Public Address | Cafe | Hard News: Reading the Numbers

Danielle

Sat, 02 Jun 2012 17:33:53 +1200

be able to set their own teaching practice, and will not have to stick to the national curriculum

Oh, *great*. Profit-turning schools pumping out ignorant fundies at a rate of knots.

merc

Sat, 02 Jun 2012 17:04:42 +1200

Bingo, privatised education, one of the elephants we are not looking for.

Kumara Republic

Sat, 02 Jun 2012 16:05:09 +1200

It confirms they will have freedom from some Education Ministry regulations, be able to set their own teaching practice, and will not have to stick to the national curriculum.

Does that mean stuff like Intelligent Design and Scientology could also sneak into the curriculum?

Ian Dalziel

Sat, 02 Jun 2012 15:38:37 +1200

psychomaths and sociomaths...
As well as this wonderful Key quote retrieval effort ...
...this article also seems to be rubbing people's noses in it:
Charter schools will have "greater flexibility" to set their own class sizes than those in the state sector, the businesswoman leading the trial says.
The terms…

merc

Sat, 02 Jun 2012 11:35:30 +1200

...those are not the elephants you're looking for ;-)

Kumara Republic

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 16:35:11 +1200

It really surprises me that no media journalist has noticed the rather large broadcasting elephant in the corner of the room.

Then again...

merc

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 13:31:36 +1200

Yep, Joyce has a template for those who want to make, erm, do the same for other things of national importance.
Silence is golden but sometimes it's gilt.
It really surprises me that no media journalist has noticed the rather large broadcasting elephant in the corner of the room.

Ian Dalziel

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 11:24:44 +1200

Step right up...
They monetised tv by giving it away, awe
The inverse devil-in-the-detail shoe drops...
Freeview pay-per-view may arrive in time for Christmas
Freeview is now only used to let people watch free digital television. But chief executive Sam Irvine said all FreeviewHD set-top boxes and Freeview-certified TVs with…

merc

Thu, 31 May 2012 22:02:54 +1200

They monetised tv by giving it away, awe. I wonder if the wonderful Mr Joyce intends doing a Fay Richwhite on the spoils, at a respectable distance down the track (cough). Worth a small exile to gain a cheap media empire, or in this case a reverse takeover, because TVNZ…

Sacha

Thu, 31 May 2012 20:00:19 +1200

But when National came in, the minister first leaned on TVNZ to make the digital channels available free to Sky, and then on the Kordia SOE to cut a sweet deal for Prime to get Freeview transmission.

And people claim these guys are all about free markets? Puhlease.

Russell Brown

Thu, 31 May 2012 18:45:07 +1200

A dish plus installation costs plus the decoder (TVs don't come with satellite decoders, terrestrial only) looks expensive compared to signing up, so Sky win by default and if you can't afford Sky you may well have to go without.

Best way of doing it is to get an installation…

Russell Brown

Thu, 31 May 2012 18:43:42 +1200

Or Dr Thompson's idea of levying SKY and the Internet providers

Bloody Steven Joyce always quotes the Labour government's statement that TVNZ 7 was expected to be self-sustaining after five years, but never the basis for that statement at the time it was made.

The original business plan was based…

Steve Barnes

Thu, 31 May 2012 17:04:18 +1200

the way poor people are being excluded

I have pointed out before that the 85% coverage provided by terrestrial broadcast is in reality just the main centres. All those living outside of those areas will need a satellite dish. A dish plus installation costs plus the decoder (TVs don't come…

Hilary Stace

Thu, 31 May 2012 15:34:06 +1200

I completely agree. And Sky is so expensive at about $88 per month for only some of the channels and including all that sport that used to be on free to air. $88 is a lot of money when you are surviving on a very limited income – it's a…

Jan Farr

Thu, 31 May 2012 14:41:17 +1200

Thanks. One more signature!

JLM

Thu, 31 May 2012 14:36:10 +1200

What gets me about the way tv broadcasting has gone in this country is the way poor people are being excluded from what the rest of the world is watching. Beneficiaries are berated for having Sky satellite dishes on their roof, but if they don't have Sky they have less…

Kumara Republic

Thu, 31 May 2012 14:35:52 +1200

the only way I can see that a "Public Broadcasting Service " could function is to have a special tax that is collected on a per capita basis and locked down in legislation given to an independent organisation to run the PBS services.

