”


This is not something new. Commercial interests have for years affected the reporting of news. It is no surprise that the Chinese Government would want to do the same. And the media needs every dollar it can get.

But we still have this expectation that news is reported fearlessly and without favour. And without distortion.

And that the really difficult stories are reported properly. And that we are told what is going on. So that when we exercise our democratic rights we do so from a fully informed basis.

Although on Twitter toad has a point.


70 comments on “Chinese Herald changed Herald articles to be more China friendly ”

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  1. greywarshark 1
    15 January 2019 at 9:43 am

    The Chinese government will have its way apparently. And with a leader in a permanent position who is full of hubris, what are we doing and thinking. Our Deputy Prime Minister, always a bit of a loose cannon, has recently visited the USA government without our PM being fully briefed? And tied us into what?

    ‘Mike Smith’s post Peters to Pence is important to study. There is a lot to think about in Peters choice of words in relation to China affecting us, and its drive to gather
    debtor countries into its hegemony.

    The free market adoption and the wide ranging trade agreements have closed off our defences to incursions here. And China is an important partner in dairying which has been our mainstay.

    Now our tech companies are ordered to keep China’s Huawei out. The high tech capable company has started building rockets that will be added to weaponry; under which country’s umbrella?

    I went to an outdoor film drawn from the past, Dr Strangelove, Or How I learned to love the Bomb. It was funny in a satirical way. But not actually amusing, it still relates to the present.

  2. Anne 2
    15 January 2019 at 10:08 am

    The Chinese version of the Herald may have sanitised the Anne Marie Brady critique, but this feature article which appeared in last Saturday’s Herald “Canvas” magazine is a worth while read. I guessed there was probably more to the story than had hitherto been revealed and indeed there is:

    The first time she went to China was as a university student on exchange in February 1990, months after the massacre at Tiananmen Square. She and the other New Zealand students were placed in a dorm for foreigners, into which Chinese students weren’t allowed. None of the Chinese students would talk to them anyway. In class, the teachers wouldn’t say anything of interest or stray from the textbook. The level of stress was so high, Brady says, all the girls in her dorm stopped menstruating.

    “Clearly,” she says, “we were in a heightened state of not feeling safe.”

    The following year, while she was in China researching her masters thesis on Rewi Alley, two things were stolen from her room: a photocopy from a sensitive book about Chinese Communist Party (CCP) activities and a sensitive letter about the relationship between Alley and the CCP. Nothing else was taken.

    So, she was also targeted back in 1990. That suggests she’s been on their radar for a long time.

    • Rangimarie 2.1
      16 January 2019 at 10:03 am

      My how things have changed! I went to China to visit my daughter who lectured at a university in China In the mid 2000s. There was none of the above you mentioned. And yes it is ruled by one party, but a party which has lifted millions out of poverty. As a tourist I certainly felt safe there. I have also visited the US. I certainly didn’t feel safe there. 2 instances where, if I hadn’t been alert I may have been killed. Getting screamed at ‘you black bitch’ on the streets of San Francisco. This anti Chinese rhetoric from the left and especially on this site is disgusting. I suppose you also think Trump shouldn’t pull the troops out of Syria.

      You people know nothing about China and just continue to spin Western propoganda. Shame on you!

      • Anne 2.1.1
        16 January 2019 at 10:55 am

        Read this feature story from the NZ Herald which I must have inadvertently deleted before posting comment @ 2.

        https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=12187109

        I suggest that Professor Anne Marie Brady knows more about China than you or I will ever know. Pays to read the whole story before jumping to erroneous conclusions.

        What is being discussed on this post has nothing to do with the US. Strong criticism of the USA has been a feature of this site since its inception 10 years ago, so you really need to get your act together before accusing commenters here of ‘shameful’ bias and ‘spinning Western propaganda’.

        • Rangimare 2.1.1.1
          16 January 2019 at 11:20 am

          And I would suggest she’s a paid CIA moll. Shame on you for being sucked in by a woman with bad tyres on her car and a hidden agenda.

          • Anne 2.1.1.1.1
            16 January 2019 at 12:49 pm

            Oh well, in that case you must be a paid Chinese government troll then.

