Hard News: After the Deluge
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My thoughts on the early media coverage was that all of the NZ media were slow off the mark. I understand that Samoa is small and rarely a news worthy place but it plays a large part of NZs culture and one of the more important countries in the Pacific Islands - yet neither of our major outlets seemed to have any connections in Samoa.
Also disappointing was both channels pushed heavily that they were going to be live on on their respective 7pm shows, something that never quite happened. I can understand the delays physically but from what I can tell the flight with everyone on it landed at 6pm NZ time, yet couldn't unpack their live-cross-o-matic9000's quick enough. They should have been more cautious with such a large viewer carrot. It wasn't just a - "we hope to be live" - it was - "we'll be live at 7pm - be there."
Like many others, I kept watching hoping to finally get some first hand word.And not to be complete hater - I thought the next mornings Sunrise was really on form and at the right locations (athough Breakfast had their person live from a Carpark in Apia). Carly Flynn did a great job. Also Leilani Momoisea was stand out on RNZ.
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The Media7 panel discussion -- with Lisa Owen, Adrian Stevanon (One News camera and Tangata Pasifika reporter) and Leilani Momoisea was excellent. Worth watching tomorrow night, I reckon.
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What is meant by a functioning regional newspaper? Does that include the ODT? For all its many ills it does seem to do a reasonable job of reporting on the Dunedin area and to a lesser extent, Otago. I would also agree with Kyle about the lack of South Island coverage - the Stuff/Herald sites I only find useful for national, North Island and some Christchurch issues.
Anything outside of that seems to quickly veer into Oddly Enough/Disaster reporting.
Also - Tony - your mash-up is quite interesting although perhaps slightly more exciting or useful if I was in the right timezone. Perhaps we could bug the MPs to sign up to Google Latitude as well!
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The Stuff site has a dedicated Chch Press section, with gems like street fashion as seen in Cashel Mall.
Scroll right to the bottom of the main page and you also get the respective top 5 headlines from the Dom, Press and Waikato Times whose similarities and differences are always interesting.
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@Ben Austin - Right now the mashup is in beta. There is a limitation in the twitter API of geocoding the location of the end-user's tweets based on their location in their profile. So when the MP put down "Auckland" as a location in their profile, it is mapped in Auckland on the map. Precise geocoded of the end-user tweets in real-time was only added in pre-beta form within the last month or so. This wasn't implemented in time when I was going through the documentation.
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I would also agree with Kyle about the lack of South Island coverage - the Stuff/Herald sites I only find useful for national, North Island and some Christchurch issues.
I suspect, particularly in terms of stuff, the fact that the ODT isn't a Fairfax paper probably has something to do with it as much as anti-south islandism.
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Getting back to gagging in the UK, it is chronic. The difference is, of course, with real "celebs", the paps catch up with them sooner or later. Name suppression works - kinda - in NZ because the culture of bottom-feeling media following around people on the off-chance hasn't really developed much yet.
The other thing in the UK is their utterly ridiculous and antiquated defamation laws, where while the truth is a defence, you must prove the statement is true, rather than the offended party needing to prove it was false.
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I would say though that having been a regular reader of the ODT, Press, Dominion Post (and the two predecessors) and occasional Herald reader I would very much classify all of them as regional newspapers. This based on their type of stories and focus
The web presence is perhaps pushing them into becoming national news-sources but that is very much built on the regional foundation
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It's nice to see Russell et al at Media7 are responsible for looking after the critical journalism for Paul Henry on Breakfast. Paul can do whatever he wants because if you want to see CREDIBLE journalism you can - on TVNZ7... http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10603462&pnum=3
Was this part of your brief BTW? Is Paul Henry going to be nominated for the Media Awards this year? Under which category? -
I thought Media 7's tsunami piece was interesting. Adrian Stevanon telling Lisa Glass that "she should interview that guy over there because he has many interesting stories" because Adrian was unable to interview him without offending him because as a Samoan Adrian knew to do so at the time would be disrespectful. But that palagi journalist - that's different. It sounded like a hard assignment on many levels.
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Because it is Friday and we should all be in a generous mood, I am taking the liberty of posting the long email message below (and my response to it). I think it is the kind of cause PA should should support irrespective of what you think about daytime soaps.
Very good Media 7 last night--maybe this is a topic for the next episode?
Email received today, preceded by my response
Kia ora Nikki: thank you for sending this. I exchanged messages with one of your colleagues a couple of weeks back, when she approached me for advice (can’t quite recall her name and the messages are on my home computer).I don’t watch daytime soaps and I didn’t `see the Closeup story (Shortland Street is our preferred family viewing at that time) but I would certainly defend other people’s viewing choices and enthusiasms. I too hate the word ‘addict’ as it denotes helplessness and lack of control--’fan’ is such a better description.
In respect of you comments about ratings, they are indeed very flawed and highly contestable constructions of the television audience. In respect of ratings for daytime television, they are often beyond statistical validity—so to talk of them as ‘rising’ or ‘falling’ is fairly meaningless.
So, you can regard me as an ally in her efforts. What I might do is distribute this message around several lists/blogs I belong to, in hope that you will find other supporters.
Feel free to get back to me.
Regards
Geoff Lealand
On 16/10/09 8:56 AM, "mjkeen" <mjkeen@paradise.net.nz> wrote:Attention Professor Geoff Lealand
Dear Professor Lealand
I am approaching you in the hope that you might be able to help us in our campaign against TVNZ's decision to remove both Young and the Restless and Days of our Lives from their daytime schedule.
I am one of a group of supporters on the TradeMe message board who feel strongly about this decision and who are trying to gather more support in the hope that TVNZ will look at what they are doing. I am aware that you have signed the petiion online and that is greatly appreciated.
TVNZ state that they are ending these programmes, that have been on our screens since 1975, for reasons of poor ratings therefore they are cannot justify them financially. I have checked out the ratings information on the mediascape website and was horrified to see how they are gathered. My understanding is that if 500 peoplemeters monitor 1250 people approx in a population of 4 million people, we are looking at .032% of the population being asked about their viewing preferences. I read what you said about your feelings with regards to ratings, so I am hoping that you will understand when I say that I believe TVNZ have no idea about how many people actually watch these programmes.
I was involved in an article in the Press and the Dominion a few weeks ago called "soaps on the ropes" by Beck Eleven and she is talking to me today about doing another piece. After that article I have had so many calls from other concerned, angry and upset viewers who were wondering what they could do to support the issue. A few were Managers from Rest Homes, one of which said that she had had to explain to 33 residents that their favourite programmes were being taken off. She said they were devastated as many had few visitors and this daily "visit" by the programmes gave them something to talk about with each other. She said she has to tape it for those who may miss and that if she missed the taping it wouldnt be worth her life. She said they are very passionate. Other callers were many workers who would tape the programmes and watch at night. This is another problem I have with ratings in that even though the taping is monitored, it isn't counted. I also had retired people, nurses, students call. There is also another woman in the North Island from the message board who has had an article done in Hawkes Bay today newspaper and many other local papers. She has asked people to call her and her phone has rung non stop - to give an example she has had over 40 calls in an hour.
The Herald also has a blog with many posts from angry viewers as does the TradeMe message board.
Last night CloseUp aired a story about the addiction of soaps. A number of posters on the message board had been asked by the producer to take part in this show but we declined. We felt that by using the term addiction it comes across as extremely negative and almost reinforces the view of many, that we as soap watchers have a problem. We are no different to rugby fans and enthusiastic Coro St or Desperate Housewife watchers. They are not refered to as addicts. This is just about personal preference and should not give people an opportunity to criticise our character. We also had some concerns that because Closeup was a TVNZ programme they were probably not going to give a favourable perspective - somewhat biased maybe. Many people, including myself contacted CloseUp before the programme to explain what we felt the issue was. I am not sure if you saw this but it was one of the most patronising, insulting pieces of televison interviewing that I have ever seen. As watchers we are apparently suffering "consumption bereavement" similar to how people feel when their favourite cereal is removed from the supermarket shelves or when your special lipstick is no longer on the market. They spoke to a fan and an Auckland University Business School researcher, Cristel Russel. It was said that ratings had been dropping and the broadcaster can't justify the cost anymore. According to the researcher we no longer think of them as characters but as real people who we grow fond of - we think we could be walking in the street and might run into them. Mark Sainsbury's comment was maybe a cereal counsellor could be provided if your cornflakes are removed from the market. We apparently have to work through the grief -some of us will and up to 25 -30% woint ever find anything to replace these programmes. He also asked whether TVNZ should expect a backlash. If he was being honest he would admit that they had already received that backlash. This was extremely infuriating viewing.
I have spoken to Brendon Burns Opposition Spokesperson on Broadcasting and he is being very supportive and is trying to help us out. I have also tried to make contact with the Min. of Broadcasting but with no luck. I also referred the same letter to Mr John Key explaining that I had not heard from Dr Coleman and would he or his staff follow this up as I felt this issue was not being taken seriously. Christine Wilton from TVNZ has only sent a standard reply about what they are doing.
I am an intelligent 50yr old woman, in my last year of studying as a counsellor, have a partner, children, grandchildren, have a busy life and enjoy travelling in our housebus (heading off for a fortnight next week whitebaiting on the West Coast) I do not appreciate Closeup's public berating of what I and many others choose to do in our down time. Many of the viewers are people who dont really have a voice ie. the elderly, invalids, stay at home mums and dads and I am passionate about the unfairness of why this is happening (ratings inaccuracy) so I will advocate for those people and myself. The other problem is that because of the stigma that does appear to exist about the soaps, many people are not prepared to admit that they even watch the programmes. CloseUp just reinforced that stigma. The issue is ratings not that we are addicted to the programme. The content is irrelevant as it is not just the soaps that are removed for reasons of "poor ratings". Law & Order UK, Australian Police Drama "Rush" to name a couple.
