Random media comments

Written By: - Date published: 9:45 am, April 28th, 2009 - 20 comments
Categories: Media - Tags:

  • Is there any point reading the NBR now Ben Thomas has left? Losing New Zealand’s most promising young journalist and getting Hooton, it’s like trying to replace a talking parrot that’s died with a slug – well it’s scarcely a replacement is it?
  • Does the Trans-Tasman daydream about marrying Key? Because they sure do love him. In their fantasties are they bride or groom?
  • Where’s John Armstrong? He’s been gone a month. In all seriousness I hope he’s well.
  • Armstrong’s absence has been opportunity for Patrick Gower to do some opinion pieces though and they’re good. He’s injected some real analysis into the law and order ‘debate’ and made a mockery of ACT in the process. Which isn’t really on, too much like fish in a barrel.
  • Have any of the journalists asked their National contacts about where they think the polls are heading in winter? Unemployment, strikes, wage freezes, super-city, Black Budget, already down 6% off their post-election high – the scuttlebutt is they’re expecting things to turn sour in May/June.
  • Colin Espiner seems to be the only journalist who sees the dismal reality of the government’s record on the economy: “So at the same time as National is promising to do whatever it takes to get us out of a recession, and protect us from the “hard edges” in the meantime, it is laying off more public-sector workers and cutting funding to exporters – who presumably are New Zealand’s only ticket out of the recession.”
  • Jackson Wood, stop sending us your bloody press releases. The premise of a Wellingtonian with no connections to Auckland let alone Mt Albert standing for the seat was vaguely funny at first but then reality went and trumped you with Russel Norman. The racism in the last email wasn’t funny at all. Give it up.

    • 20 comments on “Random media comments ”

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    1. BLiP 1
      28 April 2009 at 10:42 am

      Speaking of the media – what’s up with this frenzy on the swine flu – have the manufacturers of tamiflu built on the success of their last marketing iniative and now plan to collect yet again.

      What worries me most about these media convulsions is not so much the overt scam, but what is being slipped through without even registering in the headlines. What amount of shenanigans are over looked by the indolent media as they frighten their audience to increase eyeballs?

    2. Kevin Welsh 2
      28 April 2009 at 10:58 am

      And meanwhile Roche are rubbing their little mitts together in glee. Mind you, one look at the potential Adverse Drug Reactions for Tamiflu is enough to make me think twice about ever using it.

    3. Felix 3
      28 April 2009 at 11:04 am

      Speaking of swine flu I haven’t seen Billy around these parts for a while, and he’d surely be in the high-risk group. I hope he’s ok.

    4. infused 4
      28 April 2009 at 11:10 am

      I think there will be resistance to Tamiflu in no time. USA is handing it out like candy.

    5. John 5
      28 April 2009 at 11:35 am

      What were these racist comments in Jackson Wood’s email?

      • Tane 5.1
        28 April 2009 at 11:58 am

        He’s referring to this:

        Heads Roll In Wood Campaign

        First time political aspirant Jackson James Wood today admitted to a dramatic setback in his campaign, with the firing of several key staff members.

        Wood’s entire press team have been given notice following the disgraceful misspelling of the name of fellow candidate Russel Norman in a press release dated 24th April.

        Commenting on the changes, Wood said “I try not to look at this as a setback – rather an opportunity. My campaign has in fact been able to save costs by outsourcing further release writing abroad, starting as of the following paragraph’.

        Wood very happy with change and new workers are do good job. Wood have nice smile. Wood plans of win most excellent.

        While I can see how it could be viewed as racist I don’t take Ed’s hard line. In the context it was written I think it’s pretty clear Wood wasn’t trying to be malicious.

    6. T 6
      28 April 2009 at 2:52 pm

      How is that line racist? I thought it really funny actually. Some people are so damn uptight.

    7. T2 7
      28 April 2009 at 2:57 pm

      I agree actually, there obviously is no malicious intent in that statement..

