Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Television and the Public Good

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  • Dan Slevin,

    I met Craig Foss at a function once. Before I found out he was the guest speaker we had a good old chat about how to get a US iTunes account so he could watch overseas programmes on his Apple TV.

    Wellington, NZ • Since Mar 2007 • 95 posts Report Reply

  • PeterLynch,

    Geoffrey Whitehead's letter can be found here

    Wellington • Since Feb 2012 • 3 posts Report Reply

  • merc,

    Can't you sell your show to Maori TV?

    Since Dec 2006 • 2471 posts Report Reply

  • James Littlewood*,

    Mainstream New Zealand broadcasting has been allowed to slip down the slope of commercialism since 1987

    It's easy to attribute the evils of the world to the 4th Labour gummint, and usually accurate, too. But didn't NZ's ride down the slippery slope of commercial TV began within months - or weeks - of the first NZBC public broadcast in 1960?

    Two different strategies have failed:

    1. Making quality public service pay its way
    2. Making a political commitment to it, regardless

    Auckland • Since Mar 2008 • 410 posts Report Reply

  • Tom Semmens,

    I hold out a bit more hope for Foss than that.

    You are a slow learner.

    Foss, Tremain, Simon Lusk and Jordan Williams are all part of a Hawkes Bay based cabal whose political views are hard, hard right wing.

    Sevilla, Espana • Since Nov 2006 • 2217 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic,

    I’ve mentioned it before, but I’ve personally discussed the possibility of a Royal Commission on the matter with the Save TVNZ7 organiser. Darkiegate, Henrygate, McElreagate, you name it – the same mistakes will likely be repeated under the status quo, and a Commision would be all the more urgent.

    This whole broadcasting mess is just another reason why I’ve opted out in favour of the Web.

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

  • Joe Wylie, in reply to merc,

    Can't you sell your show to Maori TV?

    Good question.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Barnes, in reply to Joe Wylie,

    Can't you sell your show to Maori TV?

    Couldn't we "Occupy" TVNZ7 and run "Public Address TV" ?

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report Reply

  • merc, in reply to Steve Barnes,

    Couldn't we "Occupy" TVNZ7 and run "Public Address TV" ?

    Only if you privatize it.

    Since Dec 2006 • 2471 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Barnes, in reply to merc,

    Only if you privatize it.

    That's why I said "Occupy" we already own it, we just have to make use of what we own. "Occupy TVNZ7" has quite @ nice ring to it. Don'cha think?.

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report Reply

  • Leopold, in reply to Joe Wylie,

    Except that the goals of Maori TV includes encouraging the use of Maori and gving a Maori perspective - The influx of refugees from non-commercial TV will be mainly Pakeha-based - Will Russell undertake to conduct the programme in Maori? while I am happy enough to have some films and documentaries in language other than Maori, and for the channel to act in some respects as a Kiwi version of the brilliant Australian SBS, too much Pakeha material, no matter how worthy, will only act to the disadvantage of the Maori (and multicultural!) component.

    Since Jan 2007 • 153 posts Report Reply

  • merc, in reply to Steve Barnes,

    Yeah nah.

    Since Dec 2006 • 2471 posts Report Reply

  • nzlemming,

    On a slight tangent, Russ, could some CactusMagic be aplied to links in the main posts so that they open in a new tab as the links in PAS do?

    Waikanae • Since Nov 2006 • 2937 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to nzlemming,

    and I'd love a Reply button off the main post that auto-quotes selected text like the ones in our Comments do. Might have to wait for the next funding drive, I realise.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Wylie, in reply to Leopold,

    The influx of refugees from non-commercial TV will be mainly Pakeha-based

    Like Anzac Day coverage, which has been de facto resident on Maori TV for ages now, presumably because there's not a buck to be made from it.

    . . . a Kiwi version of the brilliant Australian SBS

    As someone once said, 'I cleaned the glass door of the oven and replaced the bulb. Then I put a potato in. A bit later I was passing the kitchen door and spotted it out the corner of my eye and I thought it was SBS."
    SBS can be a bit like that, but everyone eventually will find something that they'd never get to see anywhere else, and they'll be rapt that they did.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • Marknz,

    1.1 million per month is considerably more that 574,000 per week. You sure?

    Since Jan 2012 • 2 posts Report Reply

  • Geoff Lealand,

    It is good to keep this discussion--and the lobbying--going. I had never heard of Foss before his appointment. How much does he appear to know about broadcasting?

    I am doing a conference presentation at the What is Television? Conference in Portland in a couple of weeks, focusing on TVNZ's. 'celebration' of 50 years of TV in June 2010--which I believe spoke volumes about TVNZ disregard for anyone other than commerce,

    Screen & Media Studies, U… • Since Oct 2007 • 2562 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Marknz,

    1.1 million per month is considerably more that 574,000 per week. You sure?

    I was at pains to emphasize the limits of any comparison, particularly given the different reporting periods (and for that matter, the two figures are gathered in wholly different ways by Nielsen). The general point was that the audience,reaches of TVNZ 7 and the Herald are in the same zone, and the Herald is on shaky ground mocking TVNZ 7 as an unwatched irrelevance.

