I don't usually get the Sunday News, but I picked it up at the weekend on my way back from the markets. And it struck me that the paper is travelling better than its Sunday rivals. It sticks to its knitting as a tabloid, it's visually punchy -- and, increasingly, it seems to get stories.
Sunday's lead, by Jonathan Marshall, was an interesting political story. A group led by Ngapuhi's Tass Davis plans a campaign of protest aimed at highlighting "frustrations ... borne out of a legacy of 160 years of colonial oppression", via civil disobedience and protests outside courts (the right of every citizen) and by targeting the homes of judges (really not okay, at all), on the basis that they are part of the system.
Davis is the uncle of Maori Party MP Hone Harawira, who told Marshall " "I will not tell my uncle not to do this. If he feels passionate about it then I say, more power to him." As is usually the way with these things, Tariana Turia was obliged to issue a statement making it clear that her party doesn't support the targeting of individual public servants:
“The party certainly supports the kaupapa behind Tass Davis' call for action regarding the huge consequences felt by tangata whenua through successive governments inaction on Te Tiriti o Waitangi and specifically the interpretation of the articles by the State and its agencies.
“And it is not the first time the judiciary has been personally targeted. Family Court judges have been targeted in the past by men's rights groups or father's rights groups, totally frustrated with the system.”
I like Hone Harawira, and I respect the work he's done on his home truf, but man, he gets a lot of rope at times.
Staying with the Sundays, David Farrar notes Thursday's Employment Relations Authority case on the matter of former Herald on Sunday assistant editor Stephen Cook's departure from the paper earlier this year.
Bill Ralston chips in on the comments there, offering "I know Stephen Cook and have first hand experience of his abilities as a journalist. I regard him as being somewhat lower down the food-chain than plankton. The HoS are well rid of him."
That would be the time when Cook tried to make a story out of Ralston's connection to a cousin living an itinerant lifestyle on the North Shore -- and then squealed to TVNZ management when Ralston used some harsh words to him over the phone. Cook, uou may recall, was also the reporter who wrote the 'Killer at the Zoo' story about Mark Burton and essentially bullied a PR-wary Zoo management into sacking Burton from his little, supervised job shovelling dung. Then there was the bogus story about the North Shore history teacher Kirsty Gillon, who had supposedly been preaching Holocaust denial to her students. Except, as it turned out, she hadn't. And Cook failed to disclose that his own daughter was in Gillon's class.
And then, offcourse, was his threatening interaction with Debbie Gerbich, one of the complainants against Brad Shipton. Gerbich subsequently committed suicide.
So yes, what Bill said. Thursday might be interesting though: his lawyer is Chris Comeskey!
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This week's Media7 will be the first to go out on the Sky platform, as well as Freeview -- meaning our potential audience gets a lot larger.
The lineup is:
- Broadband -- after the latest delaying and rethinking, where are we actually at with the government's big plan? Does it matter that so few industry players seem to be on board with it? We'll be joined by Computerworld editor Rob O'Neill and Orcon CEO Scott Bartlett. We did invite Steven Joyce but he couldn't join us. We're hoping Labour's Clare Curran will be able to take the spare seat.
- The magazine trade: while the women's mags head south, other titles seem to be prospering. The panel is Lynda Hallinan, editor of New Zealand Gardener (supreme winner at last week's MPA Awards), industry consultant Stuart Shepherd, and Martin Gillman of Total Media.
- Jacko! It's an ill wind, etc. Sony's Epic label now believes the sales windfall of Michael Jackson's catalogue will save its annual budget. But who gets that unreleased album of tunes made with Akon and Will.I.Am? And how freakin' important is Michael's share of the ATV catalogue with Beatles Rock Band in the wings? Simon Grigg will be with me to talk about that stuff.
If you'd like to come to the recording, we'd need you at The Classic in Queen Street before 5.30pm tomorrow. Just hit Reply and let me know.