Posts by simon g
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It's only Key doing what he does at Question Time most weeks. And Carter doing what he does (i.e. doesn't). It's shameful, but it doesn't get noticed in the world outside the chamber.
The difference is, this time Labour MPs did more than just say "Oh, ref! Not fair!", and then carry on the game. They acted. It's been too long coming, but good on them for finally getting the Key/Carter scam into the headines.
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Thanks for this, Tim.
It is hard to be optimistic about investigative journalism in New Zealand. Who still does it?
I'm no media expert, so off the top of my head: David Fisher at the Herald, John Stephenson (who gets defamed for his troubles), Nicky Hager (who gets his rights trampled on), maybe somebody at Radio NZ? Phil Kitchin has jumped ship to a press secretary's job (I don't blame him personally, everyone has bills to pay and if media conglomerates won't, then somebody else has to). Do the monthly magazines still investigate (and no, I don't mean Investigate) ?
Without scrutiny, what do those in authority do? It's a rhetorical question, the answer is there in any history book.
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Duncan Grieve saves me half an hour of slow typing by commenting for me. Sums it all up, really.
When Mark Weldon said TV3 had a "killer line-up" he might have been all too prescient - unintentionally.
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Yes, I pretty much agree with Russell's post and comments since. I was wrong about Hansen too - he seemed like an extra-grumpy Griz Wylie, when he was Henry's assistant. Now I find him much more likeable than his predecessor, genuinely indifferent to the media spotlight, a sort of anti-Mourinho and all the better for it.
As for the rugby media overkill, I try to cope by putting up strong walls in my mental filing cabinet. As sport/entertainment, watching the ABs win is a delight. As a replacement for all other news it's insane, and I can only keep enjoying the success by avoiding the six o'clock swoon and associated bandwagon-jumping (does anybody, anywhere suddenly decide they like the All Blacks because the telly person has told us to?).
So yes, they're an impressive and likeable sports team, good ambassadors, and let's try and ignore the hangers-on and their North Korean tendencies.
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Other contenders:
Football's Real Madrid (European Cup 1955-60). If the test is winning knockout competitions against opposition that increases in strength with each round, they could boast 5 RWCs in a row - but only if the tournament is held every year. Tough to maintain over 20.
Cricket's Australia in the era of Warne/Waugh etc. 16 wins in a row, twice. Beats 16 wins in soccer or rugby, all the variables mean you can dominate a draw and miss out on a win in Test cricket.
But overall, if you weigh up the depth/breadth of the sports concerned, the All Blacks are probably the unofficial champions of the "middle ranking" sports - neither the narrowly-based (sorry, netball and rugby league) nor the global (athletics, basketball, soccer).
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NZME. Fairfax. Mediaworks.
Fearlessly dedicated to bringing you all the big stories ... about each other.
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I think the main lesson from Canada is that there aren't many lessons from Canada.
This happens all the time - local factors are of internal interest, and explain the election results well, but they can't apply to the rest of us. Plus, we don't really care (sorry Canada!). So instead we grasp for things that aren't there, extrapolating and shoe-horning into our own world.
But there's one lesson at least: FPP is a joke. Not that we need to be taught.
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That totally independent newsroom update:
Story on 'The Block' becomes a headline for TV3's bulletin tonight. And it's not as though today is a slow news day.
Meanwhile Scout Promo-Bingo is still delivering: they have all the goss we crave on megastars Tom Cruise, One Direction and, er, Dom Harvey.
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It would help if famous people would stop dying for a bit. If you had the standard dose of popular culture as a kid or young adult, then 20 or 30 years later those sports stars, musicians, actors and general telly faces are now in their dotage, and increasingly, their graves. Barely a day goes by without another obit for a name I recall from the 1970s or '80s. That adds to the ageing process like smoking 40-a-day.
This is why we should turn off the TV and read more books. The writers are already dead when you get to know them - or if not, it's a pleasant surprise.
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Polity: TPP, eh?, in reply to izogi,
the right to tick off the boxes on the CV about wearing body armour and reporting in a war zone.
I think that's exactly what it is. About once a year the political journos get to do the things they see in movies (reporting from the White House or a war zone) and they act like the county traffic cop who's been invited to tag along with the FBI for a day. It's embarrassing to watch.
It's also annoying that they think we're all stupid - or they pretend to. "John Key's secret mission - we could not reveal until now!". Er, note to our Pulitzer wannabes - it was "revealed" as soon as the PM disappeared from the media. When he doesn't show up for his Monday morning round, anyone who's at all awake will know that he's either on vacation or off to visit troops. And if it was a vacation, we'd be hearing about golf and Max's videos.
It doesn't bother me that it's kept "secret" for legitimate security reasons, it just irritates that journalists act like nobody else could possibly have figured it out.