    But, in answer to your question, you don’t get a monthly cume by multiplying your weekly cume by four. It’s the total number of readers and viewers in the period. One News (to take the completely bung example offered in the first Herald editorial) has 600,000 viewers most nights but doesn’t have 600,000 different viewers every night of a weekly period.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Ian Dalziel,

    Foss for essence...

    I hold out a bit more hope for Foss than that. Yes, he’s an investment banker by trade but according to one industry stakeholder who has met with him in his new role, he’s sharp and capable of discussion.

    I hope you are right, but I can't see him defying John Key (or Mr Joyce)...

    I see Foss lives in lovely Waimarama, so he should have a good handle on grassroots television and film, BLERTA were based there and virtually built an entire film/TV industry from scratch...

    And as patron of the Hawke’s Bay Vintage Machinery Club maybe someone should commission him to present a documentary on old machines and broadcasting equipment for TV7, oh, that's right, he's closing it down...

    What will happen to all those nice TV7 pens?

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic,

    Other voices have not even pretended sympathy. Notably, this spiteful and factually haphazard Herald editorial, published on January 13, which virtually dances on the grave of Stratos TV, which sadly went off air just before Christmas.

    I believe we know who the editorialist is, and he's pretty spiteful on a lot of other stuff. Does he, and those who diss public broadcasting, by any chance have shares in Sky or MediaWorks?

    And TVNZ is a misnomer these days in more ways than one.

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

  • Ian Dalziel,

    horror vacui ...

    For a more informed and insightful perspective on Stratos, allow me to commend to you David Beatson’s post on Pundit, which underlines the lack of coherence in government policy on regional broadcasting over years

    and Beatson is a fine example of the voices and views we are losing ready TV access to as the Government sends us headlong into the age of probably irreversible decoherence - the loss of information from a system into the environment...
    This is taking the maxim of "Information wants to be free" a phase too far and gawd save us from the pap that will rush in to fill the space - Nature may abhor a vacuum but John Key and co seem hell bent on creating empty heads...

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • Rob Stowell,

    The guardian article linked to this rather glorious tribute to the BBC:

    Gotta stir the heart, that long lineage of talent.

    Whakaraupo • Since Nov 2006 • 2120 posts Report Reply

  • Chris Waugh, in reply to Ian Dalziel,

    Nature may abhor a vacuum but John Key and co seem hell bent on creating empty heads...

    "Try not to exalt the worthy,
    So that the people shall not compete.
    Try not to value rare treasures,
    So that the people shall not steal.
    Try not to display the desirable,
    So that the people's hearts shall not be disturbed.
    Therefore the sage governs the people by
    Purifying their minds,
    Filling their bellies,
    weakening their ambitions,
    And strengthening their bones.
    He always keeps them innocent of knowledge and desires,
    And makes the crafty afraid to run risks.
    He conducts affairs on the principle of take-no-action,
    And everything will surely fall into order."

    Daodejing Chapter 3, emphasis mine, alternative translations here.

    Never woulda picked John Key for a reader of classical Chinese philosophy.

    Wellington • Since Jan 2007 • 2401 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Wylie, in reply to Chris Waugh,

    Never woulda picked John Key for a reader of classical Chinese philosophy.

    Key as a gullible Daoist, selling the farm for a bucket of piss?

    “Now go outside the building, close the shutters, and stay there,” said Monkey. “For no one is permitted to witness our holy mysteries.” When all was ready, Monkey got up, lifted his tiger-skin, and pissed into the flower-pot. “Brother,” said Pigsy, highly delighted. “We’ve had some rare games together since I’ve joined you, but this beats all. And that fool Pigsy, lifting his dress, let fall such a cascade as would have made the Lüliang Falls seem a mere trickle. Left with the big jug, Sandy could do no more than half fill it. Then they adjusted their clothes, and sat down decorously as before. “Little ones,” Monkey called out, “you can come and fetch your holy water.”

    The Daoists returned, full of gratitude and awe. “Bring me a cup,” said the Tiger Strength Immortal to one of his disciples. “I should like to taste it.” The moment he tasted . . . the Immortal’s lip curled wryly. “Does it taste good?” asked the Deer Strength Immortal. “It’s rather too full-flavored for my liking,” said the Tiger Strength Immortal. “Let me taste it,” said the Ram Strength Immortal. “It smells rather like pig’s urine,” he said doubtfully, when the cup touched his lips. Monkey saw the game was up. “We’ve played our trick,” he said to the others, “and now we’d better take the credit for it.” “How could you be such fools,” he called out to the Daoists, “as to believe that the Deities had come down to earth? We’re no Blessed Trinity, but priests, from China. And what you have been drinking is not the Water of Life, but just our piss!

    from Journey to the West - The Pilgrims in the Cart-Slow Kingdom

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • Chris Waugh, in reply to Joe Wylie,

    Nice one. Geez, I wish I could translate as well as that.

    Wellington • Since Jan 2007 • 2401 posts Report Reply

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