Public Address http://publicaddress.net/ en Copyright (c) 2002-2012 Public Address Hard News: Press Play > Budget http://publicaddress.net/hardnews/press-play-budget/ Thu, 24 May 2012 10:01:00 +1200 http://publicaddress.net/hardnews/press-play-budget/ Russell Brown Russell Brown We'll be looking at media coverage of the Budget on Media7 this week: examining the language of Budget delivery, its subsequent interpretation and who really had something useful to say. I'd like you to help me crowdsource that analysis.
So consider yourself invited to report, comment and check the math. How is that Budget app? Is it nice having a Listener liveblog?
The youngest member of the team, Sam Mulgrew, will also be looking at the historical perspective and casting an eye back to the time when the contents of the Budget really were a secret until the speech was...

]]> Hard News: The Voyage of a Lifetime http://publicaddress.net/hardnews/the-voyage-of-a-lifetime/ Wed, 23 May 2012 09:55:00 +1200 http://publicaddress.net/hardnews/the-voyage-of-a-lifetime/ Russell Brown Russell Brown Here's the thing about economics: it determines the way we live our lives, but most of us are shut out from discussing it -- by language or privilege, or simply because it seems too hard. Thus do assumptions go unchallenged and thus is the debate left to technocrats and their ministers.
The New Zealand Fabian Society  has been looking to remedy that situation for some time now, and has presented some excellent speakers. I got talking to some of their members earlier this year about bringing what they're doing to a wider audience -- by making the debate easier, and...

]]> Hard News: The Editorial Image http://publicaddress.net/hardnews/the-editorial-image/ Tue, 22 May 2012 08:27:00 +1200 http://publicaddress.net/hardnews/the-editorial-image/ Russell Brown Russell Brown There was some outrage recently when a feature in the Dominion Post put Paula Bennett, who had just announced the government's intention to fund long-term contraception for beneficiaries, in the same frame as Josef Mengele, the Nazi "doctor" at Auschwitz. But not that much, really.
David Farrar described it as "a grievous judgment of error" [sic] and a letter to the paper demanded an apology, but as far as I'm aware there has been no further action. That's because the feature was an editorial cartoon. This one:

Had the same association been made in a written opinion column, let alone...

]]> Capture: Dogs Love Cameras Too http://publicaddress.net/capture/dogs-love-cameras-too/ Mon, 21 May 2012 18:30:00 +1200 http://publicaddress.net/capture/dogs-love-cameras-too/ Jackie Clark and Sofie Bribiesca Jackie Clark and Sofie Bribiesca Intro
Public Address regulars Sofie and Jackie love dogs.  If this has not been made abundantly clear to you yet, then this will remove any residual doubt.
Having broken the Internet with our inaugural Cat Thread (does this mean we're entertaining the possibility of more?  Nooooooo!), it seems only fair that we give the canines their day in the sun.
Jackie Clark and Ruby
So. A thread all about dogs. The glory! I know many of us in this community share our lives with dogs, as well as cats. And I am privileged indeed that Jackson has asked me to...

]]> Hard News: Free the Street http://publicaddress.net/hardnews/free-the-street/ Mon, 21 May 2012 17:18:00 +1200 http://publicaddress.net/hardnews/free-the-street/ Russell Brown Russell Brown "I think," tweeted Gemma Gracewood from New York, "that the TVNZOnDemand version of the feature-length episode of Shortland Street should be ungeoblocked just for my birthday."
Good point, I thought. Global distribution deals notwithstanding, doesn't the diaspora deserve a break just this one time, on the 20th anniversary of our greatest soap opera? So, with the encouragement of Toby Manhire, I decreed a hashtag -- #freethestreet -- and began the campaign to unblock the episode.
To be perfectly honest, there wasn't a lot of arm-twisting required. As the tweets began to flow, I contacted South Pacific Pictures' CEO John Barnett...

]]> Field Theory: Campaigning http://publicaddress.net/fieldtheory/campaigning/ Mon, 21 May 2012 15:13:00 +1200 http://publicaddress.net/fieldtheory/campaigning/ Hadyn Green Hadyn Green Jed Soane has been taking photographs for Field Theory for a while now. Along with Mike Roseingrave (now in Melbourne), Jed has followed me on some crazy adventures over the years.
Recently Jed has upped his game with the Beer Project, documenting the craft beer movement in New Zealand. He used a recent exhibition of his photos to help fund a trip to Perth for a course to further refine his techniques and now... well, you'll see below.
And so I want Jed to win the TP McLean Sports Photographer of the Year award. His shots are at least this...

]]> Capture: Going Walkabout in Sydney http://publicaddress.net/capture/going-walkabout-in-sydney/ Fri, 18 May 2012 20:00:00 +1200 http://publicaddress.net/capture/going-walkabout-in-sydney/ Jackson Perry Jackson Perry Last weekend we decided to 'go crazy' and got tickets to see Prince at Allphones Arena, Olympic Park Sydney.  If things were different, if our seats weren't the furthest possible from the stage (we still loved it), if the venue didn't have a 'No cameras anywhere!  At all!  We will confiscate them!  We're not kidding!' policy, we might have got more than the few grainy photos of the reflections from other people's cell phones as they didn't video the concert.
Then we had Saturday in the city.  And it was a peach.
On previous visits we've found a few highlights,...

]]> OnPoint: To Whom it May Concern http://publicaddress.net/onpoint/to-whom-it-may-concern/ Fri, 18 May 2012 11:41:00 +1200 http://publicaddress.net/onpoint/to-whom-it-may-concern/ Keith Ng Keith Ng I am writing to heartily endorse Joshua Drummond for the position of Press Relations and Regulatory Affairs Manager at British American Tobacco.
I have known Mr Drummond for many years through our mutual association with the Freedom Importers Association of Hamilton. We celebrate enterprise and freedom by importing cigarettes into New Zealand though our underground tunnels with China and Belarus. Our non-fictional organisation, in fact, represents over 80% of the NZ tobacco black market as estimated by Ernst & Young. Mr Drummond's intimate knowledge of this sector will no doubt prove invaluable to your organisation as you continue to praise its...

]]> Legal Beagle: MPs' Pay http://publicaddress.net/legalbeagle/mps-pay/ Fri, 18 May 2012 08:30:00 +1200 http://publicaddress.net/legalbeagle/mps-pay/ Graeme Edgeler Graeme Edgeler Parliament's Government Administration Committee is currently considering the Members of Parliament (Remuneration and Services) Bill. It will surprise few of you that I have made a submission. For those interested, it is copied below.
If you have a view on MP's pay, feel free to let them know. There have only been a handful of submissions so far, including one from former National and New Zealand First MP Dail Jones who submits that the former MPs who still get the travel perk shouldn't have to fly economy and should be funded at the level of premium economy airfares. Submissions close...

]]> Legal Beagle: Sanctuary! http://publicaddress.net/legalbeagle/sanctuary/ Thu, 17 May 2012 18:45:00 +1200 http://publicaddress.net/legalbeagle/sanctuary/ Graeme Edgeler Graeme Edgeler When you sue someone, you have to serve the first set of documents on them personally - literally hand them to them, or place them down in their presence and clearly bring them to their attention. They have to provide an "address for service" for later documents (usually their lawyer), but for the first set personal service is required, unless you get express agreement (which you often do).
Process serving is something that many young lawyers get to experience. There are times when you need to hire an expert, but a common job for young lawyers, especially in small practices,...

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