Or Dr Thompson's idea of levying SKY…

Sacha

Thu, 31 May 2012 12:29:32 +1200

Many of those programmes were made with NZers money.

All of them.

NBH

Thu, 31 May 2012 12:08:05 +1200

The UK licence fee (or at least the need to justify it) also led to possibly the best promo of all time:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wP-uxfmD6dc

Ross Mason

Thu, 31 May 2012 12:04:59 +1200

Years a go I had a wee book – literally(!) about 100mm x 70mm – that gave a neat potted history of news taxes and how the Brits controlled the news. I have 'misplaced' the bloody thing!!

[[http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/PRknowledge.htm | I found this article that is close to what the book…

Steve Barnes

Thu, 31 May 2012 11:59:09 +1200

Golly, a quick google of “BBC licence fee” reveals two things.1. 145 pounds. Ouch.

Average Sky subscription $600 (double the amount) a year. Makes the licence fee attractive no?.

Joe Wylie

Thu, 31 May 2012 10:56:17 +1200

Having lived in Australia way back when Whitlam abolished the license fee, I can't help but feel that it's an anachronism. The argument made back then was that it was a hangover from a time when simply owning the means to receive TV – and radio before that – was…

Rich of Observationz

Thu, 31 May 2012 09:30:45 +1200

The BBC license fee is enforced by mustachioed officials in (alleged) detector vans, with a success rate of around 95%.

I guess the risk for them is that some bright spark decides they could get that to nearly 100% (and cut enforcement costs) by encrypting the signal and requiring…

Hilary Stace

Thu, 31 May 2012 09:24:55 +1200

Many older NZers would enjoy the Heartland channel, yet now you need to subscribe to Sky to access it. That cuts out many people who just cannot afford the $50 + monthly subscription to Sky. Many of those programmes were made with NZers money. That exemplifies the injustice of the…

Sacha

Thu, 31 May 2012 00:56:52 +1200

Presumably that all came out of the same $79m?

Yes. That was for 5 years too.

Joe Wylie

Thu, 31 May 2012 00:29:51 +1200

John Howard tried to kneecap the ABC because he thought it was full of liberal intellectuals – but thankfully failed to do so. Where did the ABC succeed where NZ failed? Was it because of Australia having an upper house?
Critical mass and geography? Though critical population size is probably…

Kumara Republic

Thu, 31 May 2012 00:00:35 +1200

Also, what the hell ever happened to TVNZ6? That had tons of the sort of programmes of which Tom Semmens was bemoaning the absence. Presumably that all came out of the same $79m?

TVNZ6 got bastardised into TVNZ U, a kind of MTV rip-off.

James Littlewood*

Wed, 30 May 2012 23:26:20 +1200

Golly, a quick google of “BBC licence fee” reveals two things.

1. 145 pounds. Ouch.
2. The following spends (pounds) of the licence revenue for 2010/11:
– TV: 2.3b on 10 channels
– Radio: 600m on 16 stations
– Web: 200m
– Other: 400m (digital broadcast, new tech, ops & ……

Kumara Republic

Wed, 30 May 2012 23:05:17 +1200

The BBC model has a lot going for it. But convincing both houses to adopt it won't have much traction while the hate/love/control relationship with the minority-questioning-NZ-media is living in both. The classic "ignore me " by Key of Radio NZ prior to the election is the case in point.…

James Littlewood*

Wed, 30 May 2012 22:52:03 +1200

That broadcasting license fee ($35 per year if I remember right) looks a good deal from out here eh what?

You bet. I gather from conversations with former NZOA board members that they were actually highly effective in collecting. While lots of people I knew then as youngsters (aaah yes)…

Ross Mason

Wed, 30 May 2012 21:22:09 +1200

I think I was having a snap at comparing the costs of TV today v broadcasting fee days. You are right, the collection is a nightmare . Not to mention the TV finder van and people like me who hid their TV in the cupboard.....

