Away for the Weekend

10:11 Feb 13, 2009 86

This week's Media7 is online at TVNZ ondemand. People have been telling me it's the best show we've done, and it certainly felt pretty good.

Our first panel brought together three journalists who have devoted themselves to the cases of men convicted of the most grievous crimes: Pat Booth (who campaigned tirelessly to exonerate Arthur Allan Thomas of the Crewe murders); Donna Chisholm (whose work in overturning the conviction of David Dougherty on child rape charges was depicted in last Sunday's TV drama Until Proven Innocent; and Keith Hunter, who has argued that Scott Watson was wrongly convicted of the Sounds murders in both a documentary film and a book.

There's also a chat with Jeremy Rees and Julie Starr on occasion of the Herald website's tenth anniversary, and a look at the very cool Hulu.com ad (starring Alec Baldwin) that screened during the Superbowl.

There's still no sign of TVNZ's YouTube problem getting fixed, but the podcast should be updated eventually (last week's discussion on Fiji and the media is there now).

Anyway, that'll do. I have to practice my whaikorero (many thanks to Mikaere Curtis for his help) and get out to the aiport to pick up Emma and Karl before heading north for the weekend at Foo Camp.

I will be tweeting from Foo.

Anyway, here's that Hulu ad:

86 responses to this post

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Matthew Poole, 10:25 Feb 13, 2009

That ad's genius. Has it been reported what they paid to get that to air during the Super Bowl? A full minute. That's gotta leave a mark in the quarterly report!

Auckland • Since Mar 2007 • 4097 posts Report
Hilary Stace, 10:35 Feb 13, 2009

Great to hear the acknowledgment by NZH on-line editor Jeremy Rees of PA's E=Mc^2 satire on the Herald's opinion threads.
But a little off topic here is a link to new Green MP Catherine Delahunty's maiden speech in parliament this week.
As my friend in London says 'Wow. I was at school with her you know...'

Wgtn • Since Jun 2008 • 3229 posts Report
Craig Ranapia, 10:43 Feb 13, 2009

Russell:
Yes it was a good show, but now you've done the "crusader's front row", how about a follow-up on the "crusader's hall of shame". I don't want to sound like I'm piling onto Donna Chisholm, but under her deputy editorship there were plenty of occasions where the Sunday Star-Times (to mix my firearms metaphors) went off half-cocked and shot itself in the foot. And with all due disrespect, I don't think she's got too much moral high ground to pontificate about character assassination.

North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report
KevinHicks, 10:59 Feb 13, 2009

Yes, well done. I'm sure I'm preaching to the converted (with the good standard of debate here) but a timely reminder that "not guilty" is a world away from "innocent" is in order. So I'll give that part of the show a (sort of) 1/3 which aint bad.
Crimewise in NZ the media are definitely heroes, and we would be a lot worse off without them and their freedom. [Less than heroic in other oversenationalised areas though]. I bet there has been much knuckle-crunching and nashing of teeth over the last 18 years in particular (behind closed doors and out of email contact) in the beehive about how they could better gag them on crime issues, but they've stood their ground and for that they do deserve our respect and admiration.

Auckland • Since Sep 2007 • 67 posts Report
Rich of Observationz, 12:18 Feb 13, 2009

Say hi to Dr Pitt (aka Jetpilot) for me at Foo Camp.
Also, I find it interesting that you are separating all these geeks from their lovers for Card And Flower Marketing Day. Is this based on a stereotype that no geek is in a relationship??

Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report
Geoff Lealand, 13:56 Feb 13, 2009

It was a great Media 7 last night. I was convinced by Pat Booth and Donna Chisholm--and liked now Russell graciously allowed PB to tell a longish anecdote about DC, which wasn't entirely to the point. Less convinced by Keith Hunter--his experiment of locking three women in a cabin, to test the 'scratches on the hatch' evidence in the Scott Watson cases sounds rather dodgy.
Media 7 is now appointment viewing on Thursday night (and I will urge my students to do the same) but it is playing hell with keeping up with Mad Men.