            Oops: veutoviper got there first. 🙂

        • veutoviper 2.1.1.2
          16 January 2019 at 11:44 am

          My instant reaction when reading our new commenter was is this another Chinese troll to join the other @9; they usually travel in twos or more.

          https://mothership.sg/2018/01/china-nationalist-trolls-internet-little-pink/

          https://www.ft.com/content/9ef9f592-e2bd-11e7-97e2-916d4fbac0da

          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/50_Cent_Party

          • Rangimare 2.1.1.2.1
            16 January 2019 at 12:47 pm

            JWhy minimize my contribution and experiences by saying I’m a Chinese troll. Can you not increase your awareness about how shocking your anti Chinese responses are to someone who has visited China? I am tangata whenua. And if that makes me a Chinese troll then so be it.

            • Anne 2.1.1.2.1.1
              16 January 2019 at 12:51 pm

              If you are so stupid as to imagine Professor Brady is a paid CIA troll, then you have to expect similar reciprocation about your own behaviour.

              • veutoviper …
                16 January 2019 at 1:00 pm

                Exactly, Anne. I held back until that comment.

                She may well be tangata whenua and had a good time in China, and been subject to racism in the US, but her other comments suggest other things and are intended to get a reaction (and did!), eg

                “This anti Chinese rhetoric from the left and especially on this site is disgusting. I suppose you also think Trump shouldn’t pull the troops out of Syria.”

                “You people know nothing about China and just continue to spin Western propoganda. Shame on you!”

                “And I would suggest she’s a paid CIA moll. Shame on you for being sucked in by a woman with bad tyres on her car and a hidden agenda.”

                “Can you not increase your awareness about how shocking your anti Chinese responses are to someone who has visited China? ”

                The latter made me laugh. It suggests that none of us have also visited China … Wrong. I am pretty sure quite a few contributors here have done so.

                • Robert Guyton …
                  16 January 2019 at 1:10 pm

                  That’s not a genuine voice, imo.

                • Rangimarie …
                  17 January 2019 at 6:38 am

                  Listen to you people going around in circles trying to work out whether I’m a Chinese troll. You look ridiculous. And what’s more your xenophobia is shameful. I am Māori. Ko Ngāti Porou me Ngā Puhi ōku iwi. I whānau mai au i te Tairawhiti. I suppose I could have googled my response I guess. Being a digital savvy Chinese troll. Haha. And I will be coming to this site more often to call out you people who think your ? responses pass as reasoned debate. And yes Māori can be pro Chinese. But I like to think I’m more pro fairness and truth and Peace.

                  • RedLogix …
                    17 January 2019 at 7:06 am

                    Anyone can pose as anything on the internet. Credibility is earned; you aren’t entitled to it.

                    Perhaps after you have been here for a few years and engaged in a range of conversations on many topics, we might have a more coherent sense of who you are.

              • Mark …
                16 January 2019 at 5:46 pm

                No Anne. It is you who is stupid.

                Anne Marie Brady is bankrolled by Taiwanese government institutions and the American Neo-conservative think tank, the Wilson Institute, named for the infamous racist (even for his times) Woodrow Wilson.

                The Wilson Institute advocates so called ‘democratisation’ all over the world and promotes colour revolutions and undermines the sovereignty of states who stand strong against US imperialism.

                Anne Marie Brady is an agent of foreign influence as much as she claims others are of Chinese influence. An attention seeking hypocrite.

                • Dennis Frank …
                  16 January 2019 at 6:20 pm

                  Operating as a source of disinformation isn’t the best way to impress readers of this site, incredible though it may seem. You don’t have any proof of her funding, do you? If it was in the public domain, it would be on her wikipedia page, wouldn’t it? You really think readers are so stupid that they will not notice this?

