Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Memories of the news

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  • Kumara Republic, in reply to Kumara Republic,

    PS. Towards the end of the 1980s I watched the Berlin Wall coming down, the Tianamen Square protests, and David Lange resigning as PM. I just as vividly remember the benefit cuts just a couple of years later. A cat showed up at our doorstep that time - which my family originally thought abandoned due to said benefit cuts - and it later turned out it had merely wandered off when its owner came back from an overseas trip.

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report

  • John Farrell,

    I have a vague memory of news about the Hungarian revolution, and a picture of a tank, in 1954. I was 4.

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 499 posts Report

  • Paul Brown,

    JFK's assassination was the first news story rhat had a big impression on me. I was at high school. Since then the strongest memories have been tied to the places where I heard the news. Camping at a Coromandel Beach during the Wahine storm. Listening on sw RNZ to the commentators describing the flour bombing of Eden Park in 81, while sailing across the Pacific. Watching the siege of the London Iranian Embassy on TV in Amsterdam. Turning on the TV, while getting ready for work early in the morning in Washington State and watching live as the 2nd plane crashed into the twin towers, not believing what I was seeing. That was a strange day at work!
    Since then I guess the two big tsunamis and the earthquakes have left the strongest impressions.

    Piha • Since Nov 2006 • 19 posts Report

  • Russell Brown, in reply to LeighKennaway,

    At Kowhai Intermediate School they played Nixon’s resignation over the loud speaker system….. then turned it off half way through because they thought no-one was interested. I ran straight up to the school office to listen to the rest of it!

    Nerd!

    But yes, they played it over the intercom at my school in Greymouth too.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Euan Mason,

    Sputnik. My Dad took me outside to look at it, then JFK's assassination.

    Canterbury • Since Jul 2008 • 259 posts Report

  • Hilary Stace,

    I remember the opening of Wellington airport. My father drove us to one of the roads overlooking it and we watched the plane displays. I was a pre-schooler but it must have made a big impression on me. (I also remember seeing the flying boats in Evans Bay which preceded the airport).

    A few years later I remember the moment my primary school teacher told us about Kennedy's death (54 years ago today).

    Wgtn • Since Jun 2008 • 3229 posts Report

  • Alfie, in reply to Euan Mason,

    Sputnik. My Dad took me outside to look at it, then JFK's assassination.

    Snap, Euan. I can clearly remember my Dad pointing to the little light traversing the sky and telling me that there was a dog inside the capsule. Then the shock my Mum and grandmother exhibited the day JFK was killed.

    It's no wonder I went on to become a news junkie.

    Dunedin • Since May 2014 • 1440 posts Report

  • wasabicube,

    Nixon's resignation. We were driving from North Wales to Yorkshire to stay with my Grandpa during the summer holidays. I can visualise us rounding a roundabout as the news came on the car radio.

    Whangaparaoa • Since Nov 2006 • 15 posts Report

  • Ian Dalziel, in reply to Alfie,

    the little light traversing the sky

    a sadder light of love...

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report

  • Julian Melville,

    It's interesting how the same events keep coming up for people of similar ages, I wonder if that reflects what the media were talking about at the time. For me the earliest story I remember hearing about was Dad coming home and saying "Big Norm" had died. The earliest one I can directly remember coverage of is Elvis dying. I also remember Skylab coming down being a big deal, we would watch out for it at lunchtime at school!

    Auckland • Since Dec 2006 • 200 posts Report

  • poffa,

    The escape and hunt for George Wilder. The moon landing was Intermediate. The disappointment as teachers returned early from listening to the first round knock out of a Cassius Clay fight.

    auckland • Since Jun 2007 • 31 posts Report

  • Rochelle Wilson,

    How young you all are!.My first memory that made sense was the light, happy feeling around at home and in the neighbourhood when WW 2 ended and there was a celebration party at the local school and I ate bread and dripping for the first time and thought it delicious [and my mother was mortified as she had tried so hard to provide healthy food].
    My next major news memories are the victory of the Chinese Red Army, and the establishment of the State of Israel both in 1948; then photos of US soldiers playing "soccer" with N Korean heads in 1953; and the film/photo of Syngman Rhee himself [I think, or his top General], shooting a kneeling, bound N Korean soldier in the back of his head. I was a sickened then, as now of ISIS murders.
    More happily the inauguration of Jomo Kenyatta as the first President of Kenya.in 1964.
    Interest in Politics has been deeply part of me all my life.
    And, alas, I am not optimistic about the future of our beautiful, interseting, precious planet.

    Kapiti • Since Jul 2007 • 17 posts Report

  • Joe Wylie,

    Being taken on a past my bedtime drive to see public buildings lit up for "The Coronation". This jaunty slab of pomposity on the radio - "Now you've done it, reached the summit, won it for the red white and blue":

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report

  • nzlemming,

    Wahine, I think, followed by the moon landing, then Kirk taking office according to my recollections. I remember being very sad when Big Norm died. Another early TV memory is being transfixed by Alister Riddell's Space Waltz on whatever the talent show was at the time. I remember my brother and I looking at each other and saying (in essence) "this is allowed in NZ now?"

    Waikanae • Since Nov 2006 • 2937 posts Report

  • Brent Jackson,

    I guess I have an earlier memory of being part of a news event, namely standing on the side of Grafton Road as the Queen was driven by in her Rolls Royce. I guess that was March 1970, aged 5.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 620 posts Report

  • Russell Brown, in reply to nzlemming,

    Another early TV memory is being transfixed by Alister Riddell’s Space Waltz on whatever the talent show was at the time.

    Oh, hell yes. 'Out on the Street' was the first record I ever bought with my own money.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Stupid,

    JFK assassination. I was 6, my school buddies & I felt it quite intensely through the way our parents reacted, but we didn’t understand.

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 75 posts Report

  • izogi,

    1981 Springbok tour for me, but I was under 3 at the time so I could just be remembering coverage from a few years later. I definitely recall the Rainbow Warrior bombing and Challenger exploding. I think I remember stuff around the 1984 election and Muldoon stepping down.

    Will they be shaped differently to mine, given the sheer intensity and ubiquity of news in 2017? Will Trump tower over it all? Will the entertainers who make headlines now linger into the future?

    Also will they be genuine memories of actual news, or just a swamp of opinions?

    Wellington • Since Jan 2007 • 1142 posts Report

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