Screen & Media Studies, U… • Since Oct 2007 • 2562 posts Report
Morgan Nichol, 14:18 Feb 13, 2009

It was fun while it lasted, but TVNZ have cocked up the Media7 feed again. I'm getting 404s on two of the latest parts.
I was just going to say (after watching episode 2 yesterday) how great it seemed to be going.

Auckland CBD • Since Nov 2006 • 314 posts Report
Stephen Judd, 14:28 Feb 13, 2009

Crimewise in NZ the media are definitely heroes, and we would be a lot worse off without them and their freedom
I couldn't disagree more with the idea that the news media are heroes in their crime reporting.
While murders per head of population (a fairly reliable measure of violent crim) have been constant or going down, broadcast time and column inches have been going up, which in my mind amounts to an inadvertant propaganda campaign to instil fear and anger in the public. In fact they are so eager to convey gore that they will happily jeopardise an investigation or a trial in order to freak out their horror-loving audience. I find this far from heroic, I find it destructive and immoral.
To the extent that worthy stories of wrongful conviction in the news are notable, it is for their infrequency.
GRRRR.

Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 3122 posts Report
Hadyn Green, 14:29 Feb 13, 2009

Has it been reported what they paid to get that to air during the Super Bowl? A full minute.
$3M per 30secs so $6M
But did I hear right, they're ALIENS! Why are you all laughing?! He said they're gonna eat our brains! Right on the TV! Quick, everyone, to the compound while there's still time!

Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2090 posts Report
Ian MacKay, 15:07 Feb 13, 2009

It is interesting to ask casually, "How many murders are committed in NZ each year?"
Usual answer is in the hundreds. 150? 300?
Answer between 50 and 60.
Why do people think that there are far more than there are? Media preoccupation. Especially accenting the non-European ones. Yet the number of European children killed by adults is significantly greater than those by polynesian.
Therefore casual question. "Who is killing the little kids most?"

Bleheim • Since Nov 2006 • 498 posts Report
Bevan Shortridge, 17:58 Feb 13, 2009

But did I hear right, they're ALIENS! Why are you all laughing?! He said they're gonna eat our brains! Right on the TV!
What I want to know is...when is the rest of the world going to get access to hulu. Or amazon video on demand. Or shows via the local itunes??? Legitimately, that is. Why can't we have the chance to have our brains eaten as well?

Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 122 posts Report
Matthew Poole, 10:43 Feb 14, 2009

Answer between 50 and 60.
Or even fewer. Wasn't it 2007 that had 47 murders? That was good for a whole short article in Granny at the start of 2008, and then it got pushed under the carpet.
I had quite an argument with a couple of friends at the height of the last summer murder wave about how murder is a very low risk here. They were both convinced that murders were spiralling out of control, and that the country was killing itself at an increasing pace. Neither wanted to hear that, actually, our nominal murder count is pretty static and, as a result, the murder rate per capita is decreasing because the population is growing. The media does a spectacular job of under-reporting that particular fact.

Auckland • Since Mar 2007 • 4097 posts Report
Matthew Poole, 10:46 Feb 14, 2009

What I want to know is...when is the rest of the world going to get access to hulu. Or amazon video on demand. Or shows via the local itunes???
At such time as the copyright issues get resolved. Meaning, sometime between never and in a far-off distant future. Not that I'm cynical about the major TV labels and their negotiations or anything, but NZ regularly gets fucked over on screening foreign TV. I was absolutely stunned when episodes of Flashpoint were showing here that hadn't even made it onto the screen in the US. And it's made in Canada!

Auckland • Since Mar 2007 • 4097 posts Report
Kumara Republic, 12:19 Feb 14, 2009

I had quite an argument with a couple of friends at the height of the last summer murder wave about how murder is a very low risk here.
What would they have thought of the Bruce Emery verdict? It seems to have become some kind of litmus test on law and order politics.

