Flight of the bumble-key
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9:05 am, March 10th, 2008 - 4 comments
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4 comments on “Flight of the bumble-key ”
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- 19 projects will clean up and protect waterways$36 million of Government funding alongside councils and others for 19 projects Investment will clean up and protect waterways and create local jobs Boots on the ground expected in Q2 of 2021 Funding part of the Jobs for Nature policy package A package of 19 projects will help clean up ...3 weeks ago
- New Zealand Government acknowledges 175th anniversary of Battle of RuapekapekaThe commemoration of the 175th anniversary of the Battle of Ruapekapeka represents an opportunity for all New Zealanders to reflect on the role these conflicts have had in creating our modern nation, says Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Kiri Allan. “The Battle at Te Ruapekapeka Pā, which took ...3 weeks ago
- Go hard and go early on climate change
This will be a watershed year as we move from climate advocacy to action. We proved we could do it with Covid. ...3 hours ago - Contaminated waste dumping: Ardern weighs options against companies in breach
The prime minister has put companies dumping contaminated waste into sewers on notice, saying she's seeking advice about the available options. ...11 hours ago - Protesters demand rapid action on climate changeMore than 100 climate strikers gathered at Parliament to hand over a list of demands for rapid action from the government. ...12 hours ago
- My favourite detective: Jules Maigret, the Paris detective with a pipe but no pretence
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Véronique Duché, A.R. Chisholm Professor of French, University of Melbourne In this series, writers pay tribute to fictional detectives on the page and on screen. When I first heard that Rowan Atkinson was to put on Maigret’s velvet-collared overcoat, I wondered ...13 hours ago - Watch: Jacinda Ardern speaks in first post-Cabinet briefing of 2021Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says approval for the Pfizer vaccine could come as early as Wednesday next week. ...13 hours ago
- New Zealand and China upgrade free trade agreementThe New Zealand and Chinese governments have signed an upgrade to the free trade agreement between the two countries. ...13 hours ago
- Kit Marlowe died 400 years ago – but he’s back, and sexy as hell
Auckland writer Olivia Hayfield* explains how she resurrected 16th-century playwright Christopher Marlowe to star in her new novel, Sister to Sister. Olivia Hayfield is a pen name. Real name: Sue Copsey. When I’m planning my modern retellings of historical tales, I read widely on the characters and see who leaps out at ...14 hours ago - Pfizer vaccine could be approved next week
The Pfizer/BioNTech mRNA vaccine could be approved as early as next week, Marc Daalder reports Medsafe will be asked to approve the Pfizer/BioNTech mRNA vaccine against Covid-19 on February 2, the Government has announced. The Medicines Assessment Advisory Committee (MAAC) is an independent panel that provides advice on some medicine approvals in ...14 hours ago - Watch live: Jacinda Ardern speaks in first post-Cabinet briefing of 2021The prime minister is addressing media in a post-Cabinet conference after holding the first Cabinet meeting of the year today. ...14 hours ago
- Bryan Kramer: How many PNG police chiefs have had a degree? NoneCOMMENT: By Bryan Kramer, PNG’s Minister of Police who has defended Commissioner Manning’s appointment today in The National My last article, announcing that I intend to make a submission to the National Executive Council (NEC) to amend the Public Service regulation to no longer require the Commissioner of Police to ...15 hours ago
- The political payoff is plain but is it smart to borrow $219,512 per job (mostly temporary) to spruc...