                  • Mark …
                    16 January 2019 at 6:40 pm

                    You heard of google eh boy? Its allowed in NZ heheheheh

                    https://www.wilsoncenter.org/person/anne-marie-brady\

                    https://bulletin.tfd.org.tw/tag/anne-marie-brady/

                    there are more……she is hardly a disinterested party. She is an imperialist stooge as you are. Pseudo leftists

                    [OK, time for you to come up with some proof of your claims, Mark. Or you can withdraw them and apologise. And I am talking about the kind of proof we can use in court if TS gets sued, so don’t piss about. TRP]

                    • Dennis Frank …
                      16 January 2019 at 6:50 pm

                      So you’ve now confirmed to readers that you’ve got no proof of your assertion about her funding, thus proving to readers that you are merely spamming this site with disinformation. I’m puzzled that the moderator thinks such behaviour is cool, but whatever…

      • the other pat 2.1.2
        16 January 2019 at 11:29 am

        begging your pardon but i think you need to investigate below the surface a bit more.

  3. Dennis Frank 3
    15 January 2019 at 10:25 am

    It’s vitally important for the communist regime to keep promoting an artificial world. They know they cannot succeed in recycling antique imperialism in the real world. People would laugh. Therefore they must keep trying to enlist others in their brand of delusional thinking.

    Propaganda works on the same basis as advertising, so you can always fool some of the people all the time. Selling snake oil made some sellers rich. Wikepedia reckons folks in western countries are confused – the regime seeks to exploit that confusion.

    “Snake oil is a traditional Chinese medicament utilizing fat extracted from the Chinese water snake (Enhydris chinensis). It is a rubefacient and/or ointment, and is applied topically to relieve minor physical pain. It has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for many centuries, and is a relatively common medication prescribed by doctors ascribing the practice of traditional Chinese medicine. Its effectiveness as medicine has been a historical source of controversy in the Western world, where there is much confusion”. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake_oil

    • Unicus 3.1
      15 January 2019 at 9:18 pm

      Tentative reporting by New Zealands MSM on the villainy of the National Party and its relationship with CCP is unlikely to have taken place had it not been for the boldness of patriots like Mary-Anne Brady and clear visioned commentators on sites like The Standard .. As a result our undeclared enemy can no longer delude itself we are incapable of defending ourselves from its insideous intentions.

  4. Cinny 4
    15 January 2019 at 11:01 am

    There’s a big write up on Newsroom today about Chinese links with the Dunedin Mayor, Sarah Dowie is also mentioned as is JLR.

    Good read.

    Went to get the link…. article has vanished from their main page and replaced with another piece…. weird….. am sure it was only published a few hours ago. Will keep looking.

    Found it….

    https://www.newsroom.co.nz/@news/2019/01/14/397274/the-donor-the-mayor-and-the-national-party-links

    A southern mayor’s love affair with China

    “Encouraged by current and former National Party figures, Southland District Mayor Gary Tong has formed a friendship with a controversial Chinese businessman. David Williams reports.”

    • veutoviper 4.1
      15 January 2019 at 1:13 pm

      Thanks for that Newsroom article just posted today, Cinny.

      I highly recommend people read the Newsroom link as it provides details of the links and relationship built up over a period of time between Mayor Gary Tong and Chinese multi-millionaire Zhang Yikun – the wealthy and well-connected businessman linked by Jami-Lee Ross to a $100,000 donation to Simon Bridges and the National Party.

      As well as other questions about the relationship, the article poses the question as to “why would Zhang, who has direct links to the Chinese Communist Party and has been pictured with some of New Zealand’s most high-profile politicians, be courting a provincial mayor?”

      As noted in the article,

      “On October 15 last year, the day rogue MP Jami-Lee Ross was publicly blamed for leaking National Party leader Simon Bridges’ travel expenses, Southland Mayor Gary Tong was in China for a signing ceremony.”

      It appears that this was Tong’s second trip to China, this time in the company of Zhang. An earlier trip was made in late 2017, an almost all expenses paid trip (Tong paid his return air fares).

      But there is much more to the story and the invitations to Tong and others, the building of the relationship and the first trip to China as set out in the article, eg

      “Tong told Ruru that the invitation came through the relationship between the National Party’s Invercargill MP Sarah Dowie, Zhang, and himself.”