The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report
Bevan Shortridge, 14:50 Feb 14, 2009

At such time as the copyright issues get resolved. Meaning, sometime between never and in a far-off distant future. Not that I'm cynical about the major TV labels and their negotiations or anything
Sigh, yes, I was afraid of that. And the tv labels wonder about why legitimate ways to view shows are circumvented? Perhaps because for some of us there aren't any legitimate ways if you are not stateside. Or yes, you wait goodness knows how long before it turns up here. Maybe the delay is not as bad as it used to be, but a delay all the same. If it does turn up, that is, and is not buried somewhere...Bah.

Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 122 posts Report
Matthew Poole, 15:04 Feb 14, 2009

What would they have thought of the Bruce Emery verdict? It seems to have become some kind of litmus test on law and order politics.
Was discussing it with one of them last night, and he said the sentence is a joke. McVicar's remarkably silent on the topic. Bad case of double standards, perhaps? It's hard not to believe that he'd be railing something awful if it was a brown man who'd killed a white boy, regardless of the activities that lead up to the stabbing.

Auckland • Since Mar 2007 • 4097 posts Report
Matthew Poole, 15:19 Feb 14, 2009

Or yes, you wait goodness knows how long before it turns up here. Maybe the delay is not as bad as it used to be, but a delay all the same. If it does turn up, that is, and is not buried somewhere...Bah.
And no matter how keen the programming staff at the TV stations are, there will never be more than 24 hours in a day. 16 if you discount all the time that's devoted to adverts. So they can't show us everything, regardless of how much we rant and wail, especially with so few channels on which to screen shows.
The delay is ridiculously variable. Take my Flashpoint example, where we were screening it so close behind the US that, when there was a break in production, we ended up screening ahead of the North American market because the newly-produced episodes could be shown here as a continuation of the series. Conversely "Cops with Cameras" opened on TV1 on Monday night, and when I got curious as to what it was about I found that we just saw an episode that screened in the UK the best part of two years ago. Some shows are better, some are worse. It's certainly improved from the days when if we were seeing things more recently than five years late it was worthy of remark, but we also have the fucked-up situation (fucking cheers, NZ on Air!) where the local talent of FotC is screening in the US but not yet on TV here. As you say, they then wonder why we bypass the official channels. boom boom :P

Auckland • Since Mar 2007 • 4097 posts Report
Kumara Republic, 16:09 Feb 14, 2009

Matt P:
Was discussing it with one of them last night, and he said the sentence is a joke. McVicar's remarkably silent on the topic. Bad case of double standards, perhaps? It's hard not to believe that he'd be railing something awful if it was a brown man who'd killed a white boy, regardless of the activities that lead up to the stabbing.
By joke, did they mean Emery should have gotten a longer or shorter sentence? And McVicar has openly spoken out in Emery's favour; he also disses the Cameron family's grief as "misdirected guilt".

The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report
Matthew Poole, 16:26 Feb 14, 2009

By joke, did they mean Emery should have gotten a longer or shorter
sentence?
Longer. Not entirely convinced that the verdict would've been the same if the ethnicities had been reversed, either.
And McVicar has openly spoken out in Emery's favour; he also disses the Cameron family's grief as "misdirected guilt".
Yeah, I thought he had. He hasn't said a thing about the sentence, though. At least he's confirmed that he's only interested in the white middle-class, though.

Auckland • Since Mar 2007 • 4097 posts Report
Islander, 18:45 Feb 14, 2009

Actually McVicar-the-contumelious-little-turd has said a thing about the sentence - to wit, Emery shouldnt have to serve a custodial sentence.

Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report
KevinHicks, 19:13 Feb 14, 2009

Err NZ is in the top 15 countries in the world for crime victimisation. We have a very high crime rate, thats why it gets reported. We also have a falling conviction count and a low rate of not guilty people serving either community or prison sentences. He have always had almost none serving sentences for which they were actually innocent.
Although its a FACT that the violent crime rate is still going up exponentially despite what you may say and think I hope the media chase it all the way down to zero. There is one simple way to stop the media reporting sensational crimes - thats for the crims (real-contumelious-little-turds) to stop B(*&(* commiting them, simple.