I would appreciate anything you felt you were able to do for us and thank you very much for taking the time to read this rather lengthy letter.
yours sincerely
Nikki Stigley
2 Cecil Place
Waltham
Christchurch 8023
Ph (03) 981 2470 or 0274 340 920 -
3410,
Like sands through the hourglass, so are the people who eventually realise that CloseUp is just taking the piss.
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The stigma that soap opera watchers supposedly suffer from is not a cause that I'm going to spend an undue amount of energy about. Sorry.
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But hey, it might be a human rights issue. Somebody page Graeme. You could also try to raise awereness here.
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I'm with Gio on this.
If the soaps were an important cultural touchstone for a vulnerable section of the community and unavailable through any other reasonable means I'd have a bit of sympathy. But for Days of Our Lives I'm firmly in the user pays camp.
In fact, I'm not averse to a tax on daytime-soap watching.
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My thoughts on the early media coverage was that all of the NZ media were slow off the mark. I understand that Samoa is small and rarely a news worthy place but it plays a large part of NZs culture and one of the more important countries in the Pacific Islands - yet neither of our major outlets seemed to have any connections in Samoa.
It's always difficult when news as major as this breaks. The only way they can assure quick, authorative "on the ground" coverage as soon as it happens is to actually have regular correspondents stationed there. Otherwise there's a strong degree of reporters- through absolutely no fault of their own- coming into the event (pretty horrific in itself) somewhat blind. Of course, having a news bearau costs a lot of money, so it's a trade-off, too.
Regarding your point about "home" contacts- I have no doubt that they were being rung frantically throughout the day, maybe it was a matter of some of them being unreachable. As awful as this sounds, you are limited by who gets back to you, and when.
I think your comments were fair enough though- I definitely see what you're getting at.
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If the soaps were an important cultural touchstone for a vulnerable section of the community and unavailable through any other reasonable means I'd have a bit of sympathy. But for Days of Our Lives I'm firmly in the user pays camp.
So, bugger the old folks in rest homes, the unemployed, shift workers etc?
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So, bugger the old folks in rest homes, the unemployed, shift workers etc?
Is Days of Our Lives really the best we can do for them? Really? Cos if that's what I've got to look forward to as an oldie then just take me to the vet & have me put down. Thanks.
Speaking from personal experience, including unemployment & shift work, I only ever met one person who watched this stuff. And she worked in a corporate environment.
Proper access to broadband would sort this, surely.
(Still, if the ratings research isn't up to scratch then that's not good enough).
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So, bugger the old folks in rest homes, the unemployed, shift workers etc?
Oh, come on, as if old folks, the unemployed and shift workers needed soap operas that have been going on since 1975 in order to retain their will to live. Isn't that in fact the stereotype that your correspondent is trying to dispel in her critique of the Close Up piece? We have busy lives, we don't need this, but excuse me while I enlist the help of the Opposition Spokesperson on Broadcasting to prevent a show I like from being cancelled.
I'm all for fiction and drama being part of what a public service broadcaster should provide. But I hope it doesn't mean that we are locked into showing Days of Our Lives until the end of time.
Also, have you considered that perhaps the audience measurements are correct? It seems to me that there wouldn't be any more tapers of these shows than of the average of other shows, given the older and less time constrained audience that is being explicitly suggested.
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Hmm. I guess I was hoping for a generous and open-minded response. So, old folks in rest homes should invest in broadband connections? I just wanted to support a bunch of fans, as I would hope they would rally to the cause if a favourite programme of mine was being taken to be shot!
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I just wanted to support a bunch of fans, as I would hope they would rally to the cause if a favourite programme of mine was being taken to be shot!
Oh well, it must be that we are close minded and ungenerous then. That's the only possible explanation!
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How do sports fans in rest homes cope?
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Geoff, what I'm saying is that, as with most first-glance things, there are underlying issues, resolution of which would make this one fairly moot.
Access to broadband is one. When we do better in providing it - it's a necessity for us all, in my view - then most issues around TV programming are likely to go away.
Another one is evidently quality of life for our old people. Be grateful if we could sort that before I become one.
But I still don't care if daytime soaps get the arse. And I'm prepared to wear the label of ungenerous on that one.
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I'm concerned that the best thing that gets provided for the residents as day time entertainment is Days of our Lives. That's crappy.
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3410,
Human beings need social interaction. It's well known that hermits, prisoners in long-term solitary confinement, etc, go nuts.
Soaps act as a virtual social interaction for people who lack real social interaction. Thus, having these soaps canned is a big deal to these people.
It has the same effect on certain of the elderly, infirm, mums at home, shiftworkers, etc, as being made redundant would have on you office workers (that is, a sudden and severe contraction of social interaction.)
I tend to agree that the DooL & YatR fans have a right to some consultation from TVNZ, considering the above and the fact that these shows have been on for an hour a day for 35 years. It may not be important to us, but it's important to some people who don't have much else.
My only suggestion is that the campaigners have a psychologist furnish TVNZ with a report outlining the related mental health issues.
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