    8. JJW 8
      28 April 2009 at 3:52 pm

      I think this site is as humorless as a lump of shit on a cold day.

      My whole campaign has been a joke, i am a joke, have you not read my editorials of late?

      If you dont like my press releases, do what every other New Zealander did when it arrived in their inbox and mark it as spam. Christ knows my friends did.

      Now i know you guys dont get out much and checking your email is as habitual as picking your noses, but really, dont you have better things to do with your time than infer i was being racist when it was clearly a piss take.

      BTW, Farrars site shits all over yours – hows that for a random media comment.

      [Tane: You’re using a non-standard VUW email address, so I’ve got good reason to suspect you’re not the real thing. FFS, you’ve even misspelt Wood’s surname – it’s Wood, not Woods.

      Is this the mystery Salient identity thief again? Because I can’t be bothered dealing with that shit here. Provide evidence you’re the real Jackson Wood or we’ll start deleting your comments.]

    9. Daniel J Miles 9
      28 April 2009 at 4:19 pm

      I didn’t plan on commenting on this post, but kind of have to now after that previous post from “JJW” – I’d just like to say, as Jackson’s campaign manager, that he didn’t write that and, while we understand if you don’t remove it, we just want it made clear that that post was not us and we do not endorse it.

      I won’t comment on the accusation of us being racist other than to say I appreciate the positive comments in this thread and the balanced contribution of Tane. Thanks.

      Oh, and Eddie – if you wanted to be taken off the mailing list, all you needed to do was reply to an email – much easier and more sure-fire than posting your complaint to a blog! However, as is obvious, we’ve seen this and removed you from the list anyway.

    10. Daniel J Miles 10
      28 April 2009 at 4:31 pm

      EDIT: No need for this post to exist any more. Cheers Tane.

    11. Rex Widerstrom 11
      28 April 2009 at 5:58 pm

      Armstrong’s absence has been opportunity for Patrick Gower to do some opinion pieces though and they’re good. He’s injected some real analysis into the law and order ‘debate’ and made a mockery of ACT in the process.

      As I regularly bitch and moan about media standards I’d just like to endorse Eddie’s opinion here. Gower has done an astoundingly good job on sentencing and prisons of late. Meaty stuff with plenty of facts to back up his conclusions to, none of this “take one (inevitably appalling) case and extrapolate it as being applicable to all crime and criminals” bullshit that most columnists are prone to do.

      Those who’ve cancelled their Herald subscriptions in the past… I’d suggest that keeping Gower employed is reason enough to renew them.

      • Rex Widerstrom 11.1
        28 April 2009 at 6:00 pm

        Ugh that should be “too”. Where’s the bloody edit function?! First Kiwiblog lost its edit ability, now here. I smell conspiracy! 😛

        • Anita 11.1.1
          28 April 2009 at 6:04 pm

          I can still edit! <— see editing!!

        • r0b 11.1.2
          28 April 2009 at 6:05 pm

          Edit’s working fine for me – “click to edit” at the top of the comment – might be an issue with your browser?

          Edit: Yup.

          • Rex Widerstrom 11.1.2.1
            28 April 2009 at 6:11 pm

            Well I did say it was a conspiracy 😀

            Possibly yet another piece of lost functionality due to an MS patch. It seems to be their default way of fixing security holes now… just kill the functionality that’s being attacked.

            Let’s see… hit shift/refresh… delete temporary internet files… I shall now try and edit…

            [captcha: “lefties radio” – now there’s an idea I’ve been advocating for a while, along with righties radio, lefties TV, etc…]

      • BLiP 11.2
        28 April 2009 at 6:58 pm

        I did! I gave it up in a fit of pique . . . I lasted like, maybe, a month before calling the subsciptions department . You know what I missed most? The smell of the press and the cryptic crossword.

        But, yeah: A+ for Patrick Gower. At last, some intellectual firepower and a deft pen.