Reading Material

14:18 Oct 17, 2007 45

I'm probably en route from Wellington (for the New Zealand Open Source Awards) to Auckland (for the New Zealand Music Awards) as you read this, but I've left you some reading material.

Firstly, there's my Listener column on the pathetic behaviour of some New Zealanders on Wikipedia after the All Black loss in the World Cup.

But mostly, NZ On Air has posted We're All in This Together: Public Broadcasting in the Digital Age, a discussion paper I wrote with the assistance of Andrew Dubber. It's big -- 17,000 words in a 235KB PDF -- and it took a long time to finish, but I'm quite pleased with it.

As part of the research (and the deliverables), you may recall that I ran a survey to gather ideas about the future of public broadcasting. More than 800 people, from Scoop and Thing, but mostly from Public Address, participated, and there are some great comments on it. Just click the "view" button to read them.

You can find the survey results here.

45 responses to this post

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InternationalObserver, 11:48 Oct 18, 2007

But mostly, NZ On Air has posted We're All in This Together: Public Broadcasting in the Digital Age, a discussion paper I wrote with the assistance of Andrew Dubber. It's big -- 17,000 words in a 235KB PDF -- and it took a long time to finish, but I'm quite pleased with it.
It's forty pages people!
Run, run away now ... FORTY PAGES!!

Since Jun 2007 • 909 posts Report
andrew llewellyn, 11:53 Oct 18, 2007

Is it double spaced though?

Since Nov 2006 • 2075 posts Report
kmont, 12:04 Oct 18, 2007

I know, I know. I am up to page 10 and printing in stealthy chunks.
"Stealthy Chuncks" could be the name of a band...

wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 485 posts Report
3410, 12:28 Oct 18, 2007

But whoever encoded it neglected to fill in the ID tags that would have identified the track [...] and no pirate would be as sloppy with a file as that.
"Every Mistake Imaginable", as they used to say 20 years ago. (Truth be told, plenty of pirates *would* be that sloppy; perhaps a better analogy is "No unsigned little garage band posting their tune on myspace would be as sloppy"). Either way, it seems likely that no-one involved in that promotion even understands the (very simple) difference between "file name" and "id3 tag info". And zipped? Why?
I'd go with "clueless", rather than "sloppy".
Some of the vandals were easy enough to identify. One, [...] whose private school clearly taught him little about decent standards of behaviour.
I hope the implication is not that the privately schooled would normally be more likely than the state schooled to exhibit decent standards of behaviour. Having been through both systems, I can confirm that some of the most amoral bastards you're ever likely to meet were privately schooled.

Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report
stephen clover, 12:53 Oct 18, 2007

One, for example, is a 22-year-old commerce student with a history of vandalism and vanity editing on Wikipedia, whose private school clearly taught him little about decent standards of behaviour.
I wonder if he did any of this from his tertiary institute; and thus I wonder if he is breaking any of said institute's computer-use policies?
some of the most amoral bastards you're ever likely to meet were privately schooled
I cant think of anything more disgusting than David the Pimp.
Met him in a K Road Bar. He only sells Filipino and Negro Girls.
Joined up as a Mercenary it´s a way to see the World.
Went to Kings still wears the Old School Tie.
He can get you anything. Found some drugs in a Dead Mans underpants.
Joined up at the mortuary. It´s a way to see the World.
It´s a way to see the World. It´s a way to see the World.
Went to Kings. Still wears the Old School Tie.
The Cakekitchen, Dave the Pimp

wgtn • Since Sep 2007 • 355 posts Report
Robyn Gallagher, 14:50 Oct 18, 2007

We're All in This Together: Public Broadcasting in the Digital Age
Hang on, is that a High School Musical reference?

Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report
Jason Kemp, 16:00 Oct 18, 2007

The Survey is very interesting. So I can get the timeline and context
How long was the survey running and what were the dates?
It is a fast moving area - Also Are there any plans to run the same or similar survey again for companrative purposes?

Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 368 posts Report
Jason Kemp, 16:09 Oct 18, 2007

May have answered my own question..
Had a look at the comments on the survey - which suggests it ran between 23 & 30th of July '07 - Is that right?
And BTW - comments are the best part of the survey - thanks

Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 368 posts Report
Jarno van der Linden, 17:54 Oct 18, 2007

I wrote a long post about how the role of NZ On Air in the digital age could be to help NZ compete internationally culturally (orthogonal to competing economically), in order to ensure the long term survival of kiwi culture in an environment where importation of overseas culture is increasingly easy and occurring outside of the traditionally controllable channels (YouTube does not have a Charter obligation), but some timeout ate it.
Bugger.

Nelson • Since Oct 2007 • 82 posts Report
3410, 18:13 Oct 18, 2007

Jarno,
I'd be interested, if you felt like trying again.

Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report
robbery, 19:12 Oct 18, 2007

Jarno
as far as music funding goes brendan smyth of nz on air has stated nz on air make no attempt to target and support culturally significance in what they fund.
we do not "make any value judgements about cultural content" (Direct quote from brendan smyth)
I think they got upset abot the lack of success they had in getting the difficult voice of Kiwi onto the extremely narrow visioned commercial circuit so they narrowed their objectives down to simply getting songs on commercial radio and tv. Whether it is 'new zealand' sounding or not is now irrelevant to them.
They are successful at what they do because what they do is of little relevance to their mission statement," our voice our culture"
from nz on air about us
"Television and radio play an important role in the lives of New Zealanders, and NZ On Air funding ensures that our unique culture, our stories, our music and our identity are enjoyed today and preserved for tomorrow."
To be fair they are more successful in the field of television as they have succeeded in funding the kiwi accent onto tv screens.
I agree that it would be great for them to put the govt money set aside for kiwi culture toward long term survival of kiwi culture, but for that to happen there would have to be a serious overhaul of management and a re calibration of objectives.
They would also have to face the difficult task (which they presently avoid) of identifying what is relevant as kiwi culture (hopefully seeing a wider vision than gumboots and DB ).
The problem is the people making the decisions and acting as advisors don't appear to have a grasp of what our culture is or the wider significance of preserving it and or creating an environment in which it can thrive.
Shall I set up the guillotine?

new zealand • Since May 2007 • 1882 posts Report
Craig Ranapia, 19:52 Oct 18, 2007

Screw the RWC, bugger The Booker here's something to have a patriotic geek-gasm over:
Karl Urban is strapping on a stethoscope to play Leonard "Bones" McCoy, the Starship's Enterprise's medical officer, in J.J. Abrams' "Star Trek" feature for Paramount.
[...]
Abrams has been furiously casting "Trek," with John Cho, Simon Pegg and Eric Bana joining the film last week.
Also on board are Zoe Saldana as the young Uhura, Anton Yelchin as the young Chekov and Zachary Quinto as the young Spock. Leonard Nimoy, who originated the role of Spock, also will be part of the film.
The movie is expected to shoot from November-March.
Plot details are begin kept under wraps, but it is understood that the movie chronicles the early days of the Enterprise crew.
The character of McCoy, originated by DeForest Kelley, didn't trust advanced technology and frequently sparred with Spock in debates of logic vs. emotion. Bones also was responsible for several of "Trek's" catchphases, including "He's dead, Jim" and "Dammit Jim, I'm a doctor, not a ...," ending in a profession in which he had no training.

North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report
Rex Widerstrom, 22:37 Oct 18, 2007

Only read the Executive Summary so far so could be prematurely expostulating here, but I didn't see any discussion of a significant problem with the "internetification (c)" of television - namely that a lot of the user-generated material online is incorrect, either because of benign ignorance of malicious disinformation.
People have learned to automatically associate a certain believability to their media. I'd suggest that in NZ it goes, from most beliveable to least, print, radio, TV, internet - though of course the internet sites of official news outlets such as Radio NZ, Stuff, The Herald etc are imbued with much greater believability due to their association with the respective media.
So if more and more low quality, user-produced material makes it to our TV screens (and don't get me wrong, I think this is potentially a good thing) or whatever form of interactive moving picture device TV evolves into, how will viewers decide upon the credibility of what they're reading?
It's what I call the "Wikipedia effect" - the "broadcaster" of the information imbues that information with a level of credibility it sometimes doesn't deserve, as evidenced by the number of people in blog comments referencing Wikipedia articles as fact when they're probably, on average, about as accurate as the average Fox News broadcast.

Perth, Western Australia • Since Nov 2006 • 157 posts Report
Deborah, 22:48 Oct 18, 2007

Bad call. Wikipedia is about as accurate as Encyclopedia Britannica.

New Lynn • Since Nov 2006 • 1447 posts Report
3410, 00:06 Oct 19, 2007

Rex,
Interesting perspective. Any chance you'd be interested in joining the fight to ban the dangerous chemical Dihydride Monoxide?

Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report
Jarno van der Linden, 03:47 Oct 19, 2007

I don't think I would even want NZoA to make judgements on what is culturally significant or not. That's up to the viewers and listeners, and is something that only becomes clear over time. They are however in the business of promoting New Zealand cultural products.
The discussion paper seems to concentrate on what the role of NZoA is in bringing NZ content to NZers in a digital age. The strategy employed at the moment to increase New Zealand stuff on air in NZ is to inject it into broadcast media through charters, quota, and salesmanship. As the paper points out, we are getting more and more content through channels which originate overseas, and over which NZoA or the government has no hope of getting any direct influence over.
More overseas culture being pulled in, less NZ culture being mixed in locally. I think the better approach to at least maintain the balance is to shout back at the world.
And the export of culture should probably stand above direct financial success. The country certainly gets a prouder "hey World look at us" feeling out of hearing of an NZ song being used in an overseas film, than hearing of an NZ company getting an export order.

