Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Media 7

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  • dc_red,

    Congratulations Russell, hope it works out well.

    I must say though that those two paragraphs in the Herald are complete and utter shit. They misrepresent Hard News (and perhaps PA more generally) as not just primarily political but also strongly partisan, misrepresent Kiwiblog as only "National-friendly", and the "but" suggests very strongly "don't worry, it won't only be this worthless Labour hack."

    I don't see it so much as an "implication" that you got the show on partisan grounds, rather it's a more-or-less direct statement to that effect.

    Some people thought the EFA wasn't a bad idea. Who knew?

    On the topic of the Herald, I was planning to blog a bit about the Weekend Herald's Business liftout, with the first two pages devoted to repeating the whining of some big business tool that the "awesome, competitive private sector can't compete with the useless, worthless public sector for top managers."

    Cry me a river.

    Oil Patch, Alberta • Since Nov 2006 • 706 posts Report Reply

  • Hamboy,

    The ad, like many of the agency campaigns placed here, are a response to our reader profile: well-off and well-educated.

    Could explain why I have never seen it. lol

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 162 posts Report Reply

  • Mark Thomas,

    I strongly suggest another extension 'NoScript'

    thanks, i'll try that.

    ads? i didn't realise there were ads. good ol' firefox

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 317 posts Report Reply

  • Grant McDougall,

    A reader emailed me recently:

    Russell, can you please take that offensive ad for Jack's Point off your blog. This development is one of the worst imaginable - destroying a pristine lake edge so a few absurdly wealthy individuals can play golf in their backyards.

    IIRC, this the property block being developed by Dunedin businessman Alan Dippie. Dippie owns several prominent local businesses. I worked for one for a little while and a mate of mine worked for the same business for several years before finally getting frustrated with it once and for all and going out on his own.
    I met Dippie once and he came across as a pompous, arrogant and snobby.
    My mate was of the view that Dippie never spent enough money on essential tools and machinery, when it would've been wise to have done so. There were other things he said, but hey, the libel laws 'n' all...;)

    Dunedin • Since Dec 2006 • 760 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    ads? i didn't realise there were ads. good ol' firefox

    I guess the challenge for us is to make you feel that you're missing something if you don't see the ads. Normal agency campaigns reach a mass audience that wouldn't know an ad-blocker if it fell on them. Obviously, a more sophisticated readership is more likely to be able to opt out. Of course, if everyone opted out, I couldn't justify spending much time on the site ...

    Personally, I'm usually happy if the ads we have just look nice. The TVNZ banners I added this morning make me feel much better than random Google ads with crap spelling ...

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Emma Hart,

    Basically, the "but" acts as a conjunction with the previous paragraph, rather than the preceding sentence.

    I have this thing where I scream 'edit' out loud, like 'medic' in a war movie.

    It may be that I need to get out more.

    But this is fabulous news.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Implying something? or just angrily opposed to coherent paragraphs...

    Might even have been a rather clumsy bit of filler, thrown in on deadline to bring the column up to length. I guess it would be entirely fair comment to say Hard News is Russell's shop window and it is pastel pink-ish in political complexion. Not that there's anything wrong with that, as they say on Seinfeld.

    But why bring the EFA into it? If Russell regularly "defends the Government" on anything, I'd have to say it's more on the geeky tip of public policy than anything else. But, hell, you could say the same about DPF -- and neither man is exactly a tame bitch on that score.

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

  • Mark Thomas,

    Of course, if everyone opted out, I couldn't justify spending much time on the site ...

    i do feel a little guilty about that (us chardonnay socialists are always feeling guilty about something). i could turn off adblock for public address i suppose...

    just out of curiosity, what percentage of PA readers use firefox?

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 317 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Russell:

    Can you please remove the nauseatingly cute banner ad for the nauseatingly cute Pushing Dasies? I'm lapsing into a diabetic coma as we speak... :) (Beautifully produced shows with the kind of lusciously quirky production values you'd expect in a Wes Anderson film, BTW, but a little whimsy goes a very long way.)

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

  • Hamboy,

    Can you please remove the nauseatingly cute banner ad for the nauseatingly cute Pushing Dasies?

    I get the Dirty Sexy Money Ad. Wonder what that says about my profile. lol

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 162 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    just out of curiosity, what percentage of PA readers use firefox?

