Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Complaint and culture

325 Responses

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  • Russell Brown, in reply to Simon Lyall,

    I remember hearing years back that Don rings up the council/police daily to complain about minor things. The guy has been wasting people’s time for years.

    I'm told he calls Radio NZ's newsroom every time a helicopter takes off from the hospital.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • recordari, in reply to Juha Saarinen,

    Sample Don McDonald-gram.

    Jeepers wept, is that even... communication?

    AUCKLAND • Since Dec 2009 • 2607 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Forget complaints. How has one of our many tabloid tv shows not done a story on this guy?

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Sacha,

    How has one of our many tabloid tv shows not done a story on this guy?

    Close Up did. Hayden Jones is his special friend.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • B Jones, in reply to Russell Brown,

    my takeaway from the story was that there is no monitoring of perinatal harms apart from death of mother or baby. So birth injury that results in severe and lifelong disability isn't counted. This is not good enough.

    Past tense. From the story:

    outcomes like Charley’s, caused by oxygen deprivation at birth, will be included from next year in the Perinatal and Maternal Mortality Committee’s annual report.

    Having read the article, it's actually quite good. I'm not sure about the conclusion that a whole natural birth attitude amongst midwives is responsible for problems - the anecdotes and reports I've read suggest that poor communication and co-ordination between specialists and generalists is more of an issue. None of the midwives I've dealt with (eight over two pregnancies, including students) have struck me as being anything other than professional, risk-averse and evidence-based, and I have a very low tolerance for woo.

    That being said, I think Karen Guilliland comes across as v defensive in the article. Ironically she goes on about doctors doing unnecessary internal exams just for training - I had double the usual exams at my last delivery thanks to kindly agreeing to give the student midwife a learning opportunity. Was not fun. The only upside was that they explained exactly what they were looking for.

    Danyl. the breastfeeding thing, I think I can understand up to a point. It's hard at first, but worth persisting with until it comes right, and a bit of pressure can get people past the first few awful days. The trick is knowing when to cave and provide support for the alternatives.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 976 posts Report Reply

  • ChrisW,

    I trust Don McDonald has sent them a cheque for $0.05, on the basis that it's near enough, any difference from $50 is not material.

    Gisborne • Since Apr 2009 • 851 posts Report Reply

  • Ian Dalziel,

    Department of Corrections...

    I don't think it's reasonable to expect that every correction should take up time on the 6pm news, but certainly on the broadcaster's website, and perhaps even in a weekly half-hour programme on Sundays.

    The Press has a weekly section called "Putting it Right" - it can sometimes run to almost half a page!
    And even though they invite correspondence from pedants, etc, they can often be quite snarky (and borderline insulting) when presenting these corrections, always seems like classic guilt transference to me.

    Foiled again...

    The UC fencing club used to call itself the CUFC rather than the UCFC until we got a website and Canterbury University in England called to make us take it down.

    Is that when they became the Epee Tough riders?
    :- )

    What's up Doc?

    What distresses me is that midwives can vary so wildly…
    - as do obstetricians, GPs, any health professionals

    Case in point the case of the young man who died from meningitis recently and the doctors who sent him home - ostensibly because they were going home or going off shift or some such, sheesh...
    (it was on Checkpoint tonight - Aug 30)

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • nzlemming, in reply to recordari,

    Jeepers wept, is that even… communication?

    That's actually remarkably coherent, for Don. Proper sentences and all. Some of his stuff is phenomenally surreal, like some Salvador Dali of the alt.math world, to the point that I once thought he might be someone's art project or badly programmed AI.

    Waikanae • Since Nov 2006 • 2937 posts Report Reply

  • Ross Mason,

    OK. I'll fess up. I paid Don's bill 2 weeks ago. Took a while to find someone in TVNZ to aim at though. Started at Accts Payable, who passed me to her boss, who then tried to contact someone else. Next day I finally got the bank acct number and a contact name. Seems it got through to the legal eagles. Emailed the screen dump of the payment and got an email saying it (the picture) arrived. I have yet to hear from them with either an acknowledgement of the payment or a receipt.

    But ChrisW's brilliant idea would have worth doing, But who would complain and to who???

    I suspect TVNZ are having a wee bit of difficulty figuring out what to do with "my" $50.

    I paid because I too get pissed off with stupid statements of misfacts that should have been easily found out. I am certain they are broadcast in ignorance. (Perjoratively that one BTW).

    Recently there was a TV piece on the latest snake oil treatment. The "balance" said so. Take your blood, spin it down, suck up the plasma - sorry, rejuvanating plasma - and inject it into the wrinkles.

    Papers regulary correct mistakes within a day or so. Why can't TV do the same. Even a moving script across the botom would be useful. Oh...wait.....it could take all night to watch them go past.....

    Hiring some science/engineering intelligent subbies would be useful.

    Upper Hutt • Since Jun 2007 • 1590 posts Report Reply

  • George Darroch,

    I paid because I too get pissed off with stupid statements of misfacts that should have been easily found out. I am certain they are broadcast in ignorance. (Perjoratively that one BTW).

    Yeah. I can't read the paper or watch the news for that reason. It hurts my brain to see that much simplified ignorance mixed with a few hyped and cherry-picked facts.

    I saw a prominent academic speak today, on a highly newsworthy subject (not only important, but with a number of news values). I thought about how if I was in another country I've lived in, or was in a different age, that she might be on television. She might get 800 words on an op-ed page, but nobody's going to pick up the story otherwise.

