there was nada, zip, zilch.

Wha...?? Have you not seen Life on Mars? Noizyboy where are you? What's the name of that Scrapbooking programme you recommend?

The bit that gets my ire up is the alleged 'newsbreaks' where they deliberately don't tell you the news to bait you into watching the main show later on. That's not a newsbreak, its a bloody ad break.

"I'm Kent Brockman. On the eleven o'clock news tonight: A certain type…

Interesting how quickly the VT shooters status as an immigrant has been pushed to the front of the news stories.
[and]

Interesting – online, the updated Herald story says he arrived in the US 15 years ago. In the print edition, it says he arrived last month...

Yup – the…

Is the book Fiscadoro?

No, it is called Riddley Walker and may have inspired another poster from here abouts.

Boston Legal does have some good moments, I admit. Last nights was the first I had watched since ages ago and I did like it.
I also usually watch Top Gear…

"he killed 168? nah... lemme know when a decent body count comes up. hold on! do we have a shot of the gunman walking anywhere?"

Interesting how quickly the VT shooters status as an immigrant has been pushed to the front of the news stories. Never mind that he's lived…

he found that actual content had decreased, but chat (the fronts talking shit to one another) had increased, as had ads.

so... more "news" but less, well, news.

I'm with you on this one 3410!

BTW – does anyone know what Helen Clark did for 9 hours on the water waiting for the wind to blow? I mean, she may may be…

Close-Up trailer: "The worst massacre in US history".

worse than say, my lai? or wounded knee?

the cynic in me is wondering when gun-toting americans killing one another will no longer be news.

"he killed 168? nah... lemme know when a decent body count comes up. hold on! do we…

or even the bleached toothpick of pretty interesting.

Hehe, I'm switching off, weaning myself off my TV news habit, nasty as nicotine. After I left adland I didn't watch TV for 2 years, I'm heading that way again.

Have i been turned into Kel by osmosis?

you mean 1 and 3 tv news? it is being continually logged in its entirety ad has been for years, if that's what you mean. and not by the broadcasters either.

Close-Up trailer: "The worst massacre in US history".

If they don't know any history, couldn't they at least learn how to use Google?

You're assuming that they value accuracy.

Response from TVNZ and TV3 – not one – not one – alteration to programming. Not one extended bulletin. No "Close-Up". Nothing. At All.

A little like the response from the rest of the world since...much of what was pledged, including the governmental aid, didn't turn up. That mighty US…

If they don't know any history, couldn't they at least learn how to use Google?

Oh dear.

has anyone noticed that they always have experts walking past or towards the camera before they're interviewed.

it kind of says, "look dr. [whogivesashitreally] can walk in a straight line! s/he is therefore someone you should listen to attentively!

If I may give away a few trade secrets.

That's probably…

Sorry, what were we talking about again?

As for the quality of "our news", the Boxing Day Tsunami was the low point.

What annoyed me most about that news coverage was the solid month of competition over who could cram in the highest number of superlatives, imparted in a ringing thespian tenor. It was like they were…

that could be the origin of the crabs.

Can I just say that "Bosomworth" is an amazing name?

He bears it very gracefully, along with a select few others.

He told me it's a Scottish name, and I figured out that the equivalent English would be "Broomwright", ie a maker of brooms (besoms).

Sounds like a strapline for that infamous B-movie, __Bad…

A while back I decided to believe that ad writers were all being tongue in cheek/ironic/playing a joke at the world/frustrated doctoral students.

Never get fooled into thinking that what you read is what the copywriter originally wrote. There are usually many, many levels of painful compromise.

An example: I…

has anyone noticed that they always have experts walking past or towards the camera before they're interviewed.

and it's written in the training manual that there must be a staged shot of expert talking to the receptionist in their office.

As for the quality of "our news", the Boxing Day…

Apart from the obvious cost savings in padding out your broadcast with other people's footage, perhaps some smart person knows that there are lots of Kiwi expats in Oz?

Surely they're watching Australian news and not our news? I mean, that would make sense if it was lots of news…

television news is a soap opera that serves to reinforce the viewers' understanding of the world.
has anyone noticed that they always have experts walking past or towards the camera before they're interviewed.

I cringed last week during 3 News' reporting of the 10 y.o. who escaped being dragged into…

Nope, this was John Bosomworth, who now works in a completely different field. (Nice guess that it was pol sci tho: I understand there was a big argument in the department whether the work was really pol sci or not).

Perfect for people who don't like painting windows

That's me, but I didn't fall for it...

television news is a soap opera that serves to reinforce the viewers' understanding of the world.

has anyone noticed that they always have experts walking past or towards the camera before they're interviewed.

it kind of says, "look dr. [whogivesashitreally] can walk in a straight line! s/he is therefore someone…

I think the best one so far was for a ground-floor unit with easy access. Hence, it was headlined:

Disabled's Delight!