The BBC model has a…

Kumara Republic

Wed, 30 May 2012 20:37:22 +1200

RT just announced Julian Assange to be extradited to Sweden.

They can silence men, but they can't silence ideas.

Sofie Bribiesca

Wed, 30 May 2012 20:33:56 +1200

RT just announced Julian Assange to be extradited to Sweden.

Kumara Republic

Wed, 30 May 2012 20:20:22 +1200

In the video from the Wellington Save TVNZ7 meeting I posted, Dr Peter Thompson said the licence fee would be too controversial to bring back – given the original was cumbersome enough to enforce – and a voluntary licence fee wouldn't have enough takers.

Hence, he suggested either a "must…

Ross Mason

Wed, 30 May 2012 19:49:23 +1200

that $70 million of the $79 million put up for TVNZ 6 and 7 by the last Labour government actually took the form of a special dividend from TVNZ itself.

I heard that over the weekend and it stunned me. I found this link to a [[http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/39931/Broadcasters-cast-doubt-on-channel-sharing | 2007 Stuff…

Ian Dalziel

Wed, 30 May 2012 19:47:03 +1200

Elementary my dear, what's on?
They’ve never promoted it or provided programme listings for publication.
To be fair The Press in Chchch has run TVNZ7 listing for quite some time, if not from the outset. Though I wonder what will take its place when the plug is pulled – maybe…

Joe Wylie

Wed, 30 May 2012 19:15:54 +1200

I think those of us who believe in public broadcasting need to start campaigning for a stand alone channel, independent of any commercial TV company, similar to the Radio NZ model.
While I'm not up with the details, that sounds broadly similar to Green Party policy.

Ken Sparks

Wed, 30 May 2012 19:06:14 +1200

It seems to me that having supported the Save TVNZ7 campaign from the outset and heard many of the views for keeping it or ditching it that it's actually not the best model for a public broadcast TV service. For a start, TVNZ obviously aren't interested in keeping it going…

Kumara Republic

Wed, 30 May 2012 16:12:08 +1200

How do I get hold of the petition?

It's online @ issues.co.nz.

Jan Farr

Wed, 30 May 2012 15:37:12 +1200

How do I get hold of the petition?

Jan Farr

Wed, 30 May 2012 15:18:00 +1200

Tom, you make it sound as though having lost our remotes we're all forced to watch a single channel. It may err on the side of 'earnestness' but I think TV7 provides a better balance than most. As for 'passion and urgency'?? You find this where? Reality TV? Cooking shows?…

merc

Wed, 30 May 2012 13:44:58 +1200

Thanks again.

Russell Brown

Wed, 30 May 2012 13:32:22 +1200

In the 90 seconds I had to explain the issue between intensive advertising, I was asked why TVNZ 7 is important to which I said it doesn’t have ads so it doesn’t need to simplify subjects down to a soundbite.

This is true. We can talk for 20 minutes without…

Dave Patrick

Wed, 30 May 2012 13:23:02 +1200

Thank you for your answer. I get the feeling they may be the Govts. foil to the teacher's union?

They're supposed to be an independent lobby and support group for Boards of Trustees, but as Hilary says above, they're more like an employers organisation than anything else, and also do…

merc

Wed, 30 May 2012 12:35:09 +1200

Thank you for your answer. I get the feeling they may be the Govts. foil to the teacher's union?

Myles Thomas

Wed, 30 May 2012 12:10:20 +1200

I've had a go with Mike Hosking already – listen here. In the 90 seconds I had to explain the issue between intensive advertising, I was asked why TVNZ 7 is important to which I said it doesn't have ads so it doesn't need to simplify subjects down to a…

Tamara

Wed, 30 May 2012 12:06:54 +1200

My littlies loved Baby Planet. Mountains of cuteness.

