Posts by Craig Ranapia
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Hard News: Complaint and culture, in reply to Andrew C,
While Im sure they mean well, being told you suck as a mum is simply cruel, and they really need to change up.
Nah, fuck it – I though in 2011 healthcare professionals were trained not to behave like they’re potty-training incontinent puppies. There have been times when I've been tempted to threaten doctors with a rolled up newspaper while chanting "We're going to stop being a patronising dick-bag, yes we are, diddums" in soothing baby-talk tones.
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Hard News: Complaint and culture, in reply to Sacha,
Again, more about a stressed business model.
Nah, I really think that's a cop-out Sacha. At the risk of sounding like I'm blowing smoke up Russell's arse, funny how Keith and Tse-Ming fisked the shit out of Deborah Coddington statistical bad touching -- they didn't have the resources of a multi-national media corporation (however "stressed") at their back.
A lot more to do with human ego and an obsession with scoops and feeding the 24/7 news cycle beast, which isn't exactly anything new.
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Hard News: Complaint and culture, in reply to Deborah,
When I was pregnant with our eldest daughter, my brother, who is an anaesthetist, commented to me that the politics around giving birth were incredible, and during his time in medicine (starting from when he started med school in the mid 1980s), he had seen power pass from doctors, to midwives, but that still the women giving birth had no power.
Quite - I've got a friend (who I won't name for obvious reasons) who has worked on a neo-natal ward for a very long time and she views of doctors and midwives conducting their turf war over women in severe physical and emotional distress is heart-breaking. And enraging.
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And when it comes to "not ready for the BSA but still fucking enraging", Campbell Live send John Campbell to New York so he could epically miss the point of erring on the side of caution in the face of a hurricane threat. Not only lightweight but empty-headed.
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Hard News: Complaint and culture, in reply to Russell Brown,
Interesting. I didn’t think it was a good cover, or that it did justice to the story, but I didn’t have the same reaction as you guys did.
Quite – but that might just be my childfree penis-bearing perspective coming into play. :) Personally (and IMHO x YMMV, of course) I’m more offended by the way women on manazine covers are digitally nipped, tucked and spackled and it’s so routine it’s more genuinely shocking to see an un-retouched photo like this Then again, I’m one of those freaks who doesn’t consider middle-age a hideous physical deformity. I'm sure that will change when I hit the Hawaii Four-O next April. :)
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Hard News: Complaint and culture, in reply to Rich of Observationz,
I’d suggest that those watching the piece might have their interest piqued, and could go to Wikipedia, a library book, or a course in astronomy and learn the correct information. They might learn along they way a more useful lesson, which is not to believe everything you hear on the news.
I'd suggest media organisations 1) Need to get basic matters of fact right (we weren't exactly talking about an obtuse controversy among astrophysicists here), full stop and period. 2) Failing that, just put your damn ego in park and promptly retract and correct with a modicum of good grace. Like the Christchurch Police, our media outlets might just find people view epistemic modesty as a virtue not a flaw.
And, yes, you might find this example nutty "pedantry" - but here's a thought. Russell has banged on a lot over the years about junk science, statistical innumeracy and agenda-driven concern troll social pseudo-science in the media - because it does influence political discourse and public policy and seldom for the better.
If media outlets aren't going to take care over the small shit, why should anyone expect them to be any less careless about the biggies? Perhaps I'm showing my age, but that's why young journos used to be told to double check the spelling of names (then check again). Trivial? Perhaps - but it did matter to the folks who (reasonably) expected that small courtesy, and it does knock a small chip off trust and credibility any journalist needs to function.
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Larson does also concede that, given a do-over, she “might have reconsidered the cover design”
OK, I agree with you that the compare and contrast between Larson’s grown-up response and her predecessor’s career-ending one to that crime story couldn’t be more vivid. But really, Virginia, you really thought that image and that strap line wasn’t going to throw a twenty gallon drum of napalm on an already hot button subject? I’m actually paying Virginia Larson a compliment in saying it beggars belief, because she’s not some naive noob with the ink still drying on her journalism school diploma.
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Hard News: Auckland City Nights, in reply to Christopher Dempsey,
In all cases I’ve seen, the majority of such folks don’t flout the licensing laws.
With all due respect, Christopher - bullshit. You know as well as I do that licensed premises are not supposed to serve alcohol to intoxicated persons, or allow such persons on their premises. We both know that happens routinely, and I personally have little sympathy for police or politicians (local or central) who wring their hands about "binge drinking culture" while being unable, or unwilling, to enforce the laws already on the books. Put it in the too hard basket, if you must, but let's just stop pretending it isn't an issue.
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Hard News: Auckland City Nights, in reply to Christopher Dempsey,
I would have thought cigarette vendors to be a sunset industry.
I wish the same could be said for folks who profiteer off self-inflicted alcohol poisoning while blithely flouting licensing laws, but I won't hold my breath waiting...
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Clearly, the pool of experienced hospitality staff is not all that deep.
No it isn’t, but FFS that pool’s never going to deepen unless more restaurateurs put as much time and effort into recruiting, training (and rewarding good) staff as they do into the fit-out. It really does matter, especially if you’re not exactly on the cheap and cheerful end of the market. And if you've had one of those days when you'd rather stick your head in the oven than cook, a waiter who can at least pretend to be happy to see you is a soul-saver...
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