Apart from the obvious cost savings in padding out your broadcast with other people's footage, perhaps some smart person knows that there are lots of Kiwi expats in…

That too I guess, unfortunate habit that it is.

television news is a soap opera that serves to reinforce the viewers' understanding of the world

Yeah, but, ahm, it also subtly and not-so-subtly shapes people's worldviews- no? So we all understand it's a very dangerous world out there that we need protection from, in so many ways. And we…

and next we see why babies need food

I SAW THAT PIECE! Cutting-edge research that concluded that mothers should eat healthily while they're pregnant. Then they had a shot of a new mother and a voiceover saying something like "but you don't have to tell Grace that, she's just given…

This is why when you go on holiday out of range of the news, and…

I was surprised to discover that TV is still commercial-free on Sunday mornings

Still no reason to get up early, Robyn. It doesn't prevent the broadcaster advertising its own crap.

Tried to watch The Aviator over Easter (at Mother in Law's, in the country, not much TV) and it was…

"Americas Funniest Home Videos" has taken over my house at 6pm...I can't go back now.

It's re-runs of Who Wants to be a Millionaire (UK) on Prime for us. I resolved (suddenly) to stop watching the 6om news about 2 years ago, after one fluffy kitten story too many. We…

If anyone is interested in our declining news services, they need look no further than .......

tonights (Monday) One network news late* edition. Sandwiched in the middle of their story on the bogus rape claimant was a brief description of the rapist who attacked a 12 y.o. in Hastings.
I…

http://red.com/cameras.htm

Brought to you by the fellows who make Oakley sunglasses – and kickass in so many ways.

I have often wondered what the point of 'crossing live' to a reporter at Auckland's viaduct has to do with a Wellington story.

Agreed, and I've often wondered why they label the left and right screens with the locations, rather than with the name of the person…

New(ish) CBS News Anchor Katie Couric does a first-person 'personal notebook' where she shares some folksy stuff to charm middle America. Unfortunately she doesn't actually write…

"...If they needed to fly to Los Angeles to do a piece to camera in front of a building, it seemed, they just did it."
Any particular story in mind?
Yes, but I damned if I can remember what it was. I just recall sitting in front of the TV…

Sundays were commercial free

Recently I was browsing through the Broadcasting Act and I was surprised to discover that TV is still commercial-free on Sunday mornings – between 6am and midday.

I guess I should get out of bed earlier on the weekend.

The fact that you sat at an outdoor table at SPQR doesn't make you a celeb. It makes you a poseur.

It makes you a smoker.

How do you feel now?
Was that hard?
Are you going to apologise?
Can you tell us what you think of it?

I can recall as a kid in 1989 when Monica Cantwell was murdered on Mt Maunganui, her mother was interviewed on TV by Susan Wood, who inquired "Were…

> Kent Brockman
NZBC

> TVNZ

I'm juuuuuuhhhhaaaaaa Saarinen....

In slightly less ranting mode – I realise the whole name thing is probably a "directive". The thing about it for me is it is so obviously a marketing ploy.

I guess what was being attempted was to create a journo/reporter (I think there is a distinction) who…

I am Juha Saarinen, and you are reading my comment on Public Address. Good night!

...instead they will get Kieth Ng's digicam feed direct on public address.

Bring it on!

One key thing they did, which has come back to bite them on the arse, was deliberately create a celebrity culture.

For me that's the whole of the news now (and TV3 deserves brickbats as well). The idea that promotion for reality TV should be on any "news" programme is…

"...If they needed to fly to Los Angeles to do a piece to camera in front of a building, it seemed, they just did it."

Any particular story in mind?

Sixty Minutes did a story in 1996 on OMC when we were sitting in London for seven weeks (actually flying…

"...If they needed to fly to Los Angeles to do a piece to camera in front of a building, it seemed, they just did it."

Any particular story in mind?

Yes, but I damned if I can remember what it was. I just recall sitting in front of the TV…

Any particular story in mind?

pps. It is still nice to listen to someone who knows how to "deliver the news"

you'd think both channels would hire reporters who didn't have to have the story explained to them every time

I gave up on TV reporters a loooong time ago. And presenters...Arghhh. I just want to punch that Alastair Wilkinson (that's the smarmy guy on TV3 eh?) in the nose.

when TV3 arrived and they felt some odd need to, you know, compete. TV One didn't ever need to compete, it just needed to be TV One and hold it's head high, a la ABC and BBC 1.

One key thing they did, which has come back to bite them…

The faux-international style (over substance) took hold at TVNZ sometime in the late '80s,

when TV3 arrived and they felt some odd need to, you know, compete. TV One didn't ever need to compete, it just needed to be TV One and hold it's head high, a la ABC and…

I used to be a Copywriter, who had to deal with TVNZ way back. I'm not a journalist, but from what I know (very little), the culture is just plain wrong for any kind of innovation or suggestions for it.

This is actually why I'm inclined to give the current…

Stoked! A quote. Personally, I think TVNZ is going to go down a long, long way before there's a re-build from the ashes. And that new promo suggests I may be right.

I've always thought that one of the worst of the hither-and-thither decisions in the past decade and a…