You're right not to blame the journalists themselves, its their owners that have srewed them to a position where they're actually too under-resourced to do their jobs properly. Why people still work for them I don't know, but then there are a lot of fresh-faced graduates yet…

OK, so the PM got to put up some unchallenged spin of her own.

Have been away on work for a while but as this is a subject that matters to me I'll add something more at this late stage.

Craig, I don't think your example is appropriate. While…

And I got it because ... I'm a freak for that stuff?

Did you instantly think "Hmmm, I wonder if she's saying it was zero, or infinitely negative?"

Their "survey" only considers English speaking countries, presumably because he doesn't speak any foreign languages. Houses are actually more affordable in continental Europe, where they have *stricter* development controls,…

So do I. And in my experience of using the OIA, it generally does.

Fair enough. And I wasn't just blowing smoke above – thanks for the serious and civil dissent. Don't think you've changed my mind, but a contrary POV isn't a bad thing at all.

Call me a crank if you must, but I'd just like the public service to be just that — and observe a pretty basic (if not flawless, but that's a whole other can of worms) mechanism for public scrutiny and accountability.

So do I. And in my experience of using…

Prime Minister takes issue with house-cost findings
5:00AM Tuesday January 22, 2008
By Anne Gibson

An international survey that found New Zealand the least affordable country for house buyers was widely attacked yesterday and its findings…

Last but not least, TVNZ has just managed the same treatment of the news release put out by Bill English on 'thestandard.org.nz'.

Really? Mike Williams seemed to get plenty of time for response and rebuttal. He didn't do a terribly good job (seriously, why is he allowed out in public…

I only got it because I've seen it before.

And I got it because ... I'm a freak for that stuff?

" More spin doctors on govt payroll
" Jan 20, 2008 10:49 AM

" The National Party says in the past five years government agencies…

I think I got it Ben ...but it took me a while.

I only got it because I've seen it before.

My concern about media is not that they reprint releases. Some of them actually might be well written (eh Jason?) and actually true (shock horror).

My concern is that other media pick up the story uncritically and do…

Good bit of back-peddling there Craig

While Idiot/Savant and I disagree on a lot, he did come up with a serious and civil dissent that deserved to be responded to in the same spirit. You... not so much.

the hollowing out of New Zealand's newsrooms

Back from the holidays and catching up on the goings on at PA, I got to this piece after earlier in the evening reading Con Houlihan’s latest column in the Irish Indo. Con must be well into his eighties and still fighting the…

... media releases: where once we only had the mediated version via the newspapers, we can now consult the original on Scoop.

Can't agree more. Scoop is necessary reading if you want to know where much of the news comes from. Course it doesn't catch the more selective releases.

It…

everybody wants to go to heaven, nobody wants to die

In a sense, you and I funded the writing of the stories.

indeed. as a public servant i'm happy to do my job and respond to OIA. they're one of the ad hoc tasks you're employed to undertake.

but let's not forget that every OIA will usually tie…

The infamous '54 spin doctors at MSD' isn't a particularly new story – I think it emerged from a select committee a few months ago. Used it in a column…

yes, a bit like what APN has done to the Herald really isn't it Russell?

Good bit of back-peddling there Craig

But every media organisation ran the "spin doctor" line whole

Which "spin doctor" line was that? Those words don't appear in the press release. It does call Labour "the 'most spun' Government in history", which seems fair enough.

In a sense, you and I funded the writing of the stories.

…

You're still missing my point, which is more about the unmolested ease with which the spin makes the news columns.

OK got it, and thanks for responding. I'm impressed. I also like the fact that the political persuasions of both you and David F are explicit and your posts are…

Speaking as a regular OIA user, IMHO it is hyperbole.

Well, Idiot/Savant, I'm glad you've had a good experience and to be fair, most government departments and local bodies keep their noses fairly clean. I said "I don't think its hyperbole" because I've talked to far too many people over…

The editor of the LA Times has been fired for refusing to cut newsroom budgets.

What the Tribune Group has done to that paper is just wrong. David Geffen and his chums should stop talking, reach into their pockets and buy back the Times…

And good job he does, Russell. When was the last time you lodged a request under the Official Information Act and the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act?

Last Wednesday – and I had a full response back within 24 hours.

I don't think its hyperbole to say far…

It just seems to me that you and David Farrar are perpetually balancing each other out with your bagging of National and Farrar's criticism of Labour in equal measure, often for doing the same thing. I guess it works for you both?

You're still missing my point, which is more…

here, this might help

http://repositoryaut.lconz.ac.nz/context/theses/article/1166/index/1/type/native/viewcontent/

you could hardly call it equal, but there do seem to be some commonalities

the more troubling reality is not so much an increase in public communications staff as the hollowing out of New Zealand's newsrooms

Lest we entirely forget what the newsrooms and media could be capable of, I caught a rousing speech by Jeffrey Sachs on the matter the other night on…

the extreme politicisation of the process, which sees the majority of OIA requests made by Opposition MPs and their staff, to be presented in a hostile and selective fashion (Labour did the same thing in Opposition).

I keep hearing that argument, and have a tiny grain of sympathy for it.…

When the OIA was passed under Muldoon, it was envisaged that the majority of requests would be made by members of the public, but they're actually usually made in a highly political context

Because members of the opposition didn't need them because they could file written Parliamentary questions.

There's no…

I think you're having an Alanis Morissette moment here Russell. No, it is not ironic that an opposition party has used Parliamentary communication resources to put out a release criticising the government. That's their job.

Yup. Just like it's the job of someone who works for MSD to keep up…

Then the public service gets the blame for the delay. Journos are…

Brownlee did not write the press release or submit the Official Information Act requests himself (the numbers are compiled from select committee questions and OIA requests). He has staff for that.

And good job he does, Russell. When was the last time you lodged a request under the Official Information…

I expect National won't need nearly so many comms people because they'll hardly want to be telling the public what they're up to, now will they?

No, but they will spend the budget complaining about what Labour is up to. It's been working pretty well for them so far.