Hard News by Russell Brown

Read Post

Hard News: Little pieces of a big picture

378 Responses

First ←Older Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 16 Newer→ Last

  • recordari,

    I found the Milne tweet made me giggle, especially when Emma commented on the rubbish collection.

    'Men in Council marked trucks were looting from wheelie bins all over Christchurch, or at least those suburbs with collection days on Monday', local Metro writer said.

    ETA: CCC has link up now it seems.

    AUCKLAND • Since Dec 2009 • 2607 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    Yeah, there's been a lot of this sort of thing on The Standard as well

    I'd object about this stuff less if the jokes weren't so sad and unimaginative.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Peter Martin,

    For what it's worth, we watched the coverage on Sky ( which was also on Prime) until mid morning. It invited locals to ring and contact them and then relayed back...much more informative than TVNZ which I thought was kinda slow in getting out in the field...

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 187 posts Report Reply

  • Phil Lyth,

    Still on the $15billion angle, I've asked chief press sec Kevin Taylor where the figure came from.

    MediaWorks blames Firefox, IE, VodaFail, Norton, and Al Qaeda for video not running. I still can't get the sodding clip to run.

    <plaintively> Would any PASer be inclined to transcribe Key's words re $6b cash and $15b for me? Either from here or a recording of same? </plaintiff>

    Wellington • Since Apr 2009 • 458 posts Report Reply

  • Emma Hart,

    ETA: CCC has link up now it seems.

    That's about right for my experience of council information flow. It's information people need, useful, and up pretty quickly, but the time on that is still an hour after the trucks came round here this morning.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report Reply

  • Phil Lyth,

    a disaster might actually even kill the relevant minister

    In the unlikely event, as they say on the plane, collective responsibility means any other Minister can immediately act.

    Wellington • Since Apr 2009 • 458 posts Report Reply

  • David Searle,

    Re Social Media... Facebook was brilliant in checking up on all my mates (and relaying information to worried family around the world). I was particularly lucky to still have power! Would have been horrendous to have to wait for 5 days...

    Re the damage - there's more than what most people would think. If a chimney or verandah falls off then that's easily noticeable. The main problem comes with the internal damage to structural walls, foundations. And of course, the pipes underground.

    I can't believe how lucky we are with the timing. Had this occurred 12 hours earlier - rush hour on Friday - then the death toll would have been substantially higher.

    Christchurch • Since Sep 2010 • 1 posts Report Reply

  • Phil Lyth,

    So National is talking about appointing a reconstruction tsar.

    Problem is, they have no power in law to do that. And why do they need to? There already is EQC and the local Councils. Or do they fear the results of those elections too?

    Wellington • Since Apr 2009 • 458 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    The story put about yesterday by the Herald that Jim Anderton declared on CTV on Friday that it would take "an earthquake" for Bob Parker to win the mayoral election is SIMPLY WRONG.

    The actual quote, from 54 sec in to the CTV programme is:

    "It would have taken a pretty earthquake, seismic shift to get me to move from the Labour Party. And the seismic shift was Rogernomics."

    Nothing to do with the mayoralty. At all.

    http://www.youtube.com/user/CTVinNZ#p/a/u/2/-1GCcljJnsU

    Not wanting to hear anything about how unreliable social media are right now ...

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    There were extensive, unreported instances of Anderton saying the other thing.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Wow. Just wow.

    This is the video that Whaleoil has put up of Anderton. Slater has edited together two different sentences to make up a quote Anderton never uttered:

    It's not even funny. Slater is a fucking weirdo.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Isabel Hitchings,

    Re the damage - there's more than what most people would think. If a chimney or verandah falls off then that's easily noticeable. The main problem comes with the internal damage to structural walls, foundations. And of course, the pipes underground.

    I think most Cantabrians are very well aware that until knowledgeable people have poked around our roofs, walls and piles we can only say our houses appear to be largely undamaged.

    Christchurch • Since Jul 2007 • 719 posts Report Reply

  • recordari,

    I'd object about this stuff less if the jokes weren't so sad and unimaginative.

    Arrrgghhh!

    Yes, my bad, and having two colleagues down there at the time, and one who this morning told us her parents' home is a write-off, it is no time for being frivolous. Just that Milne comment was so out of left field, and when 'conjecture' becomes 'information' it can have unforeseen consequences. Like global misconceptions about our early demise. A lot of people's livelihoods will be hanging on the perception that Christchurch hasn't fallen off the face of the earth, and the HoS et al are not helping.

    In slightly related news, the House of Travel team, based in a building in central Chch, managed to get themselves temporary premises, an answering service, and responded to an email and message within 60 minutes this morning. Quite impressive really.

