Posts by simon g
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Thanks for that.
Memory is fallible, so I wonder if other PA readers have the same impression as I have, from 20+ years living in central Auckland (other cities are available!).
Conservatively, I'd say the number of visible "street people" (for want of a better term) has gone up x3 or 4 in a decade. And still increasing.
Must be our rock star economy.
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I realize that Rob can't control the media narrative, and so he's doing his bit:
when National infects our public conversation with lies and excuses, I’ll be here on Public Address providing a little ray of sun.
That's fine. But obviously there are two different issues at play here.
1) Pointing out the unfair and false - check. 2) Anticipating and combating the unfair and false. No check here.
Saying "But Stuff / Paul Henry / Hosking / Herald etc have got this wrong' is howling at the wind. It's what they do. It's what they want to do.
I would expect Labour to have - at the very least - prepared lines for the entirely predictable (they can't possibly say it wasn't predicted, that's absurd).
"John Key says Clinton's Treasury Secretary is barking mad - will he repeat that on his trip to Washington?" etc. etc.
If you have global giants in your corner, and you can't invoke them to counter ants like Farrar and Williams, then your communications set-up needs an overhaul.
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There are so many of these "non-truths" that take hold, never to be dislodged. It's one of National's propaganda strengths - and a source of my constant frustration with Labour. Would it be so hard to have used somewhere like Red Alert to have an instantly accessible list? Instead, when they are trotted out in daily discourse, I rely on memory (imperfect) and Google (also imperfect for older facts, like when Labour were in power and not all news was online). Don't have time, would much rather just point people in the direction of FactCheckersDotSomething.
Two of my regular bugbears: people referring to the Labour-Green government (there never was one) and Clark ignoring the result of the smacking referendum (wrong date, wrong PM). Those statements are repeated so often I'm starting to believe them myself ...
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The story has been covered tonight on One News - half an hour into the bulletin. It was a fair (even amusing) report, but it represents a tiny fraction of the lead coverage given to the original raid, and the ensuing Hager-bashing in various public forums.
As so often (see Bradley Ambrose, John Stephenson etc) the belated vindication is only a footnote, the damage has already been done.
Some journalists themselves could review their own behaviour here. Many have been prominent in the media telling us about nasty online abuse they get from trolls, but the same broadcasters/columnists are shamefully silent when the abuse comes from those in power.
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More generally, this fits in with the overall TVNZ perspective, and its ingrained assumptions about "us" that go beyond racism. Most days you'll hear One News say something like:
"Oil prices are up - how will that affect your family at the petrol pump?"
"Interest rates down - what will happen to your mortgage?"
By trying to be relatable, to include us as their faux-friends, they exclude many.
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From the 'some of my best friends' school of debate:
"TVNZ's Gillespie said 120,000 people had already participated in the survey, including Māori." (Stuff report)
So that's OK then.
Stuff has opened up their story for comments, so we'll soon get the response of self-appointed "typical Kiwis". Best avoid, if you want to keep enjoying your day.
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Playing the politician's game of not answering your questions but asking/answering mine instead, I'd suggest there's a continuing gap on the conservative right. A succession of failures (Christian Coalition 1996, Dunne's brief expansion of caucus post-2002, Colin Craig etc) but the voters are still out there - see any online forum or talkback. One of Key's political achievements has been to keep them in his column while ignoring their causes (smacking law, Treaty, gay marriage). They jump up and down in anger and then ... vote National. (Although flag-waving Winston keeps some on board).
Absent Key, will they find a more favourable leader? Or will they start yet another project, doing God's work for Godzone? Preferably with 4.9% of the vote ...
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Here's the default TVNZ position: Chinese = immigrant. Kiwis = not ethnic Chinese.
One News reports on Chinese New year, in 2016. Note the language used, the distinctions made.
It's disturbing that such attitudes still prevail, and even more so that they go to air on our national - sorry, Kiwi - network.
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That's too optimistic, Ben. Young protestors were just as mobilised against Nixon and Reagan - before they won landslides.
The mobilising has to happen within the Republican Party. It beggars belief that a conservative Hillary Clinton is somebody they are prepared to try and stop with a Trump. But when (not if) he gets the nomination, watch them fall in behind their guy. Hope I'm wrong - these are scary times. But then, they are scary people.
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Pretty good piece by Steve, bearing in mind the readership's likely background knowledge (nil).
Although it is another case of the OCR (Overseas Coverage Rebound), where a mention in the international media gets picked up by us (because nobody else cares) after it's been written by us in the first place (because nobody else cares).