      …

      “That National Party theme continued in the trip’s initial list of participants: Shijia “Colin” Zheng (who was discussed as a potential National candidate during a conversation with Bridges recorded by Ross), former National MP Eric Roy, and former National party president Michelle Boag.”

      .It appears that following Tong’s first trip to China, a reciprocal three day visit to Southland was made by Zhang, Zheng and Chen which included visits to Queenstown,Te Anau, Milford Sound and Invercargill, with discussions on potential investment or opportunities planned, plus a night on the tourist boat Milford Mariner, a $3600 trip arranged personally by Tong and paid for by Southland ratepayers. Whether Dowie attended a dinner in Invercargill with the tour party is disputed, as is what came out of that trip in relation to formal or otherwise business arrangements between Zhang and co and the Southland District Council.

      I will not even attempt to summarise the rest of article on the latter aspects, (And I am running out of time!).

      These bits are an absolute Must Read as it links to the wider interests of the CCP and the One Belt One Road concept, and various views on the building of such relationships in the wider context of NZ as a whole.

      NOTE:

      In the interests of balance the article includes this statement:
      “(It’s worth noting that the Labour Party has also been subject to questions about its ties to Zhang and his association, having accepted donations from him in the past.)”

      This includes this embedded link to a related Newsroom article last year
      https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2018/10/23/288879/chinese-donors-up-and-comers-madPe-jps

      [And as a small (naughty) aside, this article reminded me of the close relationship between Tong and Dowie, as the local Southland Mayor and MP respectively. On the evening of Friday, 10 August, ‘The Southland party’ was held at Parliament in Wellington where a good time was had by all, including Tong and Dowie as the pictures on the Facebook link below show. One of the text messages made public in relation to the JLR saga was sent in the early hours of the next morning.]

      https://www.facebook.com/TheSouthlandParty/?__tn__=K-R&eid=ARDbFdploFXFoWv0FFAomn7dA9irUU_1Zb8VwmmZE-8io60L280PZd6kbOaxYNnyvutILIbs9ww6fkm8&fref=mentions

      • veutoviper 4.1.1
        15 January 2019 at 4:15 pm

        Further to the above, SaveNZ has now posted a comment at 5 below making no link to Cinny or my comments but essentially about the same subject of Zhang Yukin and colleagues’ building of relationships etc with Southland Mayor Tong and attempts to do so with others in that area of NZ (eg Clutha Mayor Brian Cadogan).

        The ODT links provided in SaveNZ’s comment are to earlier ODT articles on this subject which appear to have been republished by the ODT today, ie the first link is to an article originally published on 16 Oct 2018 and the second on 19 Oct 2018.

        Both provide more background to the Newsroom article above, and also raise more questions imo.

    • Tricledrown 4.2
      15 January 2019 at 3:04 pm

      Cinny no mention of Dunedin Mayor in article your link is!

      • veutoviper 4.2.1
        15 January 2019 at 4:23 pm

        I think Cinny meant to refer to the Southland Mayor, not the Dunedin Mayor in her first sentence, as obviously the Newsroom article is about Gary Tong, the Southland Mayor.

      • Cinny 4.2.2
        16 January 2019 at 11:00 am

        Sorry, my bad, thanks VV for clearing that up. Yes I did mean the Southland Mayor. Apologies to the Mayor of Dunedin.

        Am suffering from school holiday scrambled brain insanity lmao. Roll on February.

        Thanks for the update VV and further info. Much appreciated.

    • Robert Guyton 4.3
      15 January 2019 at 6:42 pm

      Great spotting, Cindy. I’ve sent the article to all my fellow councillors, including Eric Roy 🙂
      I found this snippet at the end very interesting (the bold is mine)
      “On the back of attending the opening ceremony of the Xiyangyang Lifestyle and Travel Expo in Auckland last October, the Southland mayor has been invited to attend an event in Xi’an in September to celebrate the China New Zealand Year of Tourism. Lisa Li, China Travel Service’s managing director and the secretary general of the China Chamber of Commerce in New Zealand, sent the invite last October.

      In it, Li says: “Please save the date if this coincides with a visit to China because this grand ceremony is usually reserved for heads of state.”

