Posts by Alfie
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We all remember Key announcing that he knew the identity of the infamous Rawshark. David Fisher says John Key was approached by police about this claimed knowledge.
A spokeswoman for the Prime Minister said: "Police gave the Prime Minister the opportunity to provide any relevant information. The Prime Minister indicated his suspicions on the identity of Rawshark were based on hearsay."
"Hearsay... it's Keysynonym for bullshit."
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Just eight weeks after MediaWorks launched the Glucina-reborn vehicle Scout, as many staff have abandoned the failed project.
Mediaworks staff are understood to have been briefed to expect an announcement on the site's future direction later this week.
Mediaworks have yet to respond to calls for comment.
The Standard points to Scout's mere 1700 Facebook likes and 325 Twitter followers as proof of Glucina's failure to engage an audience.
Yesss!
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Here we go again. Carter claims he "didn’t hear" Key’s offensive comments yesterday. Unlike everyone else in parliament and anyone who's viewed the video on TV or online. It’s not like Key was speaking quietly, was it. In fact he was shouting.
Of course Carter couldn’t do anything about the incident or make Key apologise today because “any offensive comments had to be dealt with at the time of the offence.” Handy.
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Polity: Cold, calculated and cynical, in reply to Lucy Telfar Barnard,
Both Audrey Young... and Tracy Watkins... paint Davis as the assaulter, and Key as the assaulted.
It's good to see that RNZ have the story straight. They point out that when it comes to acting more like thugs, the Diplomatic Protection Service has form.
It is not the first time DPS have stepped in to protect MPs from uncomfortable questions, most notably when they blocked reporters from asking then-National Party leader Don Brash about the Exclusive Brethren during the 2005 election.
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Here's a kiwi being held in a maximum-security prison in Perth, even though he hasn't committed a single crime. This guy has three medals of honour for serving in Afghanistan and his only 'crime' is an affiliation with the Rebels motorcycle gang. The Rebels are not a criminal organisation in Western Australia.
Decorated former Lance Corporal Ngati Kanohi Te Eke Haapu, better known as Ko Rutene, has been detained because his visa was revoked on the grounds that he is a member of a motorcycle club.
Maori Party MP Marama Fox had brought up Rutene's situation to Prime Minister John Key during question time on Tuesday, to which Key replied "I don't have the details of his case."
Fox had said Rutene's family had contacted her saying he had committed no crime.
"He is barely a member of the Rebels motorcycle gang, he is a decorated serviceman and he is being held in a detention centre," said Fox. "The Prime Minister's got it wrong and he needs to do more."
She said there were people being detained in Australia for minor crimes such as shoplifting and traffic offences, and now, "questionable character".
"This is not just about rapists, this is about Kiwis who have been held and detained in breach of their human rights, having already served their time and much less."
Shoplifters, rapists... they're all tarred with the same brush on Planet Key.
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Hey... I've just made my first Official Information Act request via FYI.
Dear Prime Minister,
During Question Time today you stated that a number of the New
Zealand citizens being detained in Australia's Christmas Island
prison camp were "child molesters, rapists and murderers." As you
obviously have access to better information than most people, may I
ask:1. How many of the New Zealanders held on Christmas Island have
been convicted and served prison time for child molestation?2. How many of the New Zealanders held on Christmas Island have
been convicted and served prison time for rape?3. How many of the New Zealanders held on Christmas Island have
been convicted and served prison time for murder.I look forward to receiving your response. Thanks in advance.
The site informs me that the PM is required to reply no later than December 8th, 2015.
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John Key waxes lyrical on his preferred flag. Or maybe he just waxes?
I like the particular blue that's on the blue and black, but it's just personal choice, I mean the red and blue one, as, the blue and black one as opposed to the red and blue one. I like the blue on the red...on the black and blue - Jesus, get it right.
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Speaker: The real balance sheet, in reply to Sacha,
Investigative journalism costs more. Agree about ‘news’.
News is expensive when it's done properly because of the large teams involved. I seem to remember the One News budget was around $45m per year, and that was back in the 90s. NZonAir paid TV3 around $56k for each of the ten 3D Investigates programmes which gives you a rough indication of the actual budgets involved.
When current affairs shows air in primetime, the advertising revenue usually dwarfs the cost of making the programme. When TV3 moved 3D to a backwater late night slot, the advertising revenue around the show would have declined markedly along with the audience. That fact alone would allow Weldon to claim that the series was unprofitable.
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Speaker: The real balance sheet, in reply to Sacha,
It costs a lot to do…
While that’s Weldon’s excuse, it’s not entirely true Sacha. I’ve worked across a lot of different TV genres and current affairs doesn’t cost the earth. Drama is the most expensive television to make while good investigative work only requires a comparitively small team – usually just the camera crew, producer, presenter and editor. The costs of executive producer and PA are spread across more than one programme.
By comparison, Trash TV like The Block costs much more per hour to produce than 3D.
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Thanks for a well thought out piece Tim. I'm sure you echo the thoughts of many of us who appreciate the art of good journalism.
The publication of Dirty Politics exposed this government's ongoing strategy to manipulate the media and silence any effective criticism of their policies. But a year on, apart from Slater junior's obvious and deserved fall from grace, little else seems to have changed.
While conspiracy theories are usually best avoided, it doesn't take a genius to join the dots between Key's friend Weldon, flag committee member Christie and the current government. And it's difficult to see any other logical explanation for the insane rush to kill investigative journalism at TV3.
Weldon's "come up with another show within six days" exercise is a farce. Over the years TV3 has enjoyed a tradition of excellent current affairs journalism from 20/20 through 60 Minutes to 3D. Regardless of the programme's title, the underlying ability of a small group of TV3 staffers to produce cutting edge current affairs has remained constant and no amount of rebranding will change that.
One wonders what Mediaworks' owners Oaktree Capital Management must think of this fiasco. After all, Weldon was brought in to return TV3 to profit in preparation for its eventual sale. Destroying the company's credibility and trashing its ratings would seem to be at odds with this goal.