The Point of Order Trough Monitor was triggered today by the announcement of a $9 million handout for Southlanders – sorry, some Southlanders. The news came from the office of Grant Robertson who, as Minister of Finance, prefers to invest public money rather than give it away – especially when ...15 hours ago - Frame: Behind the scenes of Chlöe Swarbrick’s historic Auckland Central campaignFew people outside of her campaign team gave Chlöe Swarbrick any chance of winning in Auckland Central this year – but the Green Party MP was too busy to listen. Here’s how they turned the electorate green.First published November 12, 2020.Three Ticks Chlöe is part of Frame, a series of short ...15 hours ago
- Discrimination by healthcare providers could affect immunisation rates – studyInteractions between parents and healthcare providers could have a big impact on the wellbeing of our children, according to new research. The way parents and healthcare providers interact has lasting implications for children’s health, new research has found – and that includes immunisation uptake.Released today, the report is based on research ...15 hours ago
- Collins: No time to prioritise climate change
The Opposition starts the political year calling for emergency, temporary legislation to free up house building National leader Judith Collins has set five priorities for her party over the next three years - but excluded climate change, education and Crown-Māori relations. Giving her first 'state of the nation' speech as party ...15 hours ago - Judith Collins focuses on housing, Covid-19 in National's state of the nation addressNational is calling on the government to introduce urgent temporary legislation to make it easier to build houses. ...16 hours ago
- Let’s see what Andrew Little prescribes to remedy structural weaknesses in NZ’s health system
One of the biggest challenges facing the Ardern government is in public health. New Zealand may have escaped the pressures heaped on other health systems by the Covid-19 pandemic but its health service has had its problems, not least those exposed in the first report from Heather Simpson and her ...17 hours ago - NZ covid: 14 close contacts of Northland case test negativeNew Zealand’s Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins has revealed that 14 close contacts of the Northland community case have returned negative test results. Yesterday he announced two close contacts – her husband and hair dresser – were negative. In his tweet, Hipkins described the news as “encouraging”. However, New ...18 hours ago
- RSF condemns Google for dropping Australian media searches in ‘tests’Pacific Media Watch newsdesk Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has condemned the arbitrary and opaque experiments that Google is conducting with its search engine in Australia, with the consequence that many national news websites are no longer appearing in the search results seen by some users. The Australian, ABC, Australian Financial ...18 hours ago
- Contaminant dumping: Minister says companies must comply with consentsLocal Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta says councils can take stronger action against companies dumping contaminated waste water, even though they have identified loopholes in the law on fines. ...18 hours ago
- Will Drag Race Down Under truly represent the NZ drag scene?Drag Race Down Under, part of the popular RuPaul’s Drag Race franchise, is filming in New Zealand. In their own words, local drag talent share what drag means to them and how it might be impacted by the show.RuPaul’s Drag Race is, quite simply, a television phenomenon. Love it or ...18 hours ago
- Fee fi fo fum, the weighted blanket industry has comeFor a long time, weighted blankets were considered a specialist device. Now they’re popular with even the most normal sleepers.Growing up, Temple Grandin spent time on her aunt’s cattle ranch in America, watching cow after stressed cow enter a squeeze chute and come out calm as the dead sea. She ...19 hours ago
- Newsletter: New Zealand Politics Daily – January 26 2021Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage. Today’s content Covid Luke Malpass (Stuff): Northland Covid-19 case threatens to bring summer to screeching halt Audrey Young (Herald): Aussie suspension adds to Cabinet’s Covid agenda (paywalled) Richard Harman: Testing the limts – the Northland Covid-19 ...19 hours ago
- Survey – Govt’s “shot Gun” COVID Tax-relief Measures Mostly Hit The Mark
Increased provisional tax thresholds, immediate low-value asset write offs and allowing the deferral of tax payments and use of money interest (UOMI) write offs were the most popular tax measures introduced by the Government to help businesses survive ...19 hours ago - Police Pursuits Sky-rocket To Record High – So Police Stop ChasingThe latest fleeing driver statistics show the numbers of incidents sky-rocketing out of control through 2020 with Police deciding the only tactic is to give up on chasing altogether, says Sensible Sentencing Trust. “The inconvenient truth is ...20 hours ago
