Who cares?

Written By: - Date published: 4:27 pm, March 26th, 2009 - 15 comments
Categories: Media - Tags:

Over the last few days the online news media have been getting increasingly wound up over some Australian expat guy who’s apparently said some rude things about New Zealand on his blog.

I usually don’t bother with this kind of insufferable tabloid crap, but as the outrage continued my curiosity got the better of me and I decided to have a look. And it’s even more mundane than I expected.

I mean, the guy’s talking about his bike rides in Eskdale, complaining that Rotorua smells and saying something about how New Zealand breweries don’t put enough hops in their beer.

It’s all a bit bloody pedestrian to be honest. Why our media think it’s worth whipping up a national outrage over is beyond me.

15 comments on “Who cares? ”

  1. Aussie bashing will always be high with some people, so is reality tv crap with a bunch of morons trying to dance.

  2. TightyRighty 2

    It’s reasonably Funny, but nothing to get wound up about. It would be nice if we took ourselves a bit less seriously and maybe, instead getting wound up, someone launched a blog about the things kiwi’s find funny about Australia. like how they rip on kiwi’s because their own insecurities about sheep attraction

  3. Jasper 3

    Its funny cos its true.

    Much like some of the stuff on expat exposed.
    Gnacts should read that. EE has some nasty stuff about what they’re doing towards the ETS along the lines of “imbeciles, ignorant fuckwits etc etc”

  4. Rex Widerstrom 4

    $5 says some bereft-of-a-single-innovative-topic “columnist” like Michael Laws or Bill Ralston beats this up into a weekend diatribe and gets paid the equivalent of week’s wages for doing it.

    Pop may eat itself by tabloid “journalism” just feeds on its own vomit.

  5. BLiP 5

    There’s only one reason for the screeds of outrage in the on-line MSM – its cheap copy.

  6. David 6

    Instructions for new migrants to NZ.
    When asked you MUST say we are all very nice and friendly
    NZ has lots of lovely scenery
    Auckland is such a cool & sophicated city and you wished you lived there
    You have seen LOTR and loved the scenery ( again! )
    You loved Whale Rider
    And NZ has lots of lovely secnery!!

  7. Felix 7

    Meh, I thought it was pretty funny. Probably because it felt pretty accurate.

    And that’s why the little-brains are getting their knickers twisted over it I suppose.

  8. They want to sell newspapers. I decided on first sight this was a waste of time at best and at worst just one more distraction from the really important things happening that we don’t hear enough about.

    But I do accept that more than 80% of Kiwis pay no attention whatever to the really important things that matter. So “the media” don’t have much choice but to lower themselves to the level they have previously worked hard to lower their readers / viewers to.

    The 90:10 rule applies yet again. Ten percent pay attention and the other 90% are hedgehogs on the highway of life….a state they (both groups) work hard to impose and then maintain upon themselves. Not just NZ, either. Almost everywhere that people can be complacent and ignorant and not die almost immediately as a consequence.

    • Draco T Bastard 8.1

      I think you’re wrong there. I think if Kiwis had actual news to read and see on TV rather than the puff pieces that are usually there then they would take more notice of what was going on.

  9. all_your_base 9

    It’s because it involves a blog. Imagine the frenzy the media would have whipped themselves into had it been a twitter feed.

  10. ieuan 10

    We need an enterprising kiwi to start up an Aussie bashing version, with a name something like: ‘www.adingostolemybaby.com.au’

  11. infused 11

    One thing I have to agree with is what they say about New Zealand driving. My dad has a batch that I have been going to up north for the last few years. Everytime I go, there is always a massive amount of traffic on the road. The thing is though, everyones trying to overtake. The stupid amount of risk people take is amazing. Various times have I seen people almost have a head on.

    I must admit, I was one of them. Until that is, I tried to over take at night. There was a dip in the road and I couldn’t see that there was a car coming up. Fish tailing at 120km/h is not good. I didn’t crash. That was, however, the last time I have ever overtaken someone in New Zealand.

    New Zealand drivers have very little patience.

  12. Pete M 12

    Agreed, it certainly is rather pedestrian, but perhaps we could embrace the whipping up of national outrage like this guy http://editingtheherald.blogspot.com/2009/03/new-zealanders-are-wankers-and-rugby-is.html It seems it may be harder than we think.
    Go the News-rage!

  13. get_stuffed 13

    David
    When asked I will say you’re friendly ONLY IF I FU*KIN WANT TO!
    now get a life

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