Nelson • Since Oct 2007 • 82 posts Report
Robyn Gallagher, 07:30 Oct 19, 2007

Screw the RWC, bugger The Booker here's something to have a patriotic geek-gasm over:
Karl Urban is strapping on a stethoscope to play Leonard "Bones" McCoy, the Starship's Enterprise's medical officer, in J.J. Abrams' "Star Trek" feature for Paramount.
This is almost as exciting as when Martin Henderson played Britney's boyfriend in the "Toxic" video.

Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report
robbery, 09:22 Oct 19, 2007

I don't think I would even want NZoA to make judgements on what is culturally significant or not.
No, me either but I don't want to see 'cultural' dollars being channeled to wipe out our point of difference via the next next piece of commercial radio friendly pap.
it's a difficult thing to put your mind to, deciding what is and isn't us being ourselves, but the way things have gone lately NZoA's actions in the music field have actually helped to erase a little (or a lot) of our perceived individuality, and that isn't what we want our tax dollars being channeled to is it?
I think it all comes down to who you have making decisions and advising. I'd much rather have Chris Knox or some other reasonably literate music genius steering the ship than a bunch of wannabe "music fans" and suits.
Art galleries do their best work when they've had artists at the helm, (see CHCH gallery under Coley, etc), perhaps the same respect could be extended to the field of modern music which is an artform after all, however mass marketed and diluted some of it is, the rest is culture, shouldn't we be focusing our efforts on the rest?

new zealand • Since May 2007 • 1882 posts Report
Lucy Stewart, 10:31 Oct 19, 2007

Karl Urban is strapping on a stethoscope to play Leonard "Bones" McCoy, the Starship's Enterprise's medical officer, in J.J. Abrams' "Star Trek" feature for Paramount.
Okay, that I _can get excited over (although I'm still disappointed the very brief James Kyson Lee-as-Sulu rumours didn't pan out.)

Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2105 posts Report
Heather Gaye, 12:40 Oct 19, 2007

Karl Urban is strapping on a stethoscope to play Leonard "Bones" McCoy...
Spock = Zachary Quinto! Squee!

Morningside • Since Nov 2006 • 533 posts Report
Emma Hart, 12:48 Oct 19, 2007

Screw the RWC, bugger The Booker here's something to have a patriotic geek-gasm over:
OMG! I was already solidly on board from the Simon Pegg thing, but that's just... genius.
Bones also was responsible for several of "Trek's" catchphases, including "He's dead, Jim" and "Dammit Jim, I'm a doctor, not a ...," ending in a profession in which he had no training.
Except my very, very favourite "Dammit Jim, I'm a doctor not an escalator".

Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report
InternationalObserver, 00:37 Oct 20, 2007

Karl Urban is strapping on a stethoscope to play Leonard "Bones" McCoy, the Starship's Enterprise's medical officer, in J.J. Abrams' "Star Trek" feature for Paramount.
This is almost as exciting as when Martin Henderson played Britney's boyfriend in the "Toxic" video.
I hope ur not being sarcastic Robyn! :-)
This could be a big break for Karl, if the part is reasonable. And if not, well there's the international GeekCon circuit to pay his rent/Herne Bay mortgage for the next 15 years.
And let's not forget that Martin almost played Spiderman (allegedly) and almost played the Brad Pitt character in the TV version of Mr & Mrs Smith (but the pilot wasn't picked up).
It can take years of hard work to get that 'lucky break' ...
BTW - how do you strap on a stethoscope? I've seen them hanging round necks, and plugged into the ears, but never strapped. Maybe the straps are for zero gravity conditions?

Since Jun 2007 • 909 posts Report
Bob Munro, 14:15 Oct 20, 2007

Just pausing to remember Alan Coren, passed away from cancer at 69.
Brilliant editior of Punch amongst many other things. Still remember him dressing up in Arab costume and standing in the visitor's gallery at the London stock exchange and accepting the insults from the traders on the floor during the first oil shock of 1973.

Christchurch • Since Aug 2007 • 418 posts Report
Robyn Gallagher, 14:36 Oct 20, 2007

Just pausing to remember Alan Coren, passed away from cancer at 69.
I was checking his Wikipedia entry to see if he was Giles and Victoria's dad (he is), when I saw this:
__On The News Quiz, Coren said that he edited his own entry on Wikipedia every morning just so he could change his date of birth to make himself appear younger__
That's how you do it.

Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report
Stephen Judd, 14:49 Oct 20, 2007

Coren? There goes one of the greats.
Was just laughing this morning. He entitled a book "Golfing for Cats" and put a swastika on the cover after reading that sport, pets and books about the Nazis sold best.

Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 3122 posts Report