Posts by Bart Janssen
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Hard News: Another Saturday Night, in reply to Phil Wallington,
Lest you think me “anti-police” I can honestly report that I have written and reported on the many deeds of police – the good, the bad, the ugly, the corrupt, the fiercely honest and even the heroic.
What always bugs me is that even with the best of intentions the news of a police corruption story is alway a bigger headline than that of a police heroism story. You even show more pride in your story of uncovering corruption than in your stories of good police.
Yet as has been noted above and is clear from the tweets, being in the police is hard, depressing and sometimes soul destroying work. It's not a job most of us could or would do.
Hardly surprising then that the police distance themselves from the media when they know there is much more likelyhood of a mistake (or worse) leading above the fold than a tale of a hard day or night at work.
I think there is good intent on both sides of the police and the media. And lord knows we've needed the media to watch the police at times but the other side of the coin is a very jaded view of the police by the public which is not good for anyone.
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Hard News: Friday Music: The Story, in reply to Simon Sjorn,
Many people seem unhappy with the lyric to Royals – thinking it specifically attacks hip hop
Wow. I guess I should have expected people to get hooked on interpreting every word but that thread was impressive.
Did it occur to them that the song could simply be what it says on the tin. How did they go from a girl singing about the disconnect between the music she hears and the life she and her friends actually lead all the way to racist anti hip hop agenda?
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Speaker: The act of not eating doesn't…, in reply to Kyle Matthews,
what more should they be doing?
Yeah I saw that and I guess I'm so jaded that I read it as "we'll pay a consultant to write a report and carry on as before" rather than as a commitment to make certain they aren't doing harm. That is unfortunately the way I usually read "consult" "might" and "advice". That is probably unfair on my part.
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Speaker: The act of not eating doesn't…, in reply to Lilith __,
Finding the best and least problematic ways to make good things happen.
+1
For what it's worth I may have come across as harsh in my response and I shouldn't have. I accept that the intent is good and also am fully aware of the issue that is trying to be addressed. It isn't the way I choose to act to address those problems (there are other options) but that is beside the point.
My only problem is that the original poster identified a serious potential unintended consequence of the campaign. For me, at that point the only response is to step back and say "hey we might be doing some harm here, lets find out if we are and if it turns out we are doing harm act to prevent it."
It wasn't clear to me from the response of the campaign spokesperson who posted here that they would be doing that.
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“Taylor Swift is so flawless, and so unattainable, and I don’t think it’s breeding anything good in young girls. ‘I’m never going to be like Taylor Swift, why can’t I be as pretty as Lorde?’
The fascinating thing for me about this quote is that Taylor Swift is not flawless. Her makeup might be, she certainly wears clothes that accentuate the positive, and she knows exactly how to smile and work the camera, but look at her face, she isn’t symetrical, she doesn’t have a perfect face at all. Yet she is perceived by Lorde as flawless.
I would bet money that Taylor Swift doesn’t think she is flawless in the same way that Lorde implies that she herself is, well, normal.
To me both of them have the beauty of all young people, enhanced by a smile and in Lorde’s case especially, interesting because she is expressive. I really wish they could see themselves that way.
Oh and Nora that is a great picture, you have a special eye.
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Hard News: Being Jim, in reply to Russell Brown,
The whole thing was the idea of Deborah Pead
Huh, I hadn't connected those dots, I'll try and remember.
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Some of those graphs are really depressing.
I wonder whether some of the reduction in manufacturing employment is due to better and more efficient equipment. Even if that is true is indicates manufacturing is not a growth area in NZ. The other part of the equation is that with the rise and rise of dairy it dominates most of the numbers in one form or another.
The R&D graphs I am all too familiar with. It's the reason I get grumpy every time an MP touts their wonderful record on science and innovation funding. The numbers tell the story and yet the reporters are happy to let politicians get away with the fiction that governments believe in and support research.
Also interesting to see how a few countries dominate our exports. I'm not sure if thats good or bad but it is interesting.
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Speaker: The act of not eating doesn't…, in reply to Live Below the Line .,
Live Below the Line does not condone, encourage or support behaviour that encourages long term unhealthy eating or consequential eating disorders
Which is great to hear and not unexpected. But the real point is whether your campaign results in stimulating eating disorder behaviour ... whether you intend it or not.
Now the question has been asked it seems reasonable to me that you could do more good by getting some information on whether your participants suffered any harm as a result of this exercise.
I would argue however that this is an issue that is well within the reach of any kiwi who wants to engage without the need to reduce their calorie intake.
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Hard News: No Red Wedding, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
a hair-trigger kill switch
That doesn't actually kill them does it ... oh well.
I'm with Craig here, I think attacking independent officers of the government is far more serious than attacking mere politicians. For the most part those politicians behave much like 14 yr old boys in Parliament so frankly getting called names outside the chamber isn't of much significance.
The Police commissioner and Auditor-General have very limited right of reply and do a hard enough job anyway without getting slandered by ... what is a good word for the likes of Hooten and Harre?
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It all seems very "self-flagellation" to me. We have sinned by allowing x or y - therefore to absolve our sins we should punish ourselves.
As you so rightly and bravely point out there are many for whom such behaviour is all too easy and ultimately harmful. Well said.