    So far this year:

    MS Internet Explorer 51.9 %
    Firefox 33.5 %
    Safari 7.7 %
    Mozilla 1.9 %
    Opera 1.6 %

    Also:

    Windows XP 65.7 %
    Mac OS X 13.7 %
    Windows Vista 6.3 %
    Windows 2000 4.1 %
    Windows 2003 2.3 %
    Ubuntu 1.7 %
    (All Linux distributions add up to 3.7%)

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Hamboy,

    From what I just read on [(http://it.slashdot.org/it/08/02/09/2215205.shtml|Slashdot)], it may pay for all FireFox users to get NoScript.

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 162 posts Report Reply

  • dc_red,

    A dirty sexy monkey would be funnier.

    Surprised to see IE up over 50%!

    Oil Patch, Alberta • Since Nov 2006 • 706 posts Report Reply

  • Hamboy,

    I'll try that again.

    From what I just read on Slashdot, it may pay for all FireFox users to get NoScript.

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 162 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    A dirty sexy monkey would be funnier.

    Not as much fun as you might think, believe me. And am I bad person for admitting that Dirty Sexy Money has now replaced America's Next Top Model as must-see guilty pleasure TV. :)

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

  • Sue,

    congratulations russell
    i couldn't think of anyone more likely to make a successful and interesting show.

    i guess this means i need to get a freeview decoder, just when i thought i could get away without it

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 527 posts Report Reply

  • Sue,

    gosh even the ird ad is cutie

    and i do love pushing dasies, possibly my favourite show of the new season

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 527 posts Report Reply

  • Mikaere Curtis,

    Good stuff Russell, can't wait to watch it. Means I'll have to get Freeview or rely on teh internets.

    When it launched, I though Mediawatch was fresh and insightful, and I hope to do the same with Media 7.

    Tamaki Makaurau • Since Nov 2006 • 528 posts Report Reply

  • Mikaere Curtis,

    arrgh !

    and I hope you'll do the same with Media 7.

    Tamaki Makaurau • Since Nov 2006 • 528 posts Report Reply

  • Hamboy,

    Surprised to see IE up over 50%

    Doesn't surprise me. How many of us visited this site on work computers (in our work breaks of course)?
    I think they would be far more likely to have IE on them than people's personal computers.
    I've gotten in to trouble for installing firefox on a work pc at a previous job.

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 162 posts Report Reply

  • Neil Graham,

    Congrats. Russell.

    How much wok is involved in a program like this?

    I guess the glass topped table, coffee mugs and chairs are a given, but what about the critical things like swooshy things in the backgound? Great big TV screens? Great big TV screens with swooshy things.

    Seriously though, hope it goes well.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 118 posts Report Reply

  • Mark Thomas,

    i could turn off adblock for public address i suppose...

    hmm i just tried and it hurt my eyes. i hate flashing ads.

    Firefox 33.5 %

    yikes. that must be higher than the worldwide average, surely.
    do you have a figure on how many people block adverts?

    RB, you mentioned the new freeview boxes will have networking capability of some sort?? does that mean they could stream media from your pc? THAT would be cool

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 317 posts Report Reply

  • peter mclennan,

    Congrats, Rusell. Something to watch, just when I'd stopped watching the evening tv news - the schmucks don't know the difference between graffiti art and tagging. Print media doesn't seem much better. It doesn't bode well in an election year... sigh...

    AK Central • Since Nov 2006 • 159 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    hmm i just tried and it hurt my eyes. i hate flashing ads.

    At least that one flickers then stops. That's okay.

    RB, you mentioned the new freeview boxes will have networking capability of some sort?? does that mean they could stream media from your pc? THAT would be cool

    I gather the big TV trade show in Europe last year was all about the home networking. Freeview are definitely waiting for these new-generation boxes before they offer a PVR -- shame it means waiting till September though. When you've got a PVR it's hard to go back ...

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • dc_red,

    Re: the evening news. One night last week (Weds perhaps), one of the news broadcasts had a report on "American weather" (a few tornadoes) by 6.06pm. The other lot covered the same story at 6:15 after the first ad break.

    Yawn! They only have to produce ~20 minutes of non-sports news a night, I estimate, but somewhat-destructive-but-quite-normal weather on another continent was right up there apparently.

    Oil Patch, Alberta • Since Nov 2006 • 706 posts Report Reply

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