The exit of Paul Henