Posts by Alfie
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Speaker: We don’t make the rules, we're…, in reply to Ian Dalziel,
including that closing bracket in the url link confuses the poor site-finding beast
Congratulations Ian. Anyone capable of fixing a simple broken link like that could also set up a VPN with their eyes closed. ;-)
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Paul Casserly has written a cracker of a piece today which sums up a lot of the feelings expressed in this thread.
If like me, you prefer the likes of Hay & Fagan, Lush and Campbell, it's easy to feel that the barbarians have got through the gates, eaten the last Mallowpuff (sic) and are now pissing on the cat.
Whatever happens, Campbell has an unparalleled legacy to be proud of. His show has made the last decade in NZ a better place to be. He was there for the people of post quake Christchurch and for the working poor hamstrung by zero-hour contracts. He takes politicians to task. He doesn't spend half the show droning on about himself.
I also suspect there is a generation of young journalists who have been inspired and even radicalised by Campbell. I hope they are lying in wait like a sleeper cell, ready for a future jihad of truth over profit. I like to dream.
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It’s our understanding the laws allowing parallel importing are about importing physical objects not digital services, so are not applicable – but this is another reason why the rules need to be sorted.
You undermine your own argument Kym when you say that you're fine with parallel importing, provided it doesn't apply to your particular "product". Like it or not, there are no special rules for television shows. Whether it's a widget or a digital download, it's still a product.
As a news junkie I read a few international news sites each day. Many of the stories I read appear on the Herald and/or Stuff sites the next day. Both NZME and Fairfax pay the content producers for the local publishing rights to those stories. Your business model suggests that my access to the Telegraph, Guardian or Washington Post should be blocked by my ISP -- on the grounds that the local sites "own" those local distribution rights. That is of course, nonsense.
It's pretty easy for any individual to bypass geo-blocking. The Lightbox business model relies on there being enough naive consumers who lack the nouse to access global services and fails to take account of the paradigm shift that's happening globally. The days of buying exclusive territorial rights to TV content are quickly coming to an end.
Threatening legal action against the smaller ISPs because Telecom, Sky and TVNZ have deeper pockets is hardly likely to win you any friends or new customers. Your argument is with the people who sold you territorial rights -- by all means go ahead and sue them.
And good luck with that.
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Hard News: About Campbell Live, in reply to simon g,
I don’t believe there was a “golden age” of NZ news and current affairs on telly, and I’m well aware that nostalgia can distort.
Maybe not a golden age, but television was certainly more honest in the early days -- especially when it came to news and current affairs. People like Simon Walker, Brian Edwards and Ian Johnson were serious journos who knew their stuff. Stories were produced with a genuine journalistic ethic -- more of a BBC-inspired diet than the Fox News Fast Food we're force-fed these days.
"To find out more, let's cross live to a junior journo who's somewhere less than ten kilometres from the place where the incident actually occurred several hours earlier."
TV technology has advanced in leaps and bounds. It's a pity that quality content has tended to head in the other direction.
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Hard News: About Campbell Live, in reply to Sacha,
Revealing interview with CEO Mark Weldon about his plans for Mediaworks.
Yet more Reality Hell
"The Bachelor, X Factor, The Block, MasterChef and Dancing with the Stars are now Weldon's life. They are, he says, "a pretty killer lineup".God help us all.
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Hard News: About Campbell Live, in reply to Sofie Bribiesca,
Does anyone know if Campbell Live format changed when Weldon and Christie came on board? Was that why we got more fluffy ducks and less investigative journalism ?
As one of the (apparently) few people who watch CL nightly, I'd have to say that we noticed a distinct style change this year. Possibly an attempt to make the show zippier (more yoof orientated?) as well as some blatant cross-promotion for TV3's reality shows like The Block.
Stylewise CL has always contained a mix of soft and hard stories, as you'd expect from a magazine format primetime show.
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Fran O'Sullivan points out the drastic change of direction in Mediaworks management.
Campbell Live's producers — and the MediaWorks news hierarchy — have stood staunchly by their star during the periods of occasional outright Government hostility.
But with new management at MediaWorks, the driving considerations have changed. Within the senior commercial world, it is said that when Mark Weldon applied for the top job at MediaWorks he drew on his relationship with Key and the public-spirited work he did outside of his prior role as chief executive of the stock exchange such as chairing an economic summit after the GFC to help build credibility for a role in a sector in which he had no prior experience.
In my experience, the best current affairs shows need management support and backing if they're to produce any stories of substance.
When I worked for TVNZ, the Holmes Show intended to run a story on Christchurch Deputy Mayor, Morgan Fahey. They had evidence proving that Fahey had sexually abused a number of his patients. But as soon as Fahey called in the lawyers, TVNZ management backed down and canned the story.
A couple of years later I was fortunate to be working for TV3's 20/20 programme when we finally succeeded in exposing Fahey. Same story, same lawyers, same threats. The difference this time was TV3 management who stood behind us 100% and allowed us to produce a powerful story.
After the story aired, there was a huge anti-TV3 backlash in Christchurch. However as a result of the programme, several more victims came forward and TV3 bravely gave us the green light to make a follow-up story. Fahey managed to injunct this piece for a while until the Appeal Court ruled that it was in the public interest. It was this story which eventually led to Fahey's arrest, conviction and jailing for rape and sexual abuse.
Mark Jennings must be in an invidious position at the moment. He's a true newsman, but he's stuck between the public value of Campbell Live and TV3's new right-leaning, "lowest common denominator" style of management.
Despite numerous petitions demonstrating an outpouring of public support for CL, Ben Uffindale pretty much sums up the inevitable result of this affair in TV3 heeds public feedback; will replace Campbell Live with show about petitions.
While that's a cynical attitude, it's probably very close to the mark.
In the same way that Nicky Hager's shocking revelations failed to ignite public disgust for National's dirty tricks brigade, I fear that the demise of the Campbell Show is a fait accompli.
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Hard News: About Campbell Live, in reply to Cecelia,
Fran O'Sullivan is marvellous this morning. Looks at the political angle.
It's worth adding a link to Fran's story. In this well-written and considered piece of journalism, O'Sullivan adds some much-needed context -- what's happening to the Campbell Show is straight out of the Dirty Politics / Crosby Textor manual on political manipulation.
Nice work, Fran.
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Hard News: About Campbell Live, in reply to Steve Barnes,
Campbell doesn't get a mention in the "Top Twenty"
Does anybody have any idea what sort of confidence factor would apply with those numbers?.Whoa there! Those "ratings" only apply to programmes which have received NZOnAir funding. In my experience, OneNews, 3News and both 7pm current affairs shows usually take out most of the top spots when you look at the top rating shows.
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Hard News: About Campbell Live, in reply to Euan Mason,
Why anyone would want to watch Mike Hosking's love affair with John Key is beyond me.
Esspecially when you have the option of watching Paul Henry's love affair with John Key on the other main broadcast channel.