Interview: “That F***ed Me Off” – David Dallas on Labour, Instant Finance and ‘Don’t Rate That’

Duncan Greive interviews David Dallas about his furious new single ‘Don’t Rate That’. David Dallas might have the most consistent trajectory in New Zealand hip hop. He’d established an instantly familiar style, and spent his last couple of albums polishing it, crafting huge hooks and eyeing up the America. It worked out pretty well by him: he got … Read more

Soap Day: A Blood Red Christmas on the Horrific Shortland Street Finale

Duncan Greive watches as Ferndale endures a hostage crisis on a Christmas cliff for the ages. They’ll never beat the truck. That’s the yardstick against which all of Shortland Street’s Christmas cliffhangers will be measured, and invariably come up short. It was the first time the show embraced the dramatic tension afforded by a break, … Read more

Throwback Thursday: I Was in a ’90s Music Documentary and it Never Stopped Haunting Me

In 1999 Spinoff Editor Duncan Greive featured in a music documentary called Sweet As. 16 years later it was innocently suggested by Throwback Thursday’s new sponsors NZ On Screen for post, with the newsy hook being that we headed into festival season. Against his better judgement, he agreed to re-examine what is without doubt most publicly embarrassing thing he’s … Read more

3D Axed at Lunchtime; Staff to Take Personal Grievance Case Against MediaWorks

TV3’s current affairs show 3D, which has existed in various guises since the channel’s founding in 1989, was shut down today. UPDATE: scroll down for statements from MediaWorks and the 3D team. The Spinoff has learned that staff at TV3’s flagship current affairs show 3D were today told that the show was officially cancelled and will not return … Read more

Sports: Watching Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors Become Immortal

Duncan Greive describes the scene as the Golden State Warriors complete the greatest start in NBA history. It started, as most basketball games do, at tip off. Andrew Bogut, the Warriors’ lumbering, physically fragile centre, out-jumped Roy Hibbert, the Lakers’ lumbering, mentally fragile centre. The ball fell to Draymond Green, the physical embodiment of all that is remarkable … Read more

MediaWorks Board Rewards Mark Weldon with Contract Extension after Horror Year

Mark Weldon, the embattled CEO of MediaWorks, has just been granted a contract extension by the company’s board, according to an email leaked to The Spinoff. In the email, written by MediaWorks chair Rod McGeoch, he describes recent media coverage of Weldon’s performance as “well beyond what any reasonable person would see as a justifiable reaction … Read more

Anatomy of a Corporate Disaster – Inside Weldon and Glucina’s Gossip Site Scout

MediaWorks launched gossip site Scout amid much fanfare just two months ago, yet today it appears to be hanging by a thread amid resignations and troubling news stories. Duncan Greive spoke with a number of former Scout staff members and MediaWorks employees, and was given access to a large cache of correspondence, recordings, data and other documentation to create … Read more

Sports: Dan Carter’s Co-Author on the Lows and High of His Epic Final Year

The Spinoff’s editor, Duncan Greive, co-authored the just-released Dan Carter: My Story with the All Blacks’ first five. Here he shares his memories of the tumultuous year the pair spent working on the book. The lowest I ever heard him was late in February. We spoke via Skype, as we often did through that portion of … Read more

Media: Lawyers Called in as the 3D Investigative Team Resists Shutdown Plan

The recently-announced proposal not to renew TV3’s flagship current affairs show 3D is now subject to fierce resistance from the show’s journalists, who have assembled a legal team to work on a challenge to the way employment process was conducted. The Spinoff can reveal that 3D‘s journalists have called on lawyers, forensic accountants and employment experts to help build a case … Read more

Cool Story #5 – Morning Report’s “A Mystery in Ophir”

An occasional series commending excellent New Zealand reporting. This time: missing small town millions on Morning Report. Every week day I listen to Morning Report on Radio New Zealand – sorry, RNZ*. When I don’t, I feel vaguely uneasy – like I don’t quite know what’s going on in this country, and might be missing something of … Read more

Television: Swapping News for Reality – Looking Back on a Bad Year for TV3

With yesterday’s terrible news about flagship current affairs show 3D, Duncan Greive assesses the MediaWorks’ strategy, a year on from its flashy relaunch. Yesterday, at the well-known bad news dump slot of 4.56pm, I received this via email: 3D is TV3’s flagship current affairs show – the place where its best journalists go to do their most … Read more

Books: “Kind of a Dimwit” – An Interview with Steve Braunias

Duncan Greive interviews Steve Braunias on the occasion of his new book, The Scene of the Crime. Steve Braunias is my favourite New Zealand writer. Maybe that makes me an imbecile, I don’t know. I haven’t read hardly any of our fiction, because I barely read fiction. There might be better people out there in other … Read more

Television: I Got Next – The Story of Funny Girls

Funny Girls began life as a talent development plot hatched between New Zealand on Air and TV3. On Friday it debuts as one of the most hotly anticipated comedies in recent memory. Duncan Greive watched its creation. It’s late afternoon on a Wednesday in early October. Outside commuter traffic crawls along Khyber Pass; one side … Read more