      • Gabby 4.3.1
        15 January 2019 at 8:33 pm

        I’m surprised your action doesn’t breach some ‘code of conduct’ bobs.

        • Robert Guyton 4.3.1.1
          15 January 2019 at 8:43 pm

          I’m confident it doesn’t, Gabby. I’ve shared a publicly-available article with my fellow councillors, transparently, and made bold one sentence fragment that interests me most. I’m curious about these things and they probably are also. One of the trainings we receive is that in order to make good decisions, we have to be cognisant of as many facts and views as possible. I’m not certain the others would have picked up this news as it wasn’t published in The Southland Times, so far as I know.
          The Tongster, as you call him, has recently moved to live in our small village. If I see him on the street, I’ll ask him about these things.
          🙂

          • veutoviper 4.3.1.1.1
            16 January 2019 at 11:23 am

            Robert, did you also check out the first two links from the ODT in SaveNZ’s comment at 5 below?

            These two articles (republished yesterday but originally dated 16 Oct 2018 and 19 Oct 2018 respectively) also provide detail of Zhang Yukin and colleagues’ building of relationships etc with Southland Mayor Tong and attempts to do so with others in that area of NZ (eg Clutha Mayor Brian Cadogan).

            • Robert Guyton 4.3.1.1.1.1
              16 January 2019 at 1:07 pm

              I did, veutoviper and had read them them they were first published. I had sent those to the councillors also, including Eric Roy. It’s good to keep up to date with developments. The Southland Party came up as a topic of discussion at a meeting (I raised it) but there were no pictures at that stage. Sarah seemed to be enjoying herself very much.
              The mention of aquaculture caught my attention.

              • veutoviper …
                16 January 2019 at 2:04 pm

                I missed the mention of aquaculture – Where was that? Was very much concentrating on the political aspects. (Did find a good “posh cheese roll recipe” on the Facebook page however! LOL. )

                Certainly was enjoying herself or rather both were. Unfortunately for some ‘ups’ a ‘down’ follows. See 4.2.2.1.1.1. above.

      • Cinny 4.3.2
        16 January 2019 at 11:13 am

        Good work Councillor Guyton, thanks for sharing.

        Mayor made to feel fancy during a trip to China…… a ‘model’ that has worked well before.

        Make them feel important…….. classic manipulation, but hey let’s reword it as an investment strategy, manufacturing consent and all that.

    • Gabby 4.4
      15 January 2019 at 8:32 pm

      I guess that’s why the Tongster never got to the bottom of the cycle trail cost blowout – too busy working for MFAT.

    • the other pat 4.5
      16 January 2019 at 11:31 am

      i wonder what precious resource will be sold now or plundered??

  5. SaveNZ 5
    15 January 2019 at 3:15 pm

    It is about time that that local politicians are not allowed to go on ‘free’ trips to China or anywhere else as part of their role as mayor or councillors, because this seems to be a clear target for later ‘soft power’ influence on our cities (and lucrative land/consents contracts). If individuals want to visit China, they should pay for it themselves and do it as individuals. Also do not think that NZ should accept foreign donations at all to political campaigns and disclose any money from new residents who can be used to funnel donations and influence through from foreign interests.

    https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/southland/southland-mayors-link-nationals-100k-donor

    “Clutha District Mayor Brian Cadogan also said he had not had any contact with Mr Zhang but had been offered a trip to China last year out of the blue from Orient Corporation, an Auckland-based company he was unfamiliar with, who offered to pay his travel costs.

    The letter invited Mr Cadogan to China for three days- departing on Friday night, and returning Monday evening. He was invited to meet two local Government officials. Mr Cadogan did not even answer the letter.

    “It’s not what I’m about.”

    Orient Corporation co-founder Larry Mao did not respond to requests for comment yesterday afternoon.”

    https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/southland/zhang-and-southland-mayor-could-discuss-belt-and-road

    Phil Goff has also been on many trips offered by Mr Zhang, so it seems that Mr Zhang’s offers of ‘friendship’ and offers from the Chinese government seem to funnily come hand in hand with Mayoral or political positions.

    https://www.economist.com/asia/2018/11/08/new-zealand-agonises-about-chinese-meddling

    • KJT 5.1
      17 January 2019 at 9:28 am

      Free trip to the States has been on offer for potential”influencers” also, for decades.

