Dark Days

It's a pretty fraught time to be a journalist in New Zealand at the moment. Retrenchment, lay-offs, cut-backs, and redundancy are words with which we are all becoming too familiar. A wide range of broadcasters; TRN and Radioworks in radio, and Prime and TVNZ in television, are all in the process of shedding staff.

Or, as out bosses like to tell us, adjusting to the current economic climate.

90 staff are being axed at TVNZ of which around 20 are from news and current affairs. This follows on from cuts TVNZ made but a year or so ago when around 160 people were sent down the road. It's hard to see what fat, if any, there can possibly left to trim within TVNZ's news unit. How on earth they're going to cover morning news, the midday bulletin, the 4.30 pm bulletin, news at 6 and the late news, beggars belief. Add into that its commitments to TVNZ7 and its news service and one has to surmise it's an impossible task for those that are left.

But as bad as things are at TVNZ the situation at Prime News is far far worse. Its 5.30 news show already operated on a shoestring and, with no disrespect to those who work there, its quality always was well short of what it should have been. This is now going to go downhill double quick. From what I've been told the production, camera, and editing staff have pretty much been massacred. The show will now be piped out of Sydney based on the efforts of 4 video-journalists (three in Auckland and one in Wellington) and very limited production support.

Basically Prime News is now terminally fucked. There's absolutely no way they will be able to produce a credible news programme on those numbers. My suspicion is that their bulletin will either be cut in length, or canned altogether, within six months.



To all my colleagues out there who are now facing a fraught future. My sympathies are with you.

Mistletoe and - Oh Shit - Some Bugger's Pinched Me Wine!

These boys are in the shit.

And deservedly so.

Yes in the wee hours of this morning - around 2.30 am to be precise - they were nabbed making off with 37 bottles of wine from the Press Gallery's annual Christmas Party. Three boxes worth actually - and they'd even had the cheek to pinch a chilly bin and pack it with ice so they could keep the chardonnays and sauvignon blancs nicely chilled.

To be precise one was caught and referred to police but his colleagues will be as well. The wonderful thing about Parliament is that it has security cameras everywhere and today the security staff have been collecting all the shots they need to identify the three that weren't picked up. Not that it really matters as it is known who they are.

Now had they made off with a couple of bottles I suspect the Gallery members would have required they return them and left it at that (this has happened in the past with a certain gentleman that made off with a case of bubbly).

But to take over three dozen is beyond the pale. Especially given the culprits had been merrily drinking free booze all night.

A brief four line apology was sent to the Gallery Chair this afternoon via Parliament's internal mail from the person arrested. I suspect had he come down and fronted in person it might have been taken a little more seriously.

Of course the fact a note was sent might be because he's already been given the arse from the premises. I'm reliably informed there are a number of senior Labour MPs who'd happily throttle those involved.

Other than that it was a damn good party - kudos to the organisers.

Good Behaviour Bond

In the past the Radio Awards have been known for, shall we say, moments of colourful behaviour. It seems steps have been taken as next year the event has a code of conduct.

Anyone care to place a bet on whether it'll be breached?

Things That Piss Me Off

Number 1 (in a series of hundreds)

- companies that put out video press releases instead of fronting for interviews.
Cadbury NZ you can fuck right off!

- media outlets that use said video press releases (you know who you are)

- wingnuts that think New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters deliberately put himself in a position where he could be investigated by the Privileges Committee and the Serious Fraud Office just so he could play the underdog and then, hey presto, pull the rug out from everyone's feet and prove he was in the right all along.
Seriously, do you think anyone (particularly a politician in election year) wants to be in a position where they might be perceived as being a duplicitous and fraudulent S.O.B??

But on the positive side ....

Apparently I'm part of dark influence on New Zealand politics and part of a hidden agenda to destroy a political party.

How cool is that???

Though I must say being a dark influence doesn't pay that well and if there's a pot of money on offer I'm buggered if I've heard of it (let alone seen it)

PS I know I've not been blogging a lot. Truth be told I can't be arsed.

Off the F**king Deep End.

This story's made a headline or two of late. It's a train-wreck all by itself.

But then I discovered the woman at the centre of the story has been blogging about it.

I suggest you read the comments - if you can stomach them.

Un-fucking-believable.

Missing in Action

No not me.

TV3's new midday bulletin.

It was supposed to play for the first time today (yes ahead of tomorrow's Sunrise launch) under it' flash moniker "3News@12". It had been discussed in the news team's morning conference call and it seemed it was all go.

We all dutifully tuned in at midday and what did we get?

Everybody Loves Raymond.

The journo's at TVNZ are pissing themselves.

Parliamentary Porkie Pies

And believe it or not I'm not talking about David Benson-Pope.