Ian Dalziel

Wed, 30 May 2012 11:38:56 +1200

All kea, no responsibility...
Didn’t Wild South used to be a top rating show in the 80s?
It has been released on DVD, so you should be able to get it at the Library – otherwise it is probably trapped (along with the large parts of the rest of our…

Hilary Stace

Wed, 30 May 2012 11:31:43 +1200

NZSTA is largely funded by a voluntary levy on schools but I think they also get extra for board governance training. I was involved on school boards for about 15 years until a few years ago. NZSTA is basically an employers' organisation, so they are inevitably conservative on issues like…

Kumara Republic

Wed, 30 May 2012 11:23:49 +1200

The local office was handy on a couple of occasions when we sought advice on procedures, but the national body seems far too close to the Ministry for my liking.

Regulatory capture, anyone?

It brings to mind the post-script of Paul Graham's Why Nerds Are Unpopular essay, where he answers…

Dave Patrick

Wed, 30 May 2012 10:50:29 +1200

Why no howls? Well NZSTA seems firmly in bed with the Minister rather than being the independent voice for parents and Boards that they are meant to be.
I was on the Board of our local school for about 12 years, including 6 as chair, and I was always surprised…

Joe Wylie

Wed, 30 May 2012 10:18:09 +1200

They’re seen as too ‘unprofitable’ and too ‘cerebral’ for free-to-air, despite awards and financial success overseas.
Didn't Wild South used to be a top rating show in the 80s?
Then again, it used to be claimed that apartheid era South African TV viewers were probably the most natural history savvy…

Kumara Republic

Wed, 30 May 2012 09:52:53 +1200

I also caught some of the amazing work of Dunedin’s Natural History Unit, which doesn’t seem to feature on free to air television for some reason.

They’re seen as too ‘unprofitable’ and too ‘cerebral’ for free-to-air, despite awards and financial success overseas. It’s symptomatic of a wider cargo cult cringe…

Ian Dalziel

Wed, 30 May 2012 09:33:02 +1200

blowing your own Angel's Trumpet?
I was on a datura bender from Friday morning
till Monday and hence missed everything.
I suspect it is the Government that is on the Datura bender, they are exhibiting all the classic symptoms:
Datura intoxication typically produces effects similar to that of an anticholinergic…

Hilary Stace

Wed, 30 May 2012 09:14:47 +1200

Te Papa and the NZ Royal Society also sponsored programmes on TVNZ7. I also caught some of the amazing work of Dunedin's Natural History Unit, which doesn't seem to feature on free to air television for some reason. All reasons to keep 7, especially as the government wants to increase…

Russell Brown

Wed, 30 May 2012 09:12:58 +1200

I enjoy his ability to deliver complex info, but I wish they’d stop with those shots of him staring into space in some kind of abstract wonder. It seems a bit pointless to me and makes the presentation more about the presenter than the topic.

For sure. Some of the…

Lucy Telfar Barnard

Wed, 30 May 2012 00:10:49 +1200

That's Brian Cox. He was in an actual pop band (D:Ream) as a young man.

Now he's in a not-actual pop band with Morgan Freeman, Stephen Hawking, Michio Kaku, Richard Feynman, and Frank Close.

Greville Whittle

Tue, 29 May 2012 22:16:29 +1200

My daughters, aged four and seven, have been watching documentaries on 7. I can't tear them away from anything do to with astronomy or the solar system. Kathlene was raving about volcanos and asteroids after last weeks episode about how Jupiter's gravity effects Earth and the other inner planets.

They're…

izogi

Tue, 29 May 2012 17:55:01 +1200

That's Brian Cox. He was in an actual pop band (D:Ream) as a young man.

He's also does occasional cameos on QI for which it's a great addition to occasionally have someone who actually knows their stuff and can speak about it in an engaging way instead of just cracking…

Russell Brown

Tue, 29 May 2012 17:45:47 +1200

Not wanting to be picky, but the issue of the cuts to technology teachers was picked up on Friday, and David Shearer was commenting on it that day, e.g. in this TV3 story

Fair call. I was on a datura bender from Friday morning till Monday and hence missed everything.

Grant Robertson

Tue, 29 May 2012 17:21:44 +1200

Not wanting to be picky, but the issue of the cuts to technology teachers was picked up on Friday, and David Shearer was commenting on it that day, e.g. in this TV3 story
http://www.3news.co.nz/Intermediate-schools-a-casualty-of-Budget/tabid/1607/articleID/255618/Default.aspx

Steve Barnes

Tue, 29 May 2012 17:16:11 +1200

a lunchtime demo of my lemon gun shooting tennis balls to unearthly heights.