      Time to exclude foreign money from our politics, me thinks.

      Have you all read the list going around of the corporate and Quasi Government gravy train, both US and Chinese, positions held by current and former NZ politicians.
      If it is not undue influence and corruption, it certainly looks like it.
      Of course National party politicians, are all as pure as the driven snow, and are not influenced by the rewards on offer?

  6. Sacha 6
    15 January 2019 at 4:09 pm

    Toad is on the money. Buried at the end of the Stuff article:

    Stuff has a content-sharing partnership with SkyKiwi, another Chinese-language online news platform.

    SkyKiwi’s Wellington bureau chief Lily Wang – not to be confused with Lili Wang – told Stuff in a 2018 interview the publication generally did not report on news that the Chinese Embassy would not like, as the publication’s relationship with the embassy was very important.

    • tc 6.1
      15 January 2019 at 6:40 pm

      The cure is simple, independent public broadcaster. TVNZ could be split with the commercial side funding the public side.

      Times running out to do this as we’re awash with foreign owned media with zero interest in telling it as it actually is.

      • cleangreen 6.1.1
        15 January 2019 at 8:12 pm

        200% TC

        I am with you.

        But please get rid of the ‘right wingnuts’ ruling RNZ now!!!!!

        As they in RNZ now slam Labour all the time and make National shine like choirboys, so we need ‘national’ influence out of RNZ pronto.

      • Sacha 6.1.2
        15 January 2019 at 8:57 pm

        “TVNZ could be split with the commercial side funding the public side.”

        Does not stack up anymore, apparently. Ad-funded TV is a dying model.

        Fortunately we also have RNZ and Maori TV (the latter needing a reset after the last 9 years of Nat interference).

        • tc 6.1.2.1
          16 January 2019 at 6:41 am

          Partially fund, whatever. Time we valued the truth more than a bottom line, Oz taxes fund the ABC with SBS partial self funded.

      • patricia bremner 6.1.3
        15 January 2019 at 10:45 pm

        1000%

  7. One Two 7
    15 January 2019 at 4:32 pm

    Such actions should not be interpreted as, surprising…

    All corporations will (at least try to) have it both (all) ways to ensure the revenue flows are not interfered with…

    Simple enough to understand…

    The comments or actions do not necessarily represent the views of [corporation] its subsidiaries or partners …

    • Dennis Frank 7.1
      15 January 2019 at 5:54 pm

      All true. And we can make the point succinct via attitude: `if there’s money in it, let’s do it’. Capitalism is not constrained by any code of ethical conduct. If disinformation is required, buyers will get it.

      “The Society of Professional Journalists created a code of ethics that are in effect today.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_of_ethics_in_media

      Really?? Where’s the evidence that such a thing is operating? I scanned the Wikipedia page to find the enforcement section. None there. Presumably that means journalists assume the public can easily be conned by a sham.

      • One Two 7.1.1
        15 January 2019 at 6:22 pm

        In the US, and highly likely to be most other anglophile nations, protection of revenue and therefore profit, is enshrined in law…

        Imagine the nefarious downstream ‘laws’ must exist with the ‘departments/regulators’ such that the headline objective of corporate revenue/profits are protected at the expense of all else…not only the laws, but an entire eco system including bribery (lobbying) and protection provided by police, military and other inherently violent corporate enterprises…

        The circle is complete, such that the ‘protection’ is provided by corporations whose revenues/profits are enshrined by those very same laws…

        Apply the same to every industry where there is ‘disaster’….and any perplexity people might have around why/how should be well and truly evaporated…

  8. cleangreen 8
    15 January 2019 at 8:17 pm

    We finally need a true free media that tells the truth.

    We all derserve this now more than ever.