- Dolphins, Discrimination And The Government’s “Complicity By Silence”With new revelations of the appalling racism behind Israel’s refusal to provide Covid-19 vaccines to 4.5 million Palestinians under its occupation and control, PSNA has renewed our call for the government to speak out alongside the United Nations ...21 hours ago
- School Strike 4 Climate NZ's January 26th 100 Days 4 Action RallyThe Youth of NZ will be standing up for climate action once again, on January 26th outside of Parliament for School Strike 4 Climate NZ’s 100 Days 4 Action campaign rally. “COVID-19 may have stopped us in our tracks in the past. However, I tend ...21 hours ago
- A new 3D koala genome will aid efforts to defend the threatened speciesSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Parwinder Kaur, Associate Professor | Director, DNA Zoo Australia, University of Western Australia Koalas are unique in the animal kingdom, living on a eucalyptus diet that would kill other creatures and drinking so little their name comes from the Dharug word gula, ...21 hours ago
- Burnt ancient nutshells reveal the story of climate change at Kakadu — now drier than ever beforeSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By S. Anna Florin, Research fellow, University of Wollongong Archaeological research provides a long-term perspective on how humans survived various environmental conditions over tens of thousands of years. In a paper published today in Nature Ecology and Evolution, we’ve tracked rainfall in northern ...21 hours ago
- Auf Wiedersehen, ‘Mutti’: How Angela Merkel’s centrist politics shaped Germany and EuropeSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Binoy Kampmark, Senior Lecturer in Global Studies, Social Science & Planning, RMIT University Since 2005, Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel has been one of the most stable and enduring of political forces, both in Europe and on the global stage. During her 16 ...21 hours ago
- An unexpected consequence of climate change: heatwaves kill plant pests and save our favourite giant...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Doctor of Botany, University of Melbourne Australia is sweltering through another heatwave, and there will be more in the near future as climate change brings hotter, drier weather. In some parts of Australia, the number of days above 40℃ will ...21 hours ago
- My favourite detective: Jules Maigret, the Paris detective with a pipe but no pretenseSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Véronique Duché, A.R. Chisholm Professor of French, University of Melbourne In this series, writers pay tribute to fictional detectives on the page and on screen. When I first heard that Rowan Atkinson was to put on Maigret’s velvet-collared overcoat, I wondered ...21 hours ago
- Experts urge rethink on using isolation hotels with sub-par ventilation
*This article first appeared on RNZ and is republished with permission. Experts are calling for hotels with sub-par ventilation systems to no longer be used as managed isolation facilities as health officials investigate how a Northland woman became infected with Covid-19 while staying at the Pullman hotel, Rowan Quinn reports. ...21 hours ago - Live updates, January 26: Thousands of Covid-19 test results expected back todayWelcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for January 26, keeping you up to date with the latest local and international news. Reach me on stewart@thespinoff.co.nzOur Members make The Spinoff happen! Every dollar contributed directly funds our editorial team – click here to learn more about how you can support us ...21 hours ago
- The Bulletin: What happens next after Northland Covid-19 caseGood morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Questions to be answered about case in the community, major companies flagrantly breaching wastewater consents, and Tenancy Tribunal decisions harming abuse survivors.As of this morning, we’re still waiting on some crucial information about the situation in Northland, after a person travelled ...21 hours ago
- NZ must build collaboration, not more intense competition in the Asia-Pacific
With democracy what now separates the US from its adversaries, Wellington can bet on more continuity than change in Washington’s hardline view of China. ...22 hours ago - Latest Covid scare weighs on travel stocks
Business & Investing: New Covid scare hits some stock prices, Plus Don't bet on a Bitcoin rebound ...22 hours ago - Plan flexibly, scale up construction, or pay the price
A Covid reset will force costly and inflexible cities to take a hard look at their planning systems, or people will vote with their feet. ...23 hours ago - Love in Pukehina: The strange case of Roderick Finlayson
