Save Radio NZ dethrones Key

Written By: - Date published: 9:38 am, March 12th, 2010 - 14 comments
Categories: activism, humour, interweb, youtube - Tags: , , , ,

Who would have thought that a Facebook group advocating to keep Radio NZ funded and commercial-free would overtake Prime Minister John Key’s fan group for number of members?

Well, yesterday at 9.30, just over three weeks since it was founded, the Save Radio New Zealand group reached 18,973 members, passing Key’s 18,972.

That gives a taste of the incredible depth of feeling that New Zealanders have on this issue. We do not want our only decent broadcaster underfunded and ruined by commercialisation.

The funny thing is that the righties are trying to get Key back on top. There’s been a sudden flurry of new members taking the total to 19,013 as at time of writing (midnight last night). They’re not going to catch the Save Radio New Zealand group though. It’s up to 19,130.

There’s competition coming up from the Anti-Wellywood sign group though. 11,000 members in less than three days. If that doesn’t convince that idiot Kerry Prendergast that Wellingtonians don’t want this abomination then nothing will (until it gets torn down, of course).

Speaking of the Wellywood sign, I know Downfall parodies are so 2009 but the Wellywood one is great:

14 comments on “Save Radio NZ dethrones Key ”

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  1. The Baron 1
    12 March 2010 at 10:08 am

    I am so sick of commentary based on how many facebook fans something gets. “That gives a taste of the incredible depth of feeling that New Zealanders have on this issue”. Does it? Really?

    I find that people will join nearly anything on facebook – idiotic or otherwise.

    Of course, it ain’t only you that think facebook is a reasonable proxy for testing public opinion. You, TV3, TVNZ, The Herald are all as bad as each other. Will you be introducing random vox-pop into the standard too?

      • Pascal's bookie 1.1.1
        12 March 2010 at 10:23 am

        Having sex with goats: Less popular than Nact’s broadcasting policy.

        Low bar: Achieved

    • Bright Red 1.2
      12 March 2010 at 10:48 am

      I think 19,000 people choosing to put their support behind an issue is significant. It’s entirely voluntary for people to join and they largely find out by word of mouth.

      I think that makes it a valid yardstick of wider public opinion.

      No-one’s saying it’s scientific but have you seen the ‘kill RNZ’ group? That disparity in number of members tells me something.

      • lukas 1.2.1
        12 March 2010 at 10:54 am

        BR- you can not seriously use Facebook as a measure of public support for something, it is as unreliable as an internet poll.

        As an example, I am sure there are a couple more people than the 125 people in this group http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=34992433170&ref=search&sid=747586619.3346124429..1 who want what the group is about.

        • Bright Red 1.2.1.1
          12 March 2010 at 11:22 am

          I seem to remember righties jumping for joy at the size of Key’s fan group a year and a half ago.

          It’s not a scientific measure; it’s not a poll. But when 19,000 people choose to publicly identify with a cause, that means something.

          • lukas 1.2.1.1.1
            12 March 2010 at 11:26 am

            and when only 125 people identify with a cause does that also mean something?

            • Bright Red 1.2.1.1.1.1
              12 March 2010 at 12:02 pm

              yup.

              • Bright Red …
                12 March 2010 at 12:11 pm

                but you’ve got to be careful that you’re looking at the main group on a given issue. For example, there was a second save rnz group that got abandoned and antoher wellywood group that has a few hundred members

                and if a group isn’t publicised (like the RNZ one was one the standard and elsewhere) it won’t get the kickstart it needs

  2. Lanthanide 2
    12 March 2010 at 10:27 am

    Thankfully the Wellywood sign isn’t going to go ahead:

    “The proposed Wellywood sign is a violation of Hollywood’s trademark, United States lawyers say.”

    ” He said he thought communities were better off creating something that symbolised their own community. “Recreating the Hollywood sign might be cute for a little while, but if you’re going to leave it up there, you’re better to do something that’s unique.”

    However, Wellington Airport, which is paying for the sign to be erected on its land, remains firm, simply reiterating its one-line statement issued on Tuesday: “We are confident we will meet all our legal obligations in relation to the sign.””

    “And now Wellington city councillors say they learned about it only through The Dominion Post.”

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/film/3437938/Wellywood-sign-a-no-go-US-lawyers

    captcha: representation

  3. mickysavage 3
    12 March 2010 at 11:27 am

    Sorry for the slightly off topic post but there is an interesting group titled “Can this Brain Eating Zombie get more fans than Roger Douglas?”

    The link is here.

    The more the merrier …

  4. Craig Glen Eden 4
    12 March 2010 at 4:59 pm

    So does this mean radio NZ is more sexy than Key or?

  5. DeepRed 5
    16 March 2010 at 10:24 am

    It should also be pointed out that Save Radio NZ has gone from zero to hero in just a few weeks, whereas the Key Fan Club has been around for quite a long while now.

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