Posts by James W
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Hard News: Dropping the Bomber,
I'm not a fan of Bomber's delivery, but obviously this whole thing reeks of dodgy selective censorship.
I've more of a problem with Jim Mora, trying so hard to appear neutral he tends to trivialise every topic so as to barely hide his own right-leaning convictions.
The Panel's good when Finlay McDonald or David Slack are on.
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Hard News: The Politics of Absence,
Hoardings have gone up in my area (Otahuhu, Mt Wellington). I note the National candidate is sharing his billboard with John Key. It really is a party of one.
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Hard News: Auckland, so much enormity to…,
Yeah, Tim Murphy ignores Mediawatch's constant requests to explain the Herald's actions, but makes sure he defends the misuse of "enormity" here. Priorities?
Perhaps it's because the subs have no control over the headlines, from what I hear, and Mr. Murphy just wanted to defend their honour.
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Hard News: Time to get a grip, in reply to nzlemming,
Time to plug The Corporation again.
I own it. It's chilling.
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Hard News: Time to get a grip, in reply to Mikaere Curtis,
I don’t think he got fired for being racist because I don’t think he was actually being racist when he made his offensive comments about Sheila Dikshit’s name. He was applying a non-intended cultural context to her name, and found it amusing to (and wildly beyond) the point of offence.
That wasn't the comment that got him fired. I think it had more to do with this:
"Are you going to choose a New Zealander who looks and sounds like a New Zealander this time?"
The Dikshit thing was a week before the Governor-General Sir Anand Satyanand comment.
BTW, I'm more concerned about his no doubt forthcoming primetime current affairs TV show, not his radio show.
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Hard News: Time to get a grip, in reply to Rob Stowell,
Companies exist to make money for their shareholders. They don’t exist to make moral decisions. Expecting them to is like expecting shampoo to do your homework :)
This is true. It ignores there are real live people in charge of those corporations that surely have morals, but I guess they ignore them in order to serve the corporation's money-making function.
I know in the US corporations have personhood thanks to the Supreme Court, which makes this issue considerably more thorny (afterall, if they get all the advantages of personal rights, why aren't they held to personal account?). I don't know what the legal standing of corporations are in NZ.
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Hard News: Time to get a grip, in reply to Ken Sparks,
On air Paul Henry plays the role of the bloke who “just says what everyone else is thinking” and those of us who don’t like it can and do complain – I suppose MediaWorks think that any publicity is good publicity. I suspect they’re not too bothered about any BSA-regulated complaints process – that’s just more publicity. However he does seem to have a few fans so maybe they just want to cater to them.
Yes, I know. I know exactly why Mediaworks have hired him, I know he will rate well, I know people will complain. Henry is not going to surprise anyone. We’ve all been here before. But I’d love to know where Mediaworks draws the line from a moral point of view, rather than a monetary one. Surely there are boundaries, right?
(I’d also love for all these “saying what's on people’s minds” euphemisms to stop and for people to call a spade a racist.)
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Hard News: Time to get a grip, in reply to Sacha,
operates under a higher bar
You may believe that, but I doubt TVNZ does
I don't believe that, really, but because TVNZ is taxpayer-funded, it is subject to political pressures that Mediaworks isn't.
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Hard News: Time to get a grip, in reply to Sacha,
Henry got fired for PR reasons.
What, you don’t think the BSA-regulated complaints process played any role in that?
Paul Henry "resigned" 20 October 2010. The BSA decision came out 18 March 2011. They found in favour of TVNZ's handling of the situation. They had nothing to do with his letting go.
From that Herald story announcing the resignation, TVNZ chief executive Rick Ellis:
If the situation had continued as it had, advertising might have been affected, he said.
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Hard News: Time to get a grip, in reply to Sacha,
I’m not saying a private company can’t hire him.
Red herring.They are subject to the same broadcasting standards and laws. Which Henry breached. Repeatedly.
That didn't get him fired, though, right? And it doesn't stop Mediaworks from hiring him. Henry got fired for PR reasons. The BSA is largely toothless, and his hiring shows that.
I'm specifically talking about a private company choosing to hire a racist. (I say private because a government-owned broadcaster, being ultimately responsible to its shareholders, the NZ taxpayer, operates under a higher bar.) I'm not talking about specific laws to stop someone working somewhere. I'm talking about the ethics of the decision.