Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Angry and thrilled about Arie

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  • Joe Wylie,

    Though missing red zone items turned up at a demo firm’s salvage yard, it wasn’t them, it was looters wot got in first. Honest guv.

    Outside the red zone, Sunday’s protest against CERA’s woeful lack of communication with orange & white zone residents will go ahead in the botanic gardens, despite “Council botanical services operations team manager” Jeremy Hawker’s huffing that the protest could not proceed without council approval and was probably not the right sort of activity for the Botanic Gardens.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • Ian Dalziel, in reply to Joe Wylie,

    grassroots and groundswell...

    ...and was probably not the right sort
    of activity for the Botanic Gardens.

    What better place to plant the seeds of a revolution?
    I suggested that they move it on down to the Council funded Fanzone for the private company IRB's Rugby World Cup, people are allowed to gather there...

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to Joe Wylie,

    turned up at a demo firm’s salvage yard

    No doubt hoping no one would notice that inconvenient fact - and unlikely to be any consequences anyway with the porkmeister in charge.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Ian Dalziel,

    a broken record...
    Not sure which thread to put this on...
    Maybe we need some specific disaster threads to keep things all together?

    Staff photographer, Dean Kozanic, has a great piece in the Press today about the exclusion of Media from the Chchch Central City Red Zone - makes many good points, methinks...

    The relationship between media and those who find themselves in a position of authority is an often troubled work space.
    The path information takes between the two can become a one-way street, with authority using silence and bully tactics to keep control of whatever it believes is not in the public interest.
    But, in the same way that every politician remembers the photographer's name in election year, when the media is needed to convey authority's desire to give or receive information the lights are all green.
    The adage that defines news as something that someone somewhere does not want published - everything else is advertising - is brutally true. In the case of the more serious stories, if offence is not taken by someone then the truth is probably missing.

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • Just thinking,

    Watched our city as infotaiment last night.
    http://www.throng.co.nz/spca-rescue/spca-rescue-christchurch-earthquake-special-on-one

    I'm too worn down to be mad that the SPCA, Police et al have used this as there PR/revenue drive focus.

    Key point to remember USAR rescue dogs are just pets whose powers to assist are oversold like their powers to paint.

    No issue with the rescues undertaken, welldone. The SPCA just didn't need to milk it for Reality TV and the fund raising to come.

    Putaringamotu • Since Apr 2009 • 1158 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic, in reply to Ian Dalziel,

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    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report Reply

  • merc,

    The department has put about 200 households in contact with private landlords.
    I hope they review their responses some day, http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/5782843/2-84m-spent-on-scrapped-housing-scheme

    Since Dec 2006 • 2471 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Wylie, in reply to Ian Dalziel,

    Staff photographer, Dean Kozanic, has a great piece in the Press today about the exclusion of Media from the Chchch Central City Red Zone - makes many good points, methinks...

    So he does, but I think we're entitled to wonder why he's waited until now to voice his frustration. The exclusion of Kozanic and his colleagues is a symptom of the deliberate dumbing-down of earthquake coverage, first under civil defence, then in a more organised form with CERA. In the months that the media have been largely sidelined from the CBD red zone, CERA has given near-exclusive access to Wellington photographer Ross Becker.

    Commissioned and funded by the National Library to make sense of what happened and provide a disciplined record of the progress of recovery, Becker travels from Wellington for his assignments. In return for near-exclusive access to restricted areas he effectively functions as CERA's official photographer, and as a state-appointed substitute for the likes of the Press's Kozanic. Something of a self-promoter, together with his wife he runs a Facebook fan page displaying his earthquake work. In a recent posting they gloated over

    a user count of 5004. Even more spectacular is the number "1574 people are talking about this" which is a measure of how many of you talk and interact with us. I like the way we share knowledge as we try to get to grips with what has happened and what will happen in Christchurch.

    Nice to see that the quakes have provided a career-boosting silver lining for a couple of Wellingtonians.

    This is the kind of media coverage that CERA, and perhaps more disturbingly our own "National" Library, appear happy to foster - a Facebook page with 5000+ "likes", playing to the lowest common denominator by presenting a sanitized and dehumanised version of the "recovery". Dean Kozanic might do well to remember that, at the time he was sidelined from the red zone, his own newspaper ran this fawningly uncritical piece on his substitute's work.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • Ian Dalziel,

    depressed photons...
    To be fair I suspect Dean Kozanic has been voicing these sentiments since they were initially excluded, but photographers usually don't get a word in the papers, just a byline. I cynically think that it probably only now serves his masters' purposes to publicly air them, after trying all other avenues...

    Though it seems to have resulted in new inner city footage on
    The Press website today...

    I won't see Becker's shots as I don't do the FaceBook thang...

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • Ian Dalziel,

    Salvage messiah...

    it was looters wot got in first. Honest guv.

    Looks like the 'looters' moved everything to the back of the building!
    Very interesting body language in the photo that goes with this story...

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Wylie, in reply to Ian Dalziel,

    To be fair I suspect Dean Kozanic has been voicing these sentiments since they were initially excluded, but photographers usually don't get a word in the papers, just a byline. I cynically think that it probably only now serves his masters' purposes to publicly air them, after trying all other avenues...

    Reckon.
    The Press are fortunate to have Kozanic on staff, plus a few others who could be singled out for honourable mention. If only the paper could crawl out from under its ancient assumption that it's there to influence opinion, rather than objectively report . . .

