Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Where nature may win

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  • Ian Dalziel,

    TV3's 90 minute news special on Sunday, was an exercise in redundancy, why repeat the same clips up to 3 times? If they had nothing else to add, why extend the show and then try and pad it out?
    - it made them look shallow and exploitative.
    Fail!

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia, in reply to Brent Jackson,

    Fair enough - but if my BH was down that mine right now, I'd be clinging on to hope (warranted or not be damned) like an alkie with a key to the liquor cabinet. Hope for the best, prepare for the worse isn't a bad m.o.

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

  • AndrewMcilroy,

    It's not just the Guardian that has a problem with the Geography. TV3's 6pm news on Friday first included Fire Services attending from Eketahuna (I assume was meant to be Ikamatua?) and then that more emergency personnel were on their way from Greytown...

    I've caught some of the press briefing thing this morning and yesterday - really leaves me (and others I've talked to) with general unpleasant feelings towards journalists - knowing a few people on the coast I'd be surprised if some of the locals don't express some private comments towards those seeking the "sensational headlines" - hopefully fairly forcefully.

    BOP • Since Nov 2006 • 2 posts Report Reply

  • Matthew Poole,

    Have to say, the whole recycling thing that's going on with the mine non-rescue effort at present reminds me very much of this cartoon. Very, very much.

    Auckland • Since Mar 2007 • 4097 posts Report Reply

  • 3410,

    I’m also getting irritated (trying to avoid a Craig-like burst of profanity that must be redacted) by the implications that the rescuers are a bunch of sissies.

    Yeah, that's obviously wrong, I think. I'll bet every other miner in the area is begging to go in as soon as allowed.

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report Reply

  • Glenn Pearce,

    I’ve said it before, “Emergency services personnel have it drummed into them again, and again, and again

    The IPCA found the Police failed in their duty of care in that situation you refer to, hardly a shining example Matthew.

    Auckland • Since Feb 2007 • 504 posts Report Reply

  • Andre Alessi,

    The cynic in me says to expect a raft of stories like this one being released in the next few days under the cover of this All-Pike-River-All-The-Time madness.

    Devonport, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 864 posts Report Reply

  • 3410,

    No wait, I’ve seen that movie!

    What about this movie?

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report Reply

  • Matthew Poole, in reply to Glenn Pearce,

    Glenn, they found no fault with the decision made by the officer in charge on the scene based on the information available to him, though. The fault was in communicating to that officer the knowledge that was present at the communications centre. So it's a perfect example.
    And, in any case, the message holds. Read the rest of that comment for an example with which even a picky bugger like you will have difficulty finding problems.

    Auckland • Since Mar 2007 • 4097 posts Report Reply

  • Lyndon Hood,

    FWIW "an underground loader is thought to be blocking the access way"
    http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU1011/S00588/update-on-rescue-at-pike-river-mine-221110.htm

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1115 posts Report Reply

  • Bart Janssen, in reply to Craig Ranapia,

    to the media pack:

    “Do your job responsibly, so I can do mine.”

    They call it fiction for a reason

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 4461 posts Report Reply

  • Bart Janssen, in reply to Ian Dalziel,

    it made them look shallow and exploitative

    Isn't that in the vision statement?

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 4461 posts Report Reply

  • rodgerd, in reply to Raymond A Francis,

    Something like this, that shows the dangers of mining, is more likely to have an effect on future mines than anything the Greens can wheel out It is a dangerous business

    If I were a cynical shitbag looking to use the situation to drum up support for, rather than opposition to, a mining agenda, I'd be (mis-)using it to argue that open-cast mines are much better than shaft mines.

    And mining is, indeed, dangerous. I can only respect the folks who got down into tiny holes in the ground to sustain the rest of our lifestyles. I'd likely freak out a few hundred metres in.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 512 posts Report Reply

  • Rich Lock,

    Not impressed at all with the tone of the 'stuff' coverage (what a fucking surprise).

    From the 17-year-old spending his first day underground to the man who volunteered to work two hours of overtime, meet the 29 men trapped underground.

    This isn't a reality game show. Show some fucking respect.

    back in the mother countr… • Since Feb 2007 • 2728 posts Report Reply

  • Damian Christie,

    I gotta say I read (for the first time in a while) the HOS, and found the contrived emotiveness of much of the writing unbearable. Particularly bad was the story entitled It begins as a normal day but ends in fear, which features lines like:

    Marty Palmer trudges out, his shift done. He passes his son Brendon on his way in, helmet on his head, safety pack on his back. This will be a long day. A very long day.

    and

    Talk is easy but facts are scarce.

    and

    At one Greymouth hotel, it's quiet. There are drinkers - but they're quiet drinkers.

    Fuck off.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1164 posts Report Reply

  • Tim Michie,

    I know the two events are very different in many respects but if glib media comparisons are going to be made with Copiapó 2010 then let's remember past the successful extraction that it was August 5 to 22 that the miners survived before discovery. And the attempts to get them out then began.

    Auckward • Since Nov 2006 • 614 posts Report Reply

  • Lucy Stewart, in reply to Tim Michie,

    "Different in many respects" barely covers it when you come to the differences between coal mines and gold mines. I don't think they're comparable at all.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2105 posts Report Reply

  • Tim Michie,

    That is one of the frustration of the coverage. But the immediate resolution some of the media appear to be expecting doesn't appear realistic in either.

    Auckward • Since Nov 2006 • 614 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz,

    Standard out of the box narrative, innit?

    For one thing, most people in Greymouth wouldn't know anyone working at the mine and might well go for a beer regardless, but the story doesn't fit that way.

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

  • Kyle Matthews,

    Particularly bad was the story entitled It begins as a normal day but ends in fear

    Are the HOS writers still going through puberty? I was half expecting it to break into "why don't nice girls like me?"

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Andre Alessi, in reply to Kyle Matthews,

    I think it's more along the lines of the Billy Adams School of Journimalism.

    That is-the more adjectives you can insert into a story, the better it is.

    Devonport, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 864 posts Report Reply

  • Jacqui Dunn,

    The thing that appalled me was TVNZ's use of the Pike River Mine to advertise its pathetic news.

    I couldn't believe they'd be so bloody callous!

    Deepest, darkest Avondale… • Since Jul 2010 • 585 posts Report Reply

  • Pete Sime, in reply to rodgerd,

    I think if anyone seeks to make political capital out of this right now, it will seriously backfire on them. I think around the inquest (I too have lost hope) we might see some posturing.

    That aside, what a bad year for the South Island. I'm a Dunedin lad born and bred and my heart goes out to my fellow mainlanders.

    Dunedin • Since Apr 2008 • 171 posts Report Reply

  • Scott A,

    Speaking of which, did I really hear that someone in Parliament asked John Key why New Zealand's mine standards weren't up to Australian standards, such as including oxygen supplies?

    I might've heard the story mis-reported, but that's a shocking case of political opportunism gone bad from however asked the question. Because New Zealand's and Australia's safety standards are mostly identical and oxygen supplies are not used in either of them. Because, um, oxygen is just a wee bit flammable...

    The wilds of Kingston, We… • Since May 2009 • 133 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Wylie, in reply to Scott A,

    . . . did I really hear that someone in Parliament asked John Key why New Zealand’s mine standards weren’t up to Australian standards, such as including oxygen supplies?

    Don't think anyone tried to make an issue of it in Parliament. Perhaps this is what you're referring to.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

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