We continue our week-long examination of writer Roderick Finlayson. Today: his daughter Kate on his doomed love for Poti Mita, whose family inspired him to write short stories about Māori life in the 1930s We all knew of Poti Mita and how important Pukehina was to Dad. He wanted ...23 hours ago - Agency ambitions spark tourism turf war
An expansion push by Tourism NZ sparked a behind-the-scenes, inter-agency tussle to control the industry's direction. ...23 hours ago - Sleepyhead's dream answer to the housing crisis
Sleepyhead is chopping and changing its ambitious plan to build a super-factory and a community of 1100 medium density houses on a block of farmland in the north Waikato. Sydney Turner set his grandsons Craig and Graeme to work on the factory floor, building mattresses. Now Craig and Graeme Turner own ...23 hours ago - We must avoid scares in vaccine rollout
Helen Petousis-Harris looks at the potential complications of vaccinating older New Zealanders - and how we should prepare Two weeks ago health authorities in Norway reported some concerns about deaths in frail elderly after receiving their Covid-19 vaccine. Are these deaths related to the vaccine? Probably not but here are ...23 hours ago - Round-the-world solo sailor steers clear of her fears
A change of plans for round-the-world single-handed sailor Elana Connor means she's helping Kiwi kids in foster care to go sailing - as she also seeks to 'demystify' the sport for women. Elana Connor wears a silver necklace engraved with the word “Fearlessness”. As she sails solo around the globe, it reminds her that ...23 hours ago - Climate Commission report: get it right or face catastrophe
New Zealand rose to the occasion in its response to Covid-19. Will it do the same for climate change? Jack Santa Barbara looks ahead to the Climate Change Commission report. New Zealand’s management of the Covid pandemic clearly demonstrated the benefits of paying attention to the science and prioritising human wellbeing ...23 hours ago - After the pandemic: Will our system of healthcare change?
Was Covid-19 and lockdown the catalyst for a new future for healthcare or did it just expose systemic inequity? In the latest of a series on the country's future infrastructure needs, Tim Murphy looks at how the long push to shift health's focus from hospitals to the community might have received a nudge ...23 hours ago - Keeping calm in a world gone viral
Not only is the New Zealand summer in danger of coming to a grinding halt, but we increase the risk that an almighty wreck might follow shortly afterwards. Here's what we can do, writes Dr Sarb Johal. While the rest of the world is wrestling with virulent new strains of the ...23 hours ago - Twenty years of housing costs beating wages in one heinous chartFor two decades, under both National and Labour governments, housing costs have risen far faster than wages. Here’s a horrific graph that shows by just how much.Last Thursday saw the first of what will no doubt be dozens of housing-related set pieces from Labour, wherein they announced 8,000 public and ...24 hours ago
- Siouxsie Wiles: How worried should we be about these new Covid-19 mutations?The new Northland case has been linked to the South African strain of Covid-19, one of a number of new, more contagious Covid variants. Here’s how they emerge and why.Let’s start with the basics. The genetic material of the SARS-CoV-2 virus responsible for Covid-19 is a strand of RNA made ...24 hours ago
- Wealth Of New Zealand’s Richest Person’s Soars By $3.4bn Since Beginning Of PandemicNew Zealand’s richest citizen, Graeme Hart, has seen his fortune increase by NZ$3,494,333,333 since March 2020 – a sum equivalent to over half a million New Zealanders receiving a cheque for NZ$6,849 each, reveals a new analysis from Oxfam today. The New Zealand ...1 day ago
- Newsletter: New Zealand Politics Daily – January 25 2021Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage. Today’s content Covid Harry Lock (RNZ): Covid community case: Infection at MIQ facility ‘most likely scenario’ Jamie Morton (Herald): Time to ‘turn down tap’ on travel from risky countries, experts say Kate Green and ...1 day ago
- Laws making social media firms expose major COVID myths could help Australia’s vaccine rolloutSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tauel Harper, Lecturer, Media and Communication, UWA, University of Western Australia With a vaccine rollout impending, key groups have backed calls for the Australian government to force social media platforms to share details about popular coronavirus misinformation. An open letter was put ...1 day ago
- Free PressSelling out ACT’s Waitangi Day State of the Nation Address is set to sell out again. If you’d like to start the political year right over brunch with fellow ACT supporters (Saturday 6 February 10am-12pm, Mt Eden), please buy your tickets ...1 day ago