    • greywarshark 8.1
      16 January 2019 at 4:33 pm

      Cleangreen
      We could have a daily round up of facts from the regions here, along or instead of Daily Review which hasn’t been up since 21 December. That would be good for keeping us up to date and we would get a coverage of what is going on across the country, just short say one or two paragraphs with location, names of people involved, long-standing and infrastural rather than petty politics which is important to the locals mainly.

      What about it cleangreen. Do you like the idea? If you do we could put it forward. It might serve us well.

  9. Mark 9
    15 January 2019 at 9:46 pm

    You can’t blame the Chinese government for not wanting to pay for news that wants to put them in a bad light.

    Whatever government or organization or individual pays for something, it is generally not to promote something that runs against them. That’s friggin.

    However, you can blame the NZ Herald for their mercenary motives.

  10. WILD KATIPO 10
    16 January 2019 at 1:41 pm

    Its no surprise at all that the NZ Herald supports the ChiNational party.

    Look at what they did with the bogus $100,000 bottle of wine from Donghua Lua and the setting up of David Cunliffe ,… the list goes on and on and on how the Sir Maggot Key got off with mass surveillance , moldy state housing ( where children died as a direct result ) , polluted rivers, speculative housing , privatization of schools and prisons… oh ,…and a 3 year old died in Afghanistan as a consequence of Sir Maggot Keys signing off on a military strike…

    They are the wanker party .

    The ChiNational party.

    The party that sells off NZ sovereignty for a song… so long as they enrich themselves with privatizing state owned assets and buying shares in the proceedings… think Michael Fay and David Richwhite.

    Maggot #1 and maggot #2.

    Then tie all that up with guys like John Armstrong. And the retraction that never , ever , really happened.

    The NZ Herald.

    It should be renamed the ChiNational Peoples Paper.

    With adverts in the ‘For Sale’ section for Swamp Kauri, Spring water , and State owned Housing.

    That’d be more inline with who they really are.

    Or ,… just plainly,… subversive , anti sovereignty wankers.

    Mhmmm.

    That’s got a nice ring to it.

  11. R.P Mcmurphy 11
    16 January 2019 at 2:36 pm

    pretty thin skin for a country that has just landed a spacecraft on the moon and still allows importation of rhino horn so stupid old men can delude themselves about their erections.

    • greywarshark 11.1
      16 January 2019 at 4:25 pm

      Lots of stupid old men making thumpingly bad decisions, and not giving a hoot, around the world. Please note that a lot of those decisions relate to sex and gender and standing tall in the community.

  12. Siobhan 12
    16 January 2019 at 2:47 pm

    But we still have this expectation that news is reported fearlessly and without favour. And without distortion
    …..really? When did you last read a newspaper? Ever?
    Allowing for bias in editorial content is one thing, but the ‘facts’ of news are equally twisted by editorial choice.
    If that wasn’t the case there would not be the need for so many news sources, we could all just get a direct feed from the BBC.
    Though, given the increasingly small pool of media ownership we are almost returning to a monolithic source of news presenting One World View.

    https://rsf.org/en/new-zealand

    https://www.rt.com/uk/434464-guardian-nicaragua-bias-blumenthal/

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/sep/30/flawed-reporting-on-antisemitism-claims-against-the-labour-party

    • Dennis Frank 12.1
      16 January 2019 at 4:18 pm

      Well, MS was likely speaking for a generational cohort who still recall younger days when presumption of news media telling the truth was normal. The seventies transformed that presumption for fast learners, the eighties did it for slower learners, then the trend levelled out and nowadays you’re likely to find mainstreamers don’t really care whether news is truthful or not. They don’t even think about it.

      Re your first link, cool that we jumped from #13 to #8 in the 2018 World Press Freedom Index, but who knows what made that happen?

  13. Philj 13
    19 January 2019 at 1:00 pm

    RNZ is commissioning more and more ‘content’ from ‘independent ‘ (private) companies. They are out-sourcing themslves to the private sector. How long has this been going and where will it end? Has RNZ morphed into a PPP?

  14. R.P Mcmurphy 14
    21 January 2019 at 6:08 pm

    I wonder what they would have to say about hunting rhinceros to extinction just so rich demented old men can imagine they are getting a hard on.