Hard News by Russell Brown

Read Post

Hard News: Birth of the Nasty

187 Responses

First ←Older Page 1 2 3 4 5 8 Newer→ Last

  • Idiot Savant,

    Probably some issues with pests, as the winters won't necessarily kill annoying bugs any more.

    And we can get invaded by nastier bugs from overseas who prefer a warmer climate. Malaria, anyone?

    Palmerston North • Since Nov 2006 • 1717 posts Report Reply

  • Idiot Savant,

    Or before you link, ask yourself 'Should I be creating traffic for the newspaper that thinks Garth George's opinion is worth publishing?' The herald sales your eyeballs to its advertisers, every view on its site is worth money to it.

    That's what Adblock is for. See no ads, give no revenue.

    Palmerston North • Since Nov 2006 • 1717 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    And he's been gone for a generation, so when are we getting over that?

    I think Russell's point was not to get over it or not, but to point out that the author of the article managed to stretch back a whole 24 years, but apparently had no memory of 25 years ago.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    I don't want to be rude, but I have to ask: If you guys don't like 'Granny herald', how about not linking to its articles?

    I don't hate the Herald at all, still less its website. And I've been grumpy when the Herald website has quoted Public Address without a link back. There aren't many people I won't link to.

    But mostly, psychoanalysing the Herald's editorial voice is something of a hobby. I've been enjoying the practice for years.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Idiot Savant,

    OK so it may have started with Muldoon, could have been even earlier. But I think the Herald has hit the nail on the head - things really had got out of hand and question time had just become an embarrassment.

    There was no "golden age". If you browse through Hansard from the 30's, or hell, the 1890's, you'll see the same old crap. Politicians come and go, but politics remains the same.

    Palmerston North • Since Nov 2006 • 1717 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    Or before you link, ask yourself 'Should I be creating traffic for the newspaper that thinks Garth George's opinion is worth publishing?' The herald sales your eyeballs to its advertisers, every view on its site is worth money to it.

    I'd hope that a lot of bloggers would find it bad etiquette to quote from an online source, and not link to it. And, prevents your readers from seeing the whole article in context.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    OK so it may have started with Muldoon, could have been even earlier. But I think the Herald has hit the nail on the head - things really had got out of hand and question time had just become an embarrassment.

    Well, Rik, I'd respectfully suggest to the Herald (and the rest of the Press Gallery) that they could directly improve the quality of Parliamentary discourse by adapting a pretty basic parenting strategy. You wouldn't try to douse a fire by throwing petrol-soaked kindling on the flames. So why enable and reward a tantrum-throwing toddler by sending the clear message that this will give them exactly what they want?

    If politicians want column inches and face time, why not give it to MPs who are doing their jobs on matters of import (Select Committees are criminally under-reported, IMNSHO), rather than ego-wanking at Question Time?

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    I think Russell's point was not to get over it or not, but to point out that the author of the article managed to stretch back a whole 24 years, but apparently had no memory of 25 years ago.

    Exactly.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Idiot Savant,

    If politicians want column inches and face time, why not give it to MPs who are doing their jobs on matters of import (Select Committees are criminally under-reported, IMNSHO), rather than ego-wanking at Question Time?

    Because select committees are boring. Who pays attention to them? Only people like me. Wheras Trevor Mallard getting biffed out, Michael Cullen being a smartarse (which took less than 5 minutes) are much more exciting. But still less exciting than a juicy crime story, or a rumour about this or that hollywood star being drunk, a lesbian, or holding a small furry animal. Or better, if you can combine it all into one sensational story: "Britney murdered over drunk kitten escapade!"

    Palmerston North • Since Nov 2006 • 1717 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Or better, if you can combine it all into one sensational story: "Britney murdered over drunk kitten escapade!"

    You'll never get that in the Herald on Sunday. Where's the property angle?

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    I disagree though I accept that there's been some strong criticism of him from time to time.

    Of course you would... I think we've had this conversation before, and we're not going to change the other's mind. But I'm still of the view that the real problem with the Herald isn't that it's "biased" one way or the other (bias, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder more often than not), but under-staffed, under-resourced and not sufficiently focused on the basics of the stuff that holds the ads together.

    And Rich has a point, though not the one he thinks (I suspect). I don't think it hurts that a cities like London and New York have a diverse -- and intensely competitive -- newspaper market. I certainly don't think the NZH is much helped by having an effective monopoly in New Zealand's largest media market. Not that I think there's that many people beyond hardcore politics and media junkies who read both the Guarniad and the Torygraph (or The Times and the more populist, if not actively right-ward, tabloid Post) cover to cover every morning. To the contrary, there's an argument that the sheer bulk of media encourages people to select media though confirmation bias -- they'll pick a media mix that confirms their pre-existing political leanings.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • 3410,

    I don't want to be rude, but I have to ask: If you guys don't like 'Granny herald', how about not linking to its articles?

    Not at all. Mainly it's because I don't think it's responsible to engourage opinion about something without at least giving the reader the opportunity to read the entirety of the thing one's complaining about.

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report Reply

  • 81stcolumn,

    Or better, if you can combine it all into one sensational story: "Britney murdered over drunk kitten escapade!"

    Oh I'm sure Ian W**hart is linking together a conspiracy as we speak !

    Nawthshaw • Since Nov 2006 • 790 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz,

    What's the "Post" Craig? You mean the Mirror?

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • James Liddell,

    I think it will be interesting to see how the new Speaker manages thing, will he fall back to that much detested quiz master manner of old or what
    I must admit being very dissapointed on our last Speaker but who would want the job, it is hardly surprising that they mostly need to be dragged screaming to the chair

    Well he's brought back the wig.