- Not sure about the Pfizer vaccine, now it’s been approved in Australia? You can scratch these 4 co...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Archa Fox, Associate Professor and ARC Future Fellow, University of Western Australia The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has today provisionally approved Australia’s first COVID vaccine, the Pfizer vaccine, paving the way for its rollout to begin in mid-to-late February among high-risk groups. ...2 days ago
- COVID has brought Auslan into the spotlight, but it would be wrong to treat the language as a hobby ...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jessica Kirkness, Postdoctoral research fellow, Macquarie University As government COVID updates have become a daily part of our lives over the past 12 months, so too has the sight of sign language interpreters on our screens. This has understandably had a huge ...2 days ago
- Is news worth a lot or a little? Google and Facebook want to have it both waysSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Dwyer, Associate Professor, Department of Media and Communications, University of Sydney Executives from Google and Facebook have told a Senate committee they are prepared to take drastic action if Australia’s news media bargaining code, which would force the internet giants to ...2 days ago
- Revealed: The companies dumping contaminants down the drain
*This article first appeared on RNZ and is republished with permission. Hundreds of companies have dumped contaminants - like blood, fat, and toxic chemicals such as ammonia and sulphides - into sewers in breach of their trade waste consents over the past year, RNZ can reveal. Anusha Bradley reports. Frank ...2 days ago - It gets better with age: a brie(f) history of cheese in AustraliaSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Morag Kobez, Associate lecturer, Queensland University of Technology In this series, our writers explore how food shaped Australian history – and who we are today. The history of cheese in Australia has, until recent decades, been a rather tasteless affair. Not so ...2 days ago
- Frame: Who owns the toxic waste in Mataura’s paper mill?On the edge of the Mataura River, a disused paper mill is filled with thousands of bags of toxic waste. Locals want to find out who’s responsible for it – and they want it gone before disaster strikes.First published November 10, 2020.The Paper Mill is part of Frame, a series ...2 days ago
- What the future of the internet looks likeAt the Chorus Fibre Lab, José Barbosa peeked behind the curtain of the internet and found something beautiful and very, very fast. The human mind is a daily swarm of notions, speculations, ruminations, thoughts and otherwise base-level brain puffs. Just to get through the grind of survival, we’ve evolved to mentally ...2 days ago
- No missing link in Northland Covid case
*This article first appeared on RNZ and is republished with permission. The Ministry of Health is confident the Northland community case came directly from the Pullman Hotel and there is no missing link. In a press conference this afternoon, Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield confirmed the strain of Covid in the ...2 days ago - As heatwaves become more extreme, which jobs are riskiest?Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thomas Longden, Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Heat is more dangerous than the cold in most Australian regions. About 2% of deaths in Australia between 2006 and 2017 were associated with the heat, and the estimate increases to ...2 days ago
- ‘Above all else, don’t bullshit’: Doctor-poet Glenn Colquhoun on caring, and writing, for youn...Levin GP Glenn Colquhoun talks with books editor Catherine Woulfe about his new collection of poetry, Letters to Young People.Glenn Colquhoun is an acclaimed and accomplished poet. He has published four collections, including Playing God, in December 2002, which sold a massive 10,000 copies. He’s won a clutch of Montanas ...2 days ago
- Begorrah – Irish Moss brings relief to a leftie blogger who was discomforted by a foreign accent
Contrasting reactions to news of Grainne Moss’s resignation as Oranga Tamariki chief executive inevitably can be found in the blogosphere. Lindsay Dawson has recorded the ACT Party’s response to the resignation and hailed it as “spot on”. The statement was made in the name of Karen Chhour, described as a ...2 days ago - From Disney to Emmy: Zendaya’s journey to EuphoriaZendaya has been around for a decade, but she’s gone from Disney prodigy to pop star to acclaimed actress. Here are the highlights of the 24-year-old’s already impressive career.Shaking it up: Zendaya on DisneyThe world’s first encounter with Zendaya was a little Disney show called Shake It Up, a series ...2 days ago
- The bad sh*t: My search for a solution to irritable bowel syndromeWhat’s it like to have your life governed by your gut? It’s crap, frankly.On my birthday last year I was given a bottle of fancy Aesop post-poo drops which clear the air after rigorous bowel activity – though on reflection, it may have been more of a gift for my ...2 days ago