    WLG • Since Nov 2006 • 2264 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Ross Mason,

    OK. I’ll fess up. I paid Don’s bill 2 weeks ago. T

    Good on you.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Graeme Edgeler,

    Form compl8 one weath 2nite 11p thu
    24 jun 630 fri 25th isobars subliminal advertising new shrek
    animate cartoon movie eye nose face repeat

    This is not a broadcasting standards complaint. It doesn't mention broadcasting standards (cf. OIA requests, which do not need to reference the OIA).

    Wellington, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 3215 posts Report Reply

  • Lilith __, in reply to nzlemming,

    he might be someone’s art project or badly programmed AI.

    I feel like that, some days.

    Dunedin • Since Jul 2010 • 3895 posts Report Reply

  • Christopher Dempsey, in reply to Russell Brown,

    And that cover.

    North and South has an embarrassing case of a teenage-girl crush on Mr Key. This month he turns 50! Last issue it was something about Key and his wife. The issue before that had a head shot of Key prominently centre of the page. It's just plain embarrassing.

    Parnell / Tamaki-Auckland… • Since Sep 2008 • 659 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz, in reply to Ross Mason,

    Hiring some science/engineering intelligent subbies would be useful

    Gotcha. There are no sub-editors in a typical TV newsroom, I expect a formal clarification.

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    And when it comes to "not ready for the BSA but still fucking enraging", Campbell Live send John Campbell to New York so he could epically miss the point of erring on the side of caution in the face of a hurricane threat. Not only lightweight but empty-headed.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Robyn Gallagher,

    Fans of Don may wish to follow him on Twitter -
    @McDONewt. It probably goes without saying that he's no less challenging to comprehend in 140 characters.

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report Reply

  • Robyn Gallagher,

    On the subject frivolous BSA complaints, I regular read the BSA findings (for professional reasons as well as entertainment value). There's a certain type of frequent complaint, the person who does a scatter-gun approach and seems to complain about everything, which usually includes a privacy complaint because, dammit, they're having to make the complaint in their own name. While these complaints are kind of amusing, I don't envy the BSA committee having to process them all.

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report Reply

  • Islander,

    Disclaimer: my remaining sisters are highly experienced midwives (both generally trained, one with a pysch qualification, and one with a tertiary degree. Both have children.)
    There are a lot of women who prefer to have midwives when delivering.. There are a lesser number
    of women who prefer to have gyne/obs. trained GPs (we have a wonderful one in our family also.)
    Normal birth is NOT a medical event: it is a natural event BUT- things can go wrong. Which is why none of the mums my sisters assist - in normal circumstances- are anything but your average normal mum (all matters pre-checked etc.) But - again- my sisters - who both work out of Australian hospitals
    now-are prepared & trained to deal with the abnormal, and have back-up.

    Karen G has been dealing with really unpleasant sniping from - anti-midwife people? - for a number of years. I can well understand if she gets a bit shirty
    when -yet again- another seemingly anti-midwife article comes up.

    And that fucking cover and story-line was exactly that.

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

  • Jackie Clark, in reply to jessica scott,

    But with respect, Jessica, that is exactly what the article was about. The old to and fro between the two disciplines, or approaches to childbirth, which oft leaves Mummy and Baby in the middle. I read the article a couple of weeks ago, and not being a parent perhaps, I didn't find the cover disturbing at all. I thought the article was reasonably well balanced over all, but then again I'm not a parent, so I have no vested interest in either approach.

    Mt Eden, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 3136 posts Report Reply

  • dc_red, in reply to Christopher Dempsey,

    Unfortunately 57.1% of the NZ public have a crush on Key too, according to the latest Fairfax poll.

    Dear god, think of the loonies and wild-eyed freaks that kind of support could bring to the House after Nov. It will be 1990 all over again.

    The horror. The horror.

    Oil Patch, Alberta • Since Nov 2006 • 706 posts Report Reply

  • Jackie Clark, in reply to dc_red,

    Have you looked at the National Cabinet lately? Isn't it already 1990? Me, I find it depressing to see much the same people in power as in those very depressing years.

    Mt Eden, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 3136 posts Report Reply

  • Deborah, in reply to Jackie Clark,

    The old to and fro between the two disciplines, or approaches to childbirth, which oft leaves Mummy and Baby in the middle.

    When I was pregnant with our eldest daughter, my brother, who is an anaesthetist, commented to me that the politics around giving birth were incredible, and during his time in medicine (starting from when he started med school in the mid 1980s), he had seen power pass from doctors, to midwives, but that still the women giving birth had no power. I guess many midwives would dispute that, except that my own experience was of midwives telling me how I ought to feel about childbirth. That kind of pissed me off. Moving from the orders of doctors, to the 'ought' of midwives, is no gain.

    Having said that, I am still grateful for the amazing competence of the third midwife I dealt with while in labour with my eldest, who got rid of the really rather silly one who was annoying the hell out of me.

    New Lynn • Since Nov 2006 • 1447 posts Report Reply

  • dc_red, in reply to Jackie Clark,

    I guess it was thinking it will be the same dubiously-talented Cabinet supported by a much-larger contingent of whacky and ill-equipped backbenchers.

    Oil Patch, Alberta • Since Nov 2006 • 706 posts Report Reply

  • Jackie Clark, in reply to Deborah,

    Yes. Reading that, I thought of all the women I have known in my life to have given birth - and you and I being the sameish age would know many, many I suspect - and whether or not the experiences with doctors or nurses or midwives were good, bad, or indifferent, there always seems to be that element of politics. And so it is with breastfeeding. I've always thought that it didn't matter how the baby was born, as long as it came out reasonably healthy. And I've always thought that it didn't matter what a baby was fed with, as long as it got fed. But then, once again, I'm not a parent so I can only feel joy or ire on behalf of other people.

    Mt Eden, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 3136 posts Report Reply

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