Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Radio Times

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  • Kracklite,

    ... or, irrelevantly, the truly eldritch but inevitable Hello Cthulhu. Sadly, not updated for a while.

    The Library of Babel • Since Nov 2007 • 982 posts Report Reply

  • Ian MacKay,

    The thing that annoys me with Nine to Noon is the prominence given to misadventures in individual hospitals, which must scare the daylights out of prospective patients.

    Bleheim • Since Nov 2006 • 498 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Barnes,

    @ Jen Ferguson

    While a devoted fan of Morning Report (when I get to listen to it, that is, since my car radio decided to give up playing even-numbered frequencies - go figure),

    Ah Ha, the problem is likely to be that the radio has reset itself to US radio bands, they only broadcast on ODD frequencies, there should be a way to set it back to Euro radio setting. Depending on the model it could be a physical switch or a software one. The software switches are usually reset by holding down a button for a few seconds, which can be done accidentally. Try pressing the 5 button for 5 seconds, if it has one. If not, do a google search on your radio model with the words "even frequencies" in parentheses.
    Hope this helps.

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report Reply

  • Tigger,

    Me too

    Nelson • Since Jul 2008 • 7 posts Report Reply

  • Jen Ferguson,

    Why thank you Steve Barnes, I shall test your remedy tonight and with any luck, the world of Morning Report (and Wammo in the mornings on Kiwi) will be mine again.

    Ah, Public Address System - is there anything it can't do?

    Peckham Rye, London • Since Jan 2007 • 26 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Barnes,

    "Kenwood KDC-MP5033 unit.
    To transform it to the European system, you should turn it off, press 1+5+SRC until it will turn on again. And that does the job."

    "Apparently on all JVC radios if you want to change from US to EU or visa versa, you hold the am/fm button and the button “5” in for 3-5 seconds until you hear beep! Mine actually showed area changed on the screen."

    Found this for you. ;-)

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report Reply

  • Shep Cheyenne,

    Simon Mortensens excercise in getting a firearms licence is the most disturbing thing ever.

    He can't shoot, never has, but might one day choose to roam the wilds firing shots at things that are alive.

    He's a pom (Anglophilia is a sign of the RNZ) with no privious experience with firearms.

    Try and equate that with say a car. I'm a 'decent' person and so can have a licence to drive, never driven before, and don't have a car or any interest in getting a car soon, but I have a licence to drive.
    Having a licence to drive - passed the theory and so I'll be free to drive on the roads - no experience or expertise necessary.

    It highlights deficencies with the presenter and our firearms laws.

    Since Oct 2007 • 927 posts Report Reply

  • Damian Christie,

    Why thank you Steve Barnes, I shall test your remedy tonight and with any luck, the world of Morning Report (and Wammo in the mornings on Kiwi) will be mine again.

    You told me you hate listening to Wammo in the mornings.

    Or is it just that you like starfishing when he leaves the house? ;)

    Ah, Public Address System - is there anything it can't do?

    Freaky, as I was reading that, my editor beside me was repeatedly playing an audio clip of me saying "is there anything it can't do" for a TV piece (Back Benches, tomorrow, TVNZ 7, since this seems to be the place for not-at-all biased plugs...)

    That radio thing happened to me once too. It's really annoying. I think I just bought a new stereo in the end, it seemed easier than holding down the 5 key for 5 seconds.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1164 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Honiss,

    It highlights deficencies with the presenter and our firearms laws.

    I haven't heard any of this presenters progress but having been through the firearms licensing process twice I've always felt quite reassured by it, knowing that those without reason (in both senses) are unlikely to get access easily, if at all.

    Especially good was that the firearms officer made a separate appointment with my partner and an additional referee (non-relation)to discuss with her my motivation/suitability for firearm use/ownership.

    Doesn't impact those who use firearms illegally of course.

    And with respect to the driving analogy the level of what is considered "accidental" is held to a much lower level when use of firearms is involved, as it should be given the likely outcome of a weapons discharge. With that in mind, I think you'd have to be a particular sort of idiot not to understand the responsiblity you take on when issued a firearms license. I would dearly hope that was also the case when people obtain drivers licenses but it seems not to be the case.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12 posts Report Reply

  • TroyHoward,

    Late to wade into the NatRad fracas, but as a long time listener, I am finding Ms Ryan and Jim Moira (he'll be forever called that in our house now) increasingly annoying. Mora is so damn smug! And both of them drive me nuts with their pronunciations. I mean issue is is ISSHEW not ISSYEW. Please somebody tell them.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 78 posts Report Reply

  • James Green,

    I mean issue is is ISSHEW not ISSYEW. Please somebody tell them.

    While our yod-dropping has got to the point that probably more people do say /isshew/, /issyew/ is more 'correct' (or at least it's the older form that is being replaced). In someone of Moira's age, it's entirely excusable. Certainly, I'd be shocked if Dougal Stevenson said /isshew/. It is getting to the point that that /issyew/ would seem pretentious on a young person, however.

    Limerick, Ireland • Since Nov 2006 • 703 posts Report Reply

  • Shep Cheyenne,

    Red-necks on the panel today - (missed most of it but was in the car to hear) Rosemary McLeod and Graeme Bell calling for Veitches blood & how these days people won't take responsibility.

    Umm - 20yrs ago in Bells time on the force this was "just a domestic" where no action would be taken. It seems pretty sure that there is a serious impact on Veitches pocket, both payout and loss of earnings. An impact that would never have happened then. I think this might be evidence of the changing public opinion towards Domestic Violence.