Surely a lemon gun shoots lemons, not tennis balls?. or is it powered by lemons?.
Like; C6H8O7 + NaHCO3 = piles of CO2 and a big mess stuff that tastes like lemonade.

Russell Brown

Tue, 29 May 2012 17:07:30 +1200

. (I’m going to particularly miss that handsome English academic who narrates various cosmological programmes).

That's Brian Cox. He was in an actual pop band (D:Ream) as a young man.

Steve Barnes

Tue, 29 May 2012 16:45:47 +1200

My pleasure Hilary. My reference to Scientists disliking explosions was more a reference to Sir Robert Winston, who at a Media 7 special voiced his disdain for such programming, especially Mythbusters and their "science warnings" when they deviated from blowing things up.
He had equal disdain for a certain "rat…

Ross Mason

Tue, 29 May 2012 16:40:29 +1200

I would ponder the possibility that there are more scientist who were attracted to the discipline by explosions than not.;-)

New employees who turn up here always get the treat of a lunchtime demo of my lemon gun shooting tennis balls to unearthly heights.

Not boring.

Hilary Stace

Tue, 29 May 2012 16:22:29 +1200

Thanks Steve – because I dip in and out of them only on the rare occasions when I have access to the remote, and the listings aren't in the Listener, I rarely catch their titles.

Steve Barnes

Tue, 29 May 2012 15:56:11 +1200

. (I’m going to particularly miss that handsome English academic who narrates various cosmological programmes).

I found him more than a little annoying, young upstart, how could he possibly know anything at his age? (or am I getting old)
Michael Mosley's "The Story of Science" is well worth a watch…

Hilary Stace

Tue, 29 May 2012 15:42:04 +1200

Tom Semmens, upthread, called TVNZ7 ‘earnest and dull’. I was suggesting that explosions linked to various scientific theories are neither. There are several wonderful science programmes on 7 and many feature explosions or one type or another, including the original big bang. (I’m going to particularly miss that handsome English…

Simon Grigg

Tue, 29 May 2012 15:38:34 +1200

FWIW, the people who come up and talk to me about Media7 (and it happens quite a lot now) are older New Zealanders — they're the ones who'll lose most when the channel ends.

From personal experience I'll agree with that. I've been on Russell's show twice and both times…

Hilary Stace

Tue, 29 May 2012 15:38:05 +1200

Tom Semmens, upthread, called TVNZ7 'earnest and dull'. I was suggesting that explosions linked to various scientific theories are neither. There are several wonderful science programmes on 7 and many feature explosions or one type or another, including the original big bang. (I'm going to particularly miss that handsome English…

Geoff Lealand

Tue, 29 May 2012 15:25:23 +1200

Well, Tom--every time I have been along to Media 7 there have been a heap of young 'uns in the audiences, along with us of an older hue. When I have taken vanloads of my students along they have loved it.

What I particularly enjoy about TVNZ7 is the element…

Kumara Republic

Tue, 29 May 2012 15:19:19 +1200

OT: Tony Blair admits Newscorp is Britain's de facto upper house.

Ian Dalziel

Tue, 29 May 2012 15:00:22 +1200

How about we start a campaign
and send Coleman 7 of things.
Can I send Sven the Berserk?
What's an 'e' between friends?
;- )

Steve Barnes

Tue, 29 May 2012 14:50:43 +1200

great science programmes including those so full of explosions that they make Mythbusters look boring,

Breaking news. Scientists find explosions boring.
I would ponder the possibility that there are more scientist who were attracted to the discipline by explosions than not.
;-)

Steve Barnes

Tue, 29 May 2012 14:35:45 +1200

My logic leap is that they are not being stupid, they are intentionally obfuscating to further their own agendas, whatever they may be, and that is corrupt.

The thing is that those hidden agenda are all the same “how much can I make out of it?”
They are all too…

merc

Tue, 29 May 2012 14:30:17 +1200

Yes, I use the word very reluctantly, but a case can be built up and argued that the decisions round for example, making SKY a monopoly, see clip above – could lead one to conclusions that are not associated with the public good.