Auckland • Since Sep 2007 • 67 posts Report
Matthew Poole, 19:52 Feb 14, 2009

Kevin, the reporting rate is going up, certainly. Can you prove that incidence of violent crime is also going up? Of course you can't. There's a reason that murder is used as a good measure of overall crime, especially violent crime, and that's because murder is a crime that tends not to suffer from non-reporting. But, of course, the media don't tell us that. Please, point me to regular articles that explain that the murder rate in NZ is decreasing, is in the bottom quartile of the world, and is nominally at about 55 +/- 8 in any given year. I've not seen them, and I do try to read crime stories because I'm curious as to the hysterical tone that's frequently adopted.
Oh, and you might be interested that the first stats site I looked at to confirm where we sit in per-capita crime rates (in 2006 we were second, behind Dominica, and in good company in the top 15 with the likes of Finland, Denmark, Norway, the US, Canada and France) had this wee note down the bottom: Crime statistics are often better indicators of prevalence of law enforcement and willingness to report crime, than actual prevalence.
Also, one of the comments was quite worth reading: Less corruption, higher rank in crimes per capita. You can't bribe police and other authority here as much than many other countries. Worth thinking about, innit.

Auckland • Since Mar 2007 • 4097 posts Report
Islander, 20:38 Feb 14, 2009

Kevin, check real world crime stats instead of SST propaganda. Garth McVicar's statements are vicious, and my comment about him being a contumelious little turd is both accurate (within the bounds of slang) and deserved.
Yeah, I'm a mongrel (Kai Tahu/Orkney Scots/Lancashire English, here for centuries/nearly a century, all of me-) & me & mine belong here as creative, law-abiding, long-term citizens...how about you?

Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report
KevinHicks, 21:26 Feb 14, 2009

The best evidence of NZs high crime rate available is here
http://newzealandcrimewatch.blogspot.com/2009/01/would-you-believe-this-politician.html
with links to the latest international comparison of victimisation carried out survey methods independently of the authorities so it doesn’t rely on reported crime rates. NZ figures in the top 15 for all crime and often in the top 3 for individual crimes. Figures from the statistics and justice department show that violent crime is increasing by any measure (recorded, prosecuted, convicted) and it is really only minor crime that is falling. However the nambies in our court system are prosecuting and convicting less people overall. See
http://www.neighbourhoodsupport.org/articles/UnderstandingCrimeRateStatistics.pdf.
In other words the crime rate is falling but the crimes are getting worse which explains our increased prison population, not increased punitiveness. France, the Netherlands and many Asian countries now have travel warnings out about our crime.
I am a several generation NZ mongrel whose forebears were thrown out of all the best countries of Europe and have every right to live here and be left alone by our crims (“crime is not OK” :)) and my wife and children are part Maori. The racist card is a straw man trotted out by desperate crim excusers since we have a high Maori crime rate purely because ethnicity is self reported and if percent ethnicity was used the figures would evaporate into the thin air that they are. This is not allowed by the political elite however, so my kids must be tarred with the spurious feather that Maori are over represented in crime. In fact those over-represented in crime are intergenerational users of the welfare system that pays criminals to raise criminals, and it has nothing to do with race or ethnicity.

Auckland • Since Sep 2007 • 67 posts Report
Hilary Stace, 21:33 Feb 14, 2009

Went to a talk the other day on restorative justice and other sensible ways of dealing with crime and punishment and the speaker used the word 'victimist' to describe the attitude of those from lobby groups like the SST. Like racism, victimism creates 'otherness' by encouraging people to see perpetrators of crimes as not human beings, or at least lesser humans that themselves.

Wgtn • Since Jun 2008 • 3229 posts Report