Television: The Spinoff Exclusive – The First Full Scene From TV3’s New Sketch Comedy ‘Funny Girls’

The Spinoff has the rare and singular pleasure of bringing you a full scene from TV3’s eagerly anticipated sketch comedy ‘Funny Girls’, debuting on TV3 this Friday at 10pm. For the past few weeks I’ve been traipsing across Auckland to bars, breweries and bars, watching a brand new New Zealand comedy being made. It’s a … Read more

A Bargain from The Block – The Curious Case of Julie Christie’s Mansion

A recent Scout video purported to be a peek inside the home of Julie Christie, one of the most powerful people in New Zealand media. But the house was built on land obtained at a bargain price, and Christie admits that she never lived there – raising questions about the nature of the transaction, writes Duncan … Read more

Sports: The ACC Presents Champagne Rugby, Episode Two

Having heeded a tweet chastising them for a lack of animal sexual content in the previous episode, the Alternative Commentary Collective respond with an episode dedicated in near entirety to the recreational habits of beasts. “There’s nipples inside the vagina,” says Wells, with some authority, before they hit the customary power rankings format: Big news: … Read more

Television: Feature – Neighbours at War Lays Down its Guns

Duncan Greive watches Bill Kerton and company finish the last episode of New Zealand’s reality classic Neighbours at War – airing tonight – before it heads into long-term hiatus. It starts with something shared: a driveway, a boundary, a cul-de-sac. Two sets of New Zealanders, meeting at the edge of their properties, disagreeing over noise, over … Read more

OMG Tech! – A Low-Decile Educational Charity Trojan Horsed as a Tech Startup

Duncan Greive watches the launch of OMG Tech!, a charity with the mentality of a startup, featuring a superhero using her power for good. They came into the city just to be near her. So that, perhaps, some of her magic might rub off on them. Phil Goff knew his eternally unannounced mayoral campaign could one … Read more

Sports: Champagne Rugby is the Alternative Commentary Collective’s Essential RWC Analysis Show

It seems familiar: Four men in suits, discussing viewers’ tweets, talking about what’s happened during the week and what might happen next, then throwing to a man on the street who waves some cash around. These are the basic ingredients of most of the shows which have been commissioned in New Zealand this year. Champagne Rugby, a new rugby … Read more

Television: Throwback Thursday – John Key Gets Called a Racist on Neighbours at War

Years before he became our Prime Minister, John Key was just another electorate MP, wading through his constituents’ sewage. We look back at his time on the magical New Zealand docu-drama Neighbours at War – and get his brief memories of the moment. “You’re a racist,” the man yells. “And so is he.” ‘The man’ is a … Read more

Sports: Corey Webster – from Pak n Save Albany to the Cusp of the NBA

Duncan Greive talks to Tall Blacks guard Corey Webster, in New Orleans attending training camp with the Pelicans, about his journey from NBL exile to being on the verge of playing in the NBA. A few years ago Corey Webster was a cautionary tale, the perfect example of a talented kid who lacked the application … Read more

Cool Story #3 – ’12 Questions’ – So Much More Than Just Another Q&A

The third in an occasional series commending excellent New Zealand journalism. I often get irked when I hear or read criticism of the Herald, so I’m bracing myself for an extra long period of irkdom over the next few weeks, as news of the redundancies starts to ripple out from journalists into the company’s wider readership. The complaints – … Read more

Politics: What’s their Vibe? Assessing the Republican Presidential Contenders’ Personal Brands

After watching CNN’s three hour, 11 candidate Republican debate yesterday, Duncan Greive assesses the general vibe of each candidate, with help from Alex Casey on speech bubbles Rand Paul: Guy who woke up in his car – again. Mike Huckabee: Crew member in charge of laughing at leader’s jokes / Will dance for VP selection Marco … Read more

Golf: Ko’s Ex Coach on Watching Her Debut Major Win from Afar

Guy Wilson first met Lydia Ko when she was just five years old. She walked into the pro shop of the Pupuke club on Auckland’s North Shore, accompanied by her father, and asked for a lesson. For the next decade the pair were inseparable. She was the perfect pupil, calm, diligent, preternaturally gifted. He was … Read more

An Exit Interview with Simon Wilson, Editor of Metro 2010-2015

Former Metro contributor Duncan Greive sits down with Simon Wilson, Metro’s departing editor, to discuss his time running Auckland’s city magazine. “You’re addicted to journalese… You need to throw away the phrasebook…  I’m not even sure what that means… You need to front up to this too… It’s a weak ending.” A few choice phrases … Read more

Cool Story #2 – Two Sides of the Gluc

The second in an occasional series commending excellent New Zealand journalism. Today we reissued Josh Drummond’s brilliant recollection of the time Rachel Glucina came to Press Club. I was in the audience that day, and it remains the most extraordinary of those occasions I’ve witnessed. Not the best: that would be the extraordinary Mihingarangi Forbes … Read more