- Covid-19 community case: Husband, hairdresser return negative tests – Hipkins
*This article first appeared on RNZ and is republished with permission. Negative tests results for two of the closest contacts of a woman who tested positive for Covid-19 after leaving managed isolation is a good sign, says Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins. Two of the closest contacts of a woman ...2 days ago - Disturbed dreams of a sleeping giant – Sleepyhead's fix to the housing crisisSleepyhead is chopping and changing its ambitious plan to build a super-factory and a compact 1100-house community in Waikato. ...2 days ago
- The mystery of the blue flower: nature’s rare colour owes its existence to bee visionSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Dyer, Associate Professor, RMIT University At a dinner party, or in the schoolyard, the question of favourite colour frequently results in an answer of “blue”. Why is it that humans are so fond of blue? And why does it seem to ...2 days ago
- Toxicity swirls around January 26, but we can change the nation with a Voice to parliamentSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Megan Davis, Pro Vice-Chancellor Indigenous UNSW and Professor of Law, UNSW We are on the eve of the nation’s annual ritual of celebrating the arrivals, while not formally recognising the ancient peoples who were dispossessed. Each year the tensions spill over, rendering ...2 days ago
- Will Australia legalise ecstasy and magic mushrooms to treat mental illness? Here’s why it’s sti...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Bright, Senior Lecturer of Addiction, Edith Cowan University While the public focus remains on COVID vaccines, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) continues to evaluate a range of proposals around the provision of medical treatments in Australia. The regulatory body is currently ...2 days ago
- ‘I can’t save money for potential emergencies’: COVID lockdowns drove older Australians into e...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sara Wilkinson, Professor, School of the Built Environment, University of Technology Sydney Many of us who endured lockdowns in Australia are familiar with the surge in energy bills at home. But for older Australians who depend on the Age Pension for income, ...2 days ago
- Curb population growth to tackle climate change: now that’s a tough askSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael P. Cameron, Associate Professor in Economics, University of Waikato Population growth plays a role in environmental damage and climate change. But addressing climate change through either reducing or reversing growth in population raises difficult moral questions that most people would prefer ...2 days ago
- Victoria and NSW are funding extra tutors to help struggling students. Here’s what parents need to...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julie Sonnemann, Fellow, School Education, Grattan Institute School is back for 2021, and some students will get extra help this year. Students who fell behind in their learning during the COVID-19 lockdowns of 2020 will be eligible for extra tutoring in Victoria ...2 days ago
- It’s not just cricket: Australia Day isn’t the commercial winner it used to beSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Duffy, Lecturer, School of Business, Western Sydney University Australia Day used to be an obvious and uncontroversial occasion for brands to endear themselves to Australian consumers. No longer. There has been a decided shift over the past decade in commercial attitudes ...2 days ago
- Why weren’t there any great women artists? In gratitude to Linda NochlinSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joanna Mendelssohn, Principal Fellow (Hon), Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne. Editor in Chief, Design and Art of Australia Online, University of Melbourne In January 1971, Art News published Linda Nochlin’s Why have there been no great women artists? Her ...2 days ago
- Live updates, January 25: Two close contacts of new Covid case test negativeWelcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for January 25, keeping you up to date with the latest local and international news. Reach me on stewart@thespinoff.co.nz7.40am: Two close contacts of new Covid case test negativeThe husband of the new Northland case of Covid-19 has tested negative for the virus, along with ...2 days ago
Filth
Ha! Hey Mike – get back to work.
nice. that’ll stick.
good to see mediawatch takng up Key’s “love to see wages drop” story and raising questions about APN’s integrity too
http://www.radionz.co.nz/podcasts/mediawatch.rss
Cancelled our sub to an APN paper today in solidarity with rural journalists. Recommended.
Also good to hear Pat Brittenden raising the Mediawatch issue on NewstalkZB early this morning. Pity he couldn’t get better reasons for supporting JK except JK isn’t Helen.