OPCW Scandal.
There was no chemical attack in Douma.
journalism
Grotesque.
People from Douma have been to The Hague and spoken of their experiences on the night of a supposed chemical attack by Syrian forces.
Bridges and flouting the OIA
Simon Bridges tried to block the release of a report on a Kiwirail proposal. The Ombudsman warns against flouting the Official Information Act. But it’s a well established pattern of behaviour with this government.
Help Scoop ‘open the election’
It is the last day of the Scoop fundraising project, and still some way to go to reach the goal. Help out if you can.
Voices of Aleppo.
Ordinary Syrian people on Aleppo.
What to do about poverty (and a suggestion to the media)
An excellent piece on poverty by Lizzie Marvelly in The Herald this morning poses a question to which we already know the answer. (Plus some bonus rambling on the media.)
Death throes of journalism at TV3
Spinoff has the story.
TV3’s woes and a media bouquet
Excellent piece on TV3’s woes at Spinoff this morning. It’s a grim picture for news over all, and we are much the poorer for it. (Bonus bouquet to Kirsty Johnston at The Herald for her current series on education.)
Dirty Politics was in the public interest
Today’s anonymous editorial in The Herald makes for interesting reading, with the right conclusion in the end – Hager’s Dirty Politics served a genuine public interest, and should be legally protected as such.
The news is broken – pledge for Scoop
Scoop has a Pledge Me page: Establishing The Scoop Foundation for Public Interest Journalism. We need Scoop. Please give them a hand…
Bashar al-Assad and other Bastards.
What proper journalistic coverage of Syria looks like.
Stewart’s brilliant account of the significance of Campbell Live
Rachel Stewart’s piece should be required reading for anyone who cares about New Zealand.
NRT: TPPA would criminalise journalism
I/S at No Right Turn on how “the TPPA would criminalise investigative journalism”.
Jon Stephenson vs NZDF retrial
The NZ Defense Force have been defending themselves in a defamation case against some grossly inaccurate claims that they made about reporter Jon Stephenson back in 2011 (and that John Key recklessly and foolishly chimed in on). They have been forced to concede that their claims were inaccurate. But a hung jury about how defamatory the claims were is causing it to proceeding to second trial. It looks like legal maneuvering by the NZDF has failed. My view is that the NZDF are being completely stupid about owning up to their screwup.
Jared Savage still trying for more inches
I realise that journalists have to show some column inches sometimes to justify their existence on the payroll. However the “Investigations editor” Jared Savage at the the NZ Herald appears to be overdoing that. The latest is Jared’s attempt to puff up three routine immigration letters in 2005. He really must be desperate for those extra inches. There doesn’t appear to be anything about it that holds much public interest apart from a simple desire to smear. Hardly journalism.
NZ Herald: Be journalists, check before ‘reporting’
There is a self-serving anonymously authored editorial in the NZ Herald this morning “Editorial: Cries of bias will not stop reporting”. Well for a start the problem isn’t with the Herald reporting. The journalism on the story has been performed by amateur journalists and facilitated by incompetent editors who didn’t check the story. This probably including whoever wrote this pathetic editorial. It appears to have been an abrupt change from their usual competent style of journalism. Of course the question has to be asked about what caused this change?
Does a ‘news medium’ consist of spreading defamation, lies and rumours?
The Whaleoil blog is in court on Monday. There is a full day session in the High Court in Auckland looking at the appeal by Cameron Slater against Judge Blackie’s decision in the District Court that the blog is not a news medium. Therefore Slater was not a journalist, and was therefore not able to protect his sources who provided stolen material to allow him to apparently defame Matthew Blomfield. The decision will probably provide case law about the status of blogs in the law and the responsibilities of news mediums.
Voices and Power
When did the left leave the left? Or, perhaps more accurately, why do we continue to regard liberals as being of the left?
Journalism (The Intercept)
Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras, and Jeremy Scahill have launched a new on-line investigative journalism site.
The Scoop Foundation Project
Attack of the Knuckleheads
I wonder how far the knucklehead rebellion will spread…
“Name” journalism & voter dis-engagement
Criticism of “anonymous” bloggers is a symptom of change that threatens to make politics more democratic. The rise of “name” journalism and infotainment have increased voter dis-engagement. However, well-managed blogging (by any name) can contribute to democratic re-engagement.
Not in the public interest
Some prominent “journalists” are working to undermine Labour and a possible Labour-Green government: one that could turn against the neoliberal scam that such “journalists” feed off. The left should take heart – the time has come to support the “public interest”, as outlined by Nicky Hager.
The future of journalism
Confirmation today that The Herald is adopting a format more in keeping with its content, and going tabloid. The media world is changing fast…
John Key’s emergency descent
A great graphic from the Sunday Star Times as John Key starts dropping towards a hard landing in the personal popularity stakes. And in the great tradition of journalists everywhere, the rest of the article is about how he is still preferred by rubber fetishists.
The end(s) of journalism
Is serious journalism dying? Was it in any good it the first place? What must be done to ensure its survival? These are some of the questions to be tackled at The University of Auckland’s forthcoming Winter Lecture series on “The end(s) of journalismâ€.
Vote! Kean for Columbia
By David Farrar, Keith Ng, Rob Salmond, and Tim Watkin. Many people are concerned about the quality of public affairs journalism in New […]
Nats to journos: say what we want or shut up
Here’s Barry Soper on ZB on the ‘Kate-gate‘ Kiwisaver debacle: What I found interesting was the way it was handled. I was the only person […]
Spinning the spin.
Ruth Laugeson has an article in the Sunday Star Times about the increased numbers of communications staff employed by ministries. Entitled “Spinning govt […]
Shadbolt campaign funded by Hollow Men
Remember how I asked who was funding Tim Shadbolt’s campaign to “bring down the government”? Turns out the Southland Times was interested too […]
Desperation from the Herald
Yesterday’s supposed scandal over an email exhange between Michael Cullen and a National Party activist was an absurd piece of political activism from […]