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • Just thinking, in reply to Ian Dalziel,

    That photo says fucken heaps.
    What a strong woman.

    Putaringamotu • Since Apr 2009 • 1158 posts Report Reply

  • Islander, in reply to Just thinking,

    And that monstering man needs to be brought to heel. Fucker.

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • Just thinking,

    If you wondered what these men look like:
    http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/5124667/Red-zone-work-pauses-for-fundraiser
    Buzz March is considered one of the good guys, but fuck, where are we now?

    Putaringamotu • Since Apr 2009 • 1158 posts Report Reply

  • Ian Dalziel,

    Central City is NOT a Red Zone...
    CERA goes into the bus tour business soon*, but I just wish they would stop referring to the central city demolition area as a 'Red Zone' - I don't believe anyone's land is being forcibly purchased and remediated/strengthened by the government, sure they are bullying buildings down, but the empty section still remains the property of the owners - I see Gerry is doing his heavy enforcer thing with the Clarendon

    The owner of the earthquake-hit Clarendon Tower will take an "awful" financial hit if it refuses to co-operate with authorities, Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee says.

    Man, he just needs the fedora, cigar and double breasted suit
    and ya couldn't tell him from other stand-over merchants
    like Al Capone, et al....

    Good to see that the antiseptic of media sunlight has revealed more of one building's tenants' property - but that's just one of how many?

    *I wonder if it is a piece of ironic commentary that these tours begin on November 5 - Guy Fawkes day - Guido being, possibly, the last man to enter a Westminster-style Parliament with honest intentions!

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • Sofie Bribiesca, in reply to Ian Dalziel,

    Good to see that the antiseptic of media

    ” the manager of the building has urged tenants not to talk to the media.”

    And this gem
    “CCHTT believes it is important for the process [that] an investigation is carried out without the involvement of the media”.
    A tenant, who asked not to be named, said the email was puzzling.
    “I don’t know why it is so damaging to talk to the media. It’s as if they are saying: `Shut up and trust us’. Well, I trusted them once and look what happened,” he said.
    And there we go full circle back to the other thread via Minister BrownKey , “About Occupy Wall St”

    What pisses me off is the carnival side show Bob style images these bus tours are conjuring up. A modest fee? Why do people with business or land in the area need to pay to go there? Seems totally wrong.

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report Reply

  • Just thinking, in reply to Ian Dalziel,

    Guy Fawkes or Parihaka invasion?
    http://www.parihaka.com/About.aspx

    Putaringamotu • Since Apr 2009 • 1158 posts Report Reply

  • Just thinking, in reply to Ian Dalziel,

    Ian, I work on the edge of the cordon. Our colour code is white. Meaning they won't say. They know as a block either side is green.
    Our concrete columns go into silt.
    Next shake what will happen?

    Putaringamotu • Since Apr 2009 • 1158 posts Report Reply

  • Ian Dalziel, in reply to Just thinking,

    WhiteShake - dirty rock n roll...

    I work on the edge of the cordon

    That triggers a name for the inner city area
    Cordon Blue - or too many cooks!

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Barnes, in reply to Ian Dalziel,

    *I wonder if it is a piece of ironic commentary that these tours begin on November 5 – Guy Fawkes day

    We used to call it "Firework Night" when I were a Kid...
    Te Herald, on the other hand, would call it something like...
    A huge fire and light show

    That triggers a name

    This Trigger's a horse...

    Must be having a Cowboy Day.
    ;-)

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Gerry to the rescue, overriding urban planning to allow more old-style sprawling suburbs for 45,000 houses. Let the land-bankers and developers rejoice. Pork for Christmas.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic, in reply to Sacha,

    Gerry to the rescue, overriding urban planning to allow more old-style sprawling suburbs for 45,000 houses. Let the land-bankers and developers rejoice. Pork for Christmas.

    I wonder if it has a certain McMansion devleoper's fingerprints all over it.

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Barnes, in reply to Kumara Republic,

    I wonder if it has a certain McMansion devleoper's fingerprints all over it.

    I found this interesting, Capitalism at its finest, with a bit of help from the Government of course.
    HOUSING: Up from the Potato Fields
    Monday, July 03, 1950

    To a man, Bill Levitt and all the other builders know exactly whom to thank for the boom and the steadily expanding market. Said one San Francisco builder last week: "If it weren't for the Government, the boom would end overnight."

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Wylie,

    The former wannabe nemesis of lightbulb obsessives doesn't appear to have changed his ways. Thanks to secret high-tech methods employed in the CBD red zone, Christchurch central area commander Inspector Derek Erasmus is winning the war against real crime, namely the flagrant dissing of CCTV cameras:

    CCTV cameras were used to capture people fooling around at the red zone fences.
    "Some people duck over a fence and wave their arm and then leap out again and we have most of them on camera."

    Sleep easy, Fendalton?

    Meanwhile Erasmus appears to have little proactive interest in the mounting evidence of demolition-related pillage happening in what's presumably his bailiwick.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • Hebe, in reply to Just thinking,

    That photo says fucken heaps.
    What a strong woman.

    Onya Helen. If Gerry'n'Bob were really serious about sorting out the city they would install Helen Gatonyi in a position of power.

    Christchurch • Since May 2011 • 2899 posts Report Reply

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