    AUCKLAND • Since Dec 2009 • 2607 posts Report Reply

  • Carol Stewart,

    Slater has edited together two different sentences to make up a quote Anderton never uttered:

    FFS. Disingenuous in the extreme not to acknowledge that 'seismic shift' is, like, a figure of speech widely understood by everyone over the age of about 10.

    Wellington • Since Jul 2008 • 830 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Slater is a fucking weirdo

    Stopped being funny a long time ago, if he ever was. Would media even bother reporting his demented ravings if daddy weren't so highly placed in blue circles?

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    So National is talking about appointing a reconstruction tsar. Problem is, they have no power in law to do that.

    Urgency will fix that, just like it did for Ecan. Daddy knows best.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Bart Janssen,

    Civil defence procedures are intended to work without ministers.

    Man I hope so. Because face it folks, our MPs and ministers are not all the sharpest knives and I really really don't want to be relying on them in an emergency.

    By contrast, the civil defense teams are generally a collection of very knowledgeable experienced and smart folks who practice very hard to cope with chaos.

    As for the PM flying in 12 hours late er planes need long flat pieces of land that haven't been undermined or disturbed by things like earthquakes. Making sure the runways were safe to land a plane on took time.

    Yes he possibly could have got there faster but since his role is to "look concerned" it seems pointless to rush.

    And yes the NZHerald really has struck a sour note through the whole thing.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 4461 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Would any PASer be inclined to transcribe Key's words re $6b cash and $15b for me? Either from here or a recording of same?

    Done (seemed only fair) and emailed to you, Phil. Now back to that work thing..

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Phil Lyth,

    Many thanks Sacha. If anyone else wants the words, just ask. Meanwhile I will be looking to Kevin Taylor for an answer

    Wellington • Since Apr 2009 • 458 posts Report Reply

  • LegBreak,

    Re the Slater mash-up vid.

    I might be really naive, but I can’t see where the political gain is in it anyway... Makes Anderton look like some kind of Oracle.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1162 posts Report Reply

  • Phil Lyth,

    The political gain is in the alternate universe that blowhole inhabits

    Wellington • Since Apr 2009 • 458 posts Report Reply

  • Mikaere Curtis,

    We stayed in the Hermitage (with great views of Aoraki) this weekend. I estimate that it is about 100Km from the epicentre, but the hotel still shook enough to wake us up and give us a real fright. I couldn't help thinking of Emily Sanson-Rejouis, who is a friend of my wife.

    My brother-in-law lives in Lyttleton, so he and his partner were understandably concerned about the state of their house, and also his partner's family, who live in Christchurch.

    We got reports of houses being "completely trashed" inside, whilst still structurally sound. The TV reports seemed to confirm this as being typical, so we were surprised when we drove through Hornby and Burnside on our way to the ariport that there were very few houses or businesses that seemed to be affected. Traffic seemed normal for a Sunday afternoon, too.

    It turned out that one of the "completely trashed" houses actually suffered two broken crockery bowls and the CD rack had fallen over.

    I can understand being freaked out if your house has been rocking enough to cause things to fall over, but I can't square the "DOOMSDAY" reporting as seeming to apply to the entirety of Christchurch. If the PM has an onus to get down to the disaster zone quick smart, surely the MSM have a similar onus to provide, y'know, balance.

    Tamaki Makaurau • Since Nov 2006 • 528 posts Report Reply

  • Glenn Pearce,

    As for the PM flying in 12 hours late er planes need long flat pieces of land that haven't been undermined or disturbed by things like earthquakes

    They managed to SBW up to Auckland in a Chopper for a Commercial shoot, he even had time for a fly over his mum's house in Pt Chev apparently.

    Auckland • Since Feb 2007 • 504 posts Report Reply

  • Tom Semmens,

    They managed to SBW up to Auckland in a Chopper for a Commercial shoot, he even had time for a fly over his mum's house in Pt Chev apparently.

    But I heard SBW was arrested for looting!

    Sevilla, Espana • Since Nov 2006 • 2217 posts Report Reply

  • HORansome,

    With regards to Twitter; at a conference earlier this year I had the pleasure to attend a paper on the role of Twitter in the Mumbai terrorist attacks in November 2008. The paper's authors, Onook Oha, Manish Agrawalb and H. Raghav Rao, looked at the tweets originating from Mumbai from the 26th to 30th of November and went through not just how the tweets differed from the media reporting but also how the tweets acting as a calming agent, what with people reaching out to assure others and provide concrete details of what was going on. I suspect a similar analysis could be run for #eqnz (and, I suspect, a MA thesis or two on the topic is probably being born even as I type).

    Tāmaki Makaurau • Since Sep 2008 • 441 posts Report Reply

First ←Older Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 16 Newer→ Last

Post your response…

Please sign in using your Public Address credentials…

Login

You may also create an account or retrieve your password.