    If this morning's session was anything to go on (and I hope it won't be), this Parliament could be a farce. The new Leader of the House has no idea about protocol (such as moving a motion and then speaking to it) and had to be helped through it by Dr Cullen via a prolonged series of points of order. You'd think after being shadow Leader you'd pick up a few things. The Speaker apparently made a couple of rulings that no one realised were rulings. And his deliberatley slow enunciation is going to piss off members and regular viewers. But let's hope these are only teething problems.

    I for one am going to miss Margaret's shrill "Awww-duh! It's becoming impossible to hear in here!"

    Wellington • Since Jul 2007 • 102 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Because select committees are boring. Who pays attention to them? Only people like me.

    And here we have the editorial vicious circle...

    ME: Why don't you cover select committees.

    EDITOR: Because they're boring. And our focus groups say the readers aren't interested either.

    ME: But how do they know, since you... well, don't cover them?

    EDITOR: Because...

    ME: That stopped working on me about thirty years ago, when I was two. And don't you think that deliberations over legislation that potentially has massive impact on your reader's lives is a matter of public interest?

    EDITOR: Public interest?

    ME: Come on stay with me here... Isn't the real truth that you'd actually have to hire reporters, pay them properly and give them the resources the cover them properly?

    EDITOR: I don't think smoke's supposed to be coming out my ears...

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    What's the "Post" Craig? You mean the Mirror?

    Sorry, I meant the Times and the Post in New York -- the Grey Lady and the Crack-head Mugger. :)

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz,

    Maybe we need some sort of Wikinews type thing for NZ. The problem with Wikinews is that the coverage depends on what people want to write about, so it's a bit random:

    # US F-18 fighter jet crashes in San Diego residential area
    # Wikimedia, IWF respond to block of Wikipedia over child pornography allegations
    # Details emerge of Honda's withdrawal from Formula One
    # New Zealand Parliament reconvenes after election
    # Australian PM announces public affairs channel

    What I think would be needed is a rota where people sign up to edit at a given time.

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • Public Servant on a tea-break.,

    "I'd hope that a lot of bloggers would find it bad etiquette to quote from an online source, and not link to it. And, prevents your readers from seeing the whole article in context."

    You are right Kyle, I am wrong. But perhaps both give the link, and the paragraph?

    "But mostly, psychoanalysing the Herald's editorial voice is something of a hobby. I've been enjoying the practice for years."

    Fair enough Russell. Its probably the only way to read the editoral on a regular basis. Otherwise, it would just get too much.

    "as I recall the Sunday Star (Times?) was in 1999 in the few months preceding Labour's win."

    Hi Paul, it was the 'Sunday star times' in 1999. The newspaper was formed by the merger of the Auckland paper the 'Sunday star', and the Wellington paper the 'Sunday times' in March 1994.

    Wellington • Since Apr 2008 • 67 posts Report Reply

  • Idiot Savant,

    Well he's brought back the wig.

    Full-time, or only for ceremonial occasions?

    I think Wilson might have worn one at the last state opening.

    Palmerston North • Since Nov 2006 • 1717 posts Report Reply

  • Idiot Savant,

    Maybe we need some sort of Wikinews type thing for NZ. The problem with Wikinews is that the coverage depends on what people want to write about, so it's a bit random:

    And that they've suddenly bureaucratised the whole thing, which slows down the whole process and turns it away from the public participation spirit of a wiki. But a lot of self-appointed gatekeepers get to feel important, and I guess that's what's important.

    (If you don't like this, you can oppose it here).

    I make occasional submissions to WikiNews (that quick "New Zealand Parliament reconvenes after election" was me) - but the process is now irritating (particularly their attitude towards primary sources. Not Allowed, apparently; its only news if you're reporting thirdhand), and it turns me off the entire thing.

    Palmerston North • Since Nov 2006 • 1717 posts Report Reply

  • James Liddell,

    Wow. How awesomely progressive of them, helping low-income workers by shifting wealth upwards a bit more slowly than they'd previously planned, because the inequities of that plan were just too obvious.

    John giveth with one hand and taketh away with the other.

    I don't remember the 90 days fire at will law ever being mentioned in the same sentence as the first 100 days. Not even yesterday when Key was talking about the pre-Christmas urgency agenda Cabinet had signed off.

    Wellington • Since Jul 2007 • 102 posts Report Reply

  • Gareth Ward,

    Are the DNA-storage laws being pushed through in the urgency package as well?

    Auckland, NZ • Since Mar 2007 • 1727 posts Report Reply

  • Jan Farr,

    They parallel the netroots who now fear that Obama will not be progressive enough. There and here the people who see themselves as "core support" have difficulty accepting that they won't get everything they want and so shout alot.

    Isn't this how a democracy works? I don't think the point is to go to sleep straight after voting. If the left fails to pressure politicians - particularly their own politicians - then the pressure falls only from the right, because you can be sure they're not going to stop lobbying and organising - and neither they should in a democracy.

    Carterton • Since Apr 2008 • 395 posts Report Reply

  • James Liddell,

    Full-time, or only for ceremonial occasions?

    I think Wilson might have worn one at the last state opening.

    I don't think she did, but I could be mistaken. Memory is a little fuzzy after three years.

    Guess we'll find out this afternoon whether he intends to keep wearing it.

    Wellington • Since Jul 2007 • 102 posts Report Reply

First ←Older Page 1 2 3 4 5 8 Newer→ Last

Post your response…

Please sign in using your Public Address credentials…

Login

You may also create an account or retrieve your password.