    Since Oct 2007 • 927 posts Report Reply

  • Carol Stewart,

    Great post, Russell, and a great discussion too. I hope Radio NZ are appreciating all this feedback!
    I don't share the general enthusiasm for Noelle McCarthy in the afternoons - she trades heavily on that accent and also has an annoying way of finishing people's sentences for them. Her opinion column in the Herald is plain vacuous at times.
    But I can forgive Radio NZ almost anything if they run 'Matinee Idle' again this summer. I'm counting the sleeps..

    Wellington • Since Jul 2008 • 830 posts Report Reply

  • Jane Treadwell,

    One more element of Radio NZ's performance warrants mention: the internet. No other broadcaster has responded to the shift online as well as Radio NZ has under the guidance of Richard Hulse.

    Thank goodness. Now living in Singapore live RNZ News (and other stuff) keeps up informed and in touch with home........keep it coming please and thank you Richard Hulse.

    Singapore • Since Nov 2007 • 9 posts Report Reply

  • Tony Hay,

    I completely agree about stereo broadcasts. The music has become a really important part of Nat Radio, and it seems amazing to have FM quality with excellent music and not complete the sound with a technology available from the middle of last century.
    I seem to recall that bFM began life broadcasting stereo FM from the back of a mobile Combi van to show the NZBC that it could be done. That was in the eighties and they still seem able to manage two channels at once. 20 years later I'd have though that Radio NZ might have noticed that they were now playing music worth hearing properly.

    Mt Eden, Auckland • Since Jul 2008 • 1 posts Report Reply

  • Suze Vermeer,

    On Nine to Noon, Katherine Ryan is pretty good on politics and current affairs, but painful to listen when doing feature interviews, e.g. talking to someone about a book or personal experience, etc. She has plenty of IQ but not much EQ, and is prone, for example, to ask someone whose house has burnt down and whose family has all been killed in the fire: "And that must have been hard for you?". Sometimes mawkish on the non-hard-news stuff. And she should have left writer Alice(?) Tawhai alone in her desire for privacy in her personal life, not badgered her to offer up juicy tidbits about a hinted-at difficult upbringing. Journos find that very odd, but if Tawhai says she doesn't want to talk about her personal past, then respect that, Katherine. No means no.

    Noelle riding a long way on her entrancing accent, IMHO.
    Jim Mora, (or now Moira, surely), smug and assumes everyone has toddlers and a mortgage.


    Sean Plunkett gets over-aggro when he's bored, I reckon, though you need a bit of mongrel, balanced nicely by Geoff's 'arsenic and old lace' style.

    Thank god for Kim Hill illuminating the arcane worlds of science and hard sums, etc, by asking the right questions of her brainiac guests.

    Media Watch great.

    Yep, Chris Laidlaw a bit tired.

    Simon Morris fun and informative.

    Overall, though, long live Nat Rad. There's got to be something for the pointy-heads in NZ now that The Listener has gone all girly and pitching at the middle-class worried well.

    Wellington • Since Jul 2008 • 29 posts Report Reply

  • Grant McDougall,

    It peaves me no end, it really does.

    God I know what you mean, I feel the same way about bad spelling :)

    Doh! rumbled.

    Anyway, Ralston...it's ironic that he slags off RNZ for being dull and irrelevant, yet happily accepts a pay cheque from that bastion of mediocrity, the Listener.

    Dunedin • Since Dec 2006 • 760 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Barnes,

    Vermeer's paintbrushes were made of badger hair.

    Not a lot of people know that.

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report Reply

  • Suze Vermeer,

    Vermeer's paintbrushes were made of badger hair.


    I did not know that. Thanks, Steve, for that unforgettable factoid. Maybe it will come in handy on quiz night. (:

    Wellington • Since Jul 2008 • 29 posts Report Reply

  • David Hood,

    My ten year old daughter likes Jim Mora and the Panel (depending on what they are discussing) and This Way Up.

    Dunedin • Since May 2007 • 1445 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Barnes,

    Thanks, Steve, for that unforgettable factoid. Maybe it will come in handy on quiz night.

    My pleasure, welcome to PA and the wonderful world of badger factoids. ;-)

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report Reply

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    There's a public broadcasting theme in Media7 this week too. We'll be discussing National's new Charter-free broadcasting policy with its broadcasting spokesman Jonathan Coleman,

    Watched this last night,(really do enjoy the show :) What did Jonathan Coleman mean when he said "nobody wants to buy it" Is (should Nat get in) that insinuating that TVNZ will be sold once their policies are implemented?

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report Reply

  • Carole Greenfield,

    "Does anyone listen to Concert FM? I still wonder why one music genre ('classical music') should still be subsidised by the state, and not other genres. Or is this dangerous talk?"

    Yes, there are quite a few of us Concert FM devotees. Please consider it a national treasure ! It is not subsidised by the state, any more than National Radio is . The broadcasting fee is included in our taxes. I don't listen to much commercial radio , but consider that I am helping to pay for it , as I have to purchase many of the items which are being advertised.

    Concert FM is superb , and one of the few outlets for homegrown talent. It isn't just classical either - try William Dart's rock review programme, or the regular jazz and world music programmes

    Since Jun 2008 • 1 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    Please consider it a national treasure ! It is not subsidised by the state, any more than National Radio is . The broadcasting fee is included in our taxes.

    Sounds like the definition of 'subsidised by the state' to me.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Rob Hosking,

    Vermeer's paintbrushes were made of badger hair.

    So are shaving brushes, or so I've been told. Some of us still use those.

    South Roseneath • Since Nov 2006 • 830 posts Report Reply

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