Steve Barnes

Tue, 29 May 2012 14:25:22 +1200

I think I can write it here...smells of corruption to me.

Has anyone else noticed that if you use that word in a Herald comment it gets censored?.
Way to wipe out corruption eh? Just hide and deny.

merc

Tue, 29 May 2012 14:17:21 +1200

Thank you immensely for that clip.

Kumara Republic

Tue, 29 May 2012 14:10:54 +1200

PS. Here's just one of the SKYNET tees in the flesh...

Sacha

Tue, 29 May 2012 14:08:54 +1200

the Budget app?

Kumara Republic

Tue, 29 May 2012 14:08:45 +1200

The Wellington protest meeting last week was packed, and it was full of older angry citizens. This is definitely not the end of public service television – just what form it will take is as yet unclear. But this is a powerful demographic that expects to watch intelligent television in…

merc

Tue, 29 May 2012 13:56:03 +1200

I have a son at high school and a daughter at university, and I hope with all my heart, this Govt's crass tinkering in those areas will ignite the spark that blows this bunch of self serving cretins off the levers of power for ever.
There, my bias in full…

Paul Brislen

Tue, 29 May 2012 13:51:10 +1200

Actually I heard from a number of disgruntled voters about the apps which seemed to forget all the standards around accessibility for disabled viewers. Much grumpiness.

merc

Tue, 29 May 2012 13:50:57 +1200

Yes, I was not clear, I meant internally notified, written checks and measures, rules they must adhere to then answer to. Because the way this Govt. has been with the truth leaves me in no doubt that some very dubious decision making needs to be answered for, loan to Ironbridge…

Sacha

Tue, 29 May 2012 13:50:08 +1200

this is a powerful demographic

results on this matter suggest otherwise, to be fair

Hilary Stace

Tue, 29 May 2012 13:47:45 +1200

Tom, you must have missed the great science programmes including those so full of explosions that they make Mythbusters look boring, the NZ teenagers doing work experience at a place of their choice (in the last one I saw a girl went to work at the V factory), even the…

Sacha

Tue, 29 May 2012 13:40:14 +1200

Joe Six Pack on Struggle Street

that's in Waitakere, right?

Joe Wylie

Tue, 29 May 2012 13:39:54 +1200

sneering anti-intellectuals like Mike Hosking
Jeez Tom. Pot, kettle :-)

merc

Tue, 29 May 2012 13:22:06 +1200

Steady on, everyone. Coleman did actually take to Cabinet a recommendation that TVNZ 7's funding be continued. Key was apparently relaxed about that, but Joyce (and English apparently) were not.
Same applies, this is another tactic Govt. uses, ultimately I know, and you know, it was not about the savings.…

Russell Brown

Tue, 29 May 2012 13:19:49 +1200

At the end of the day, even the defenders of TVNZ 7 cannot deny it is being shut down because it didn’t make itself essential enough to a wide enough spectrum of New Zealanders to muster enough support to justify its funding and its existence in the face of a…

Tom Semmens

Tue, 29 May 2012 12:59:54 +1200

Attacking the government as a bunch of ignorant, ill informed Philistines for whom shutting down TVNZ 7 was probably the easiest cost cutting decision they made that day is probably accurate. But that doesn’t mean the channel gets away with being blame free. In the end it cannot be escaped…

Michael Robinson

Tue, 29 May 2012 12:56:23 +1200

My eleven year old daughter wrote her first letter to a Minister (Hekia Parata) last night, because she was so incensed to hear that her school may have to shed up to six teachers. I was very proud of her.

She attends a school that's a full year 1-8, not…

Kumara Republic

Tue, 29 May 2012 12:30:45 +1200

opposition, media, political movements

And of course, whistle-blowers.

Sacha

Tue, 29 May 2012 12:26:35 +1200

as an example of the system working, witness the govt backpedalling furiously on teacher cuts.

