Posts by Rob Stowell
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Hard News: Who'd have thought?, in reply to Kumara Republic,
People in the ministry were focused on ways of making standards a good thing – as in, a useful source of insight
Yes, I saw some of this. But the people I saw (and talked to) were also pretty defensive, and knew full-well they were walking a tightrope. "We can make this work out ok" - because, in part, we've looked carefully at how it's failed in the UK- was the mantra.
It was- how to put this? a very guarded enthusiasm. -
Hard News: Who'd have thought?, in reply to Scott Chris,
Key and his ministers have to have some degree of faith in those who are delegated the responsibility of developing and implementing the Standards and maybe that faith was a little misplaced. I still maintain that the idea is good
Most folks at the Ministry I encountered weren't delighted with National Standards, and worked on rolling them out with an apologetic air. If that means they betrayed the govt's 'faith' ok. They were also well aware of the effects of this type of testing on education in the US and the UK.
Really curious: why do you 'still maintain the idea is good' ? -
Felt that in Chch- long and rumbly but minor, like a truck driving past. And a small aftershock 15-20 mins later. Sounds like it was very deep, and off-shore. Hope Wanganui is ok!
Simon has given a good, measured account of himself there.
It may be measured, but it doesn’t really pass the logic test. At all.Pwned- with passion, precision and clarity. Now that's rare :)
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Hard News: For want of some purpose, in reply to Tom Semmens,
Bill English himself is on the record as considering the move to putting all interactions online or via under-staffed call centres an “efficiency gain”
Apposite article in Werewolf- "Efficiency is not your friend"
When they say ‘efficiency’ that’s when you should reach for your revolver
By Gordon Campbell
Before it got seduced and started hanging out with the wrong crowd, ‘efficiency” used to be an innocent little word….
At its worst, though…’efficiency” has a ruthless quality, and is easily irritated by human frailty. These days, when people use the word “efficient” it can reliably be taken as a sign that ends have become means, and that what started out as a quest for the wise use of resources has now totally jumped the shark. -
Hard News: For want of some purpose, in reply to izogi,
for us the biggest incentive to start watching TVNZ6 and TVNZ7 was actually having them available at all. Once we finally bothered to buy a digital TV
Ditto.
My feeling is that TVNZ7 numbers would have increased markedly as analogue shut-down rolled closer- and viewer habits slowly caught up :)
I know a few folk with analogue TVs and Sky boxes, who may miss Freeview entirely, though. That's the bogeyman: less incentive to use Freeview which will languish, leaving Sky owning the nation's de facto digital platform. -
Hard News: For want of some purpose, in reply to Peter Calder,
I have never understood this. I would have thought the group in society with most disposable income would be people in their 50s and 60s
Me neither- especially when you consider this now encompasses the 'baby-boomer' generation which <gross generalisation warning> has pretty much demanded the moon on a plate since they were in nappies :)
Isn't it a demographic that holds an increasing proportion of the nation's wealth- and also increasingly active, and determined to spend it all before the kids hit 35? -
Hard News: For want of some purpose, in reply to Rich of Observationz,
The number one thing NZ On Air needs to fund a show is a broadcast commitment
I wonder how long it will be before having content accessible on the web becomes an acceptable equivalent to ‘broadcast’. (And whether NZ on air might start funding websites that don’t stick to the forms of moving images and sound).
That was Sacha's point I think- and it might be happening already, in a sideways fashion. Are NZ on Air funded music videos still required to have a broadcaster?
With youtube committed to competing with broadcast, and internet television peeking round the corner, it's a major consideration. -
Hard News: For want of some purpose, in reply to Will de Cleene,
looking up tenders for the 80s-90s spectrum sell-off, trying to see the quality of the ladder being pulled up with the next round of tenders.
I seem to remember the UHF sell-off left a few polytechs and community organisations with spectrum- sometimes for very little (I think highest bid won, but only paid the amount of the next bid- and sometimes that was nothing.)
It was a time of much optimism! :) -
Hard News: For want of some purpose, in reply to cphilpott,
Besides, “if public-service programmes are worth making” then they can find a home on another outlet.
Let me re-phrase that for you: “if public-service programmes are worth money to advertisers, they can find a home on another outlet". Fixed :)
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Hard News: For want of some purpose, in reply to Russell Brown,
This from the Press editorial quoted in Chris’s column seems wildly naive:
It’s utterly, utterly naive. It could hardly be more wrong. Yet people keep saying it.Eyes wide shut!?!