On Tuesday Herald journalist Simon Collins had a beaut wee scoop about a new anti domestic violence/child abuse initiative that was about to be launched by the Government. naturally this had every other journalist in the Press Gallery scrambling to match it.

But what was the response from the office of Minister of Health Pete Hodgson?

His press secretaries were emphatic in denouncing the Herald story. They said it was completely wrong and no such initiative was planned. One staffer went so far as to suggest Simon Collins had got things mixed up and could be referring to a Ministry of Social Development announcement planned for next month. Even the staff in the office of acting Minister for Social Development and Employment, Steve Maharey, were running the same line.

That is until Maharey went on Radio New Zealand, Newstalk ZB, and Radio Live and confirmed the details of the Herald's story.

And sure enough the policy was announced today.

So what are we to make of this?

Well either Hodgson's staff are incompetent, or they're liars. It beggars belief that they weren't aware of the policy and that it was due for release. Press secretaries, by their very nature, are in those sorts of information loops. While evasion and manipulation is to be expected if they don't wish to talk about such things flat out lying is not.

While journalists always treat press secretaries with a fair degree of scepticism there is a firm rule that lying is not good form. Generally it gets found out and once it is there's no way a reporter will take anything that person says at face value ever again. Any residual trust is dead and buried - permanently.

Lying not only undermines the credibility of the press secretary it also damages the credibility of the the minister. Press secretaries are an extension of their minister, a mouthpiece as it were. Their actions reflect on those that titularly control them.

Pete Hodgson image is now tarred, and it's all because his staff didn't have the good sense to be straight up with the media.

One would have thought Labour would have learned a few lessons from the Benson-Pope experience.

Apparently not.

Vive la Revolution

Politics is a strange racket sometimes. It sort of goes without saying that, by and large, your average politician (and most of them are distinctly average) is a fairly thick skinned creature. It's not the sort of career one chooses if one is easily hurt by criticism. For most politicians a personal attack slides of their hide like mud off a basking hippo.

But when it comes to the media it seems to be a different story - at least as far as their behaviour in the sacred precincts of the debating chamber is concerned. Deputy Prime Minister Michael Cullen is selling the new broadcasting rules as a liberalisation give that TV cameras will be allowed to show reaction shots. And, to be fair, that is a relaxation from current practice. However not extending the same liberty to still photographers is somewhat perplexing. the argument a single moment can be taken out of context has limited merit when newspapers can quite freely take a still from a broadcast agency.

But this is all a sideshow when compared to the fundamental issue. Blocking the use of TV footage for satire and banning any images that might denigrate an MP's image.

It's skewed from the beginning. A cartoonist, such as Tom Scott, is free to lampoon and a radio journalist is free to describe what they see in whatever terms they choose. Yet a TV journalist, or a still photographer, is not allowed to show what anyone in the public gallery can see. Doesn't this strike you as a little out of kilter?

If anyone in the public gallery can see what an MP is up to then so too should any other member of the public elsewhere in the country. However MP's are canny beasts. They know the power of an image and there's no way they''ll allow the public to see them as they really are. The behaviour in the Debating Chamber in Parliament regularly borders on the farcical and MP's would prefer that not become common knowledge.

Michael Cullen made the claim this week that Parliament is for debate, not theatre, though how he managed to say it with a straight face is beyond me. Theatre outstrips debate by a country mile in our Parliament and the Right Honourable Dr Michael Cullen is one of the practice's most well known exponents.

It's been gratifying to see the media thumb their noses collectively at the rules this week. Kudos to TVNZ, TV3, Prime, the Dominion Post, Newstalk ZB and others for taking a stand against the self righteous, self-serving, and hypocritical line taken by our country's elected members.

(oh and if anyone's interested Auckland Issues Minister Judith Tizard managed to sleep through most of Question Time today. She only woke when prodded by Dover Samuels who noticed the Press Gallery had their eyes on her)

Nice Work If You Can Get It

Well the rumour mill is bubbling about the salary being paid to TVNZ's new communications manager Peter Parussini. The word is it's around $250,000 which is a hefty sum and more than what some of the presenters actually get.

It's also equivalent to the salaries of five intermediate level journalists - do you think the 30 odd news staff that have just been axed in TVNZ's cutbacks might be a little pissed off?

How RNZ Broke the Muliaga Story

I've just figured out how RNZ got the scoop of the year.

I'd been wondering why the name of the Muliaga family spokesman, Brenden Sheehan, was so familiar. The fact he was a unionist was well known but what I'd forgotten was that his union represents RNZ. It turns out I've even blogged about him before.

Inquiring Minds Want to Know.

I'm sure Ian Wishart won't mind this as he appears to be great fan of maximum disclosure in all matters public and private.

The thing is I'm slightly curious about the John Dallison Flannery that is listed as a shareholder on HATM Magazines Limited - the firm responsible for publishing Investigate Magazine. Is he the same John Flannery that was formerly a director of John Flannery and Associates?

I only ask this because the firm in question is listed as a private investigations outfit based in the North Shore.

Just how many PI's (Wayne Idour aside) is Mr Wishart involved with?

The News

I was going to write something deep, meaningful, and insightful about the quality of our broadcast news.

And then I found this.

What We Call the News | Send To Friends | Funny Animations at JibJab

Says it all really.

However at some stage in the not too distant future I will write something about how well, and how poorly, we are served by our news outlets.

You're Nicked Son

It seems every time a Chinese dignitary visits this country the powers that be want to placate them at the cost of some of our basic democratic rights. This latest incident involving Chinese Capital news reporter Nick Wang is another case in point.

It is patently unacceptable for the Police and the Diplomatic Protection Squad to act the way the did. It is not for the Chinese Embassy to determine who can and cannot cover political events in this country. Their attempts to pressure the situation should have been firmly rebutted.

The officers involved can't plead ignorance. The officer based in Parliament is well versed in the rules and regulations pertaining to media coverage and surely knows the only person who can revoke a journalist's accreditation is the Speaker and no-one else. For him to issue the threats that he did is simply untenable.

Nor do our politicians come out of this with any glory. Both Helen Clark and Michael Cullen tried to fudge the issue yesterday saying events were confused, that media access to the Beehive core was unclear, and that Mr Wang may have caused trouble.

This simply does not stack up. Nick Wang, who's had Press Gallery accreditation for 8 years had sought permission from the Speaker to film the event. Furthermore the signing ceremony had been listed on the Government's Ministerial Diary as a photo opportunity - surely a clear indication that media were entitled to attend. But what really dismantles the facile arguments of Clark and Cullen is the video recorded of the event (kudos to Nick's cameraman here). It quite plainly shows he acted professionally at all times and did no more than raise reasonable objections to what was a blatant abuse of procedure. The PM and her deputy should hang their heads in shame for trying to pin the blame on Mr Wang. That they tried is unforgivable.

It's a sad fact the real reason the politicians are trying to downplay and avoid the issue is their drive for a free trade agreement with China. They simply don't want to offend the Chinese and risk the loss of a lucrative deal. This obsession with the dollar isn't just restricted to the Government though - National Party Leader John Key wanted to stay as far away from the matter as possible saying he couldn't comment "because I wasn't there" and "it was Dr Cullen's meeting".

It's a shame the leaders of our democracy don't have the gumption to stand up for one of its basic tenets.

Freedom of expression isn't as important to them as is free trade. How sad is that?

However the good news is Speaker Margaret Wilson has come out on the side of the media and is sending a stern please explain message to the police, as well as note to the Chinese Embassy reminding them of how we do things here. It's too soon to say but I would expect at least the Police and DPS to be forced to apologise to Nick Wang ... and maybe even the Chinese Embassy?

The Sky is Falling.

I've been meaning to write something meaningful and entertaining for a wee while now, but it seems I just can't find the motivation. Either that or life is very boring.

Instead I'll do something a little bit introspective on the media industry that I work in.

Sky TV is going head to head with TVNZ and TV3 in providing a New Zealand television news service. Well you can't really call it head to head as Sky has put bugger all in the way of resources into it. All they seem to have done is renamed the rather bare bones approach that had been being done by Prime News. That is a couple of clotheshorses reading the news, and a bare handful of reporters (all North Island based I believe) scrambling to cover the big issues of the day.

What it looks like is simply a spoiler to TVNZ's upcoming 24/7 digital news service (though that's likely to be a disaster as well).

I have a lot of respect for those involved in the programme (I know one or two of them personally), but you can't cover a country when 90 percent of your scant resources are based in Auckland. Furthermore the lack of coverage sticks out like dogs balls when you have to resort to doing phone interviews with someone in the South Island to provide some sort of vestige of information on a significant story.

TV's about pictures, leave the phone interviews to the radio journo's. You look like a bunch of cheap dicks when you do it.

If Sky News is to provide any sort of semi-decent coverage they're going to have to have bureaus in all the main centres - Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, and Christchurch - and access to reliable freelancers/stringers in places like Dunedin Tauranga, Napier, Rotorua, Invercargill, and Northland. Somehow I don't see them coughing up the cash needed to finance that sort of operation. News is an expensive business, and these days it's the beancounters that call the shots, so the chance of an extensive, and professional, Sky News setup is about as likely as celibacy in a brothel.

It seems I'm not the only one that is thinking this way.