Sacha

Tue, 29 May 2012 12:25:00 +1200

Do we have checks and measures for this sort of thing?

opposition, media, political movements

Russell Brown

Tue, 29 May 2012 12:23:00 +1200

People are not inclined to double-check results that agree with their prejudices.

To harp on, I want to know why Coleman has this prejudice? For what gain? For whose gain? Because if the answers to these questions are personally driven, then he is not being a representative Minister, in my…

Kumara Republic

Tue, 29 May 2012 12:09:16 +1200

Why, SKY-NET, of course!

merc

Tue, 29 May 2012 11:55:56 +1200

People are not inclined to double-check results that agree with their prejudices.
To harp on, I want to know why Coleman has this prejudice? For what gain? For whose gain? Because if the answers to these questions are personally driven, then he is not being a representative Minister, in my…

Stephen Judd

Tue, 29 May 2012 11:53:04 +1200

I think the bogus figure was a matter of genuine ineptitude in pursuit of a low-sounding number.

People are not inclined to double-check results that agree with their prejudices.

Ross Mason

Tue, 29 May 2012 11:48:59 +1200

How about we start a campaign and send Coleman 7 of things. Preferably small items that give him the message that it is all about "7".

I'm sending 7 paperclips.

merc

Tue, 29 May 2012 11:39:31 +1200

A serious limitation I have found as well, interesting. Monopolistic and protectionist behaviour from our Ministers and state broadcaster is corrupt in my view. Old double-dip Hosking is just another useful idiot in the ruse. Everyone is playing dumb while they haul in enormous benefits and salaries from both the…

Ian Dalziel

Tue, 29 May 2012 11:30:19 +1200

That darned sock puppet…
Hosking seems to have derived all his information from that nonsense editorial in The Christchurch Press some weeks back.
Interesting to note that he does not identify himself with the “chattering classes”, does this mean he does not consider himself educated or part of the Media…

John Holley

Tue, 29 May 2012 11:17:48 +1200

The challenge is that so much of policy is being driven by spreadsheets (Treasury) without any understanding of the true operational impacts e.g reduced educational outcomes.
One thing that has been missed is that, where schools are forced to reduce staff numbers, and can't do so via attrition, they must…

Sacha

Tue, 29 May 2012 11:12:37 +1200

how does one pretend to be competent and not be aware of the ramifications of their own policy?
The Manurewa princpal talked to RNZ about discussing things face-to-face with Parata and her seeming to understand and even saying they were 'on the same page'. Then showing otherwise with this decision.…

Sacha

Tue, 29 May 2012 11:10:46 +1200
I agree it would have been a genuine error. Just a convenient one and not corrected until the end.

Russell Brown

Tue, 29 May 2012 10:50:37 +1200

Those in charge of strategy like Joyce and MccCully would be using it to gauge potential political backlash. Just like potential commercial partners would for profitability.
It certainly suited them, but I think the bogus figure was a matter of genuine ineptitude in pursuit of a low-sounding number.

Ben Curran

Tue, 29 May 2012 10:50:27 +1200
With regards to not realising how badly some schools would be affected – how does one pretend to be competent and not be aware of the ramifications of their own policy? Especially when it's a touchy subject like education. That's a flabberygastey face of disbelief right there. Though I'm not…

merc

Tue, 29 May 2012 10:48:15 +1200
I think I can write it here...smells of corruption to me.

Sacha

Tue, 29 May 2012 10:23:48 +1200

On TVNZ7, the lying about audience size is bound to have affected Cabinet's decision process, no matter how penny-pinching or ideological their overall motivation may have been.
Those in charge of strategy like Joyce and MccCully would be using it to gauge potential political backlash. Just like potential commercial partners…

Sacha

Tue, 29 May 2012 10:20:01 +1200

Worthwhile Herald story on real impacts of the government's tech teacher funding cuts.
Same principal of a decile 1 school in Manurewa talks eloquently on Radio NZ's Nine to Noon show along with Principals' rep (25 mins, listening options).

Kumara Republic

Tue, 29 May 2012 10:19:36 +1200
Just as I suspected. Not a "lack of money", but bare-faced anti-intellectualism hiding behind it.

Public Address

Tue, 29 May 2012 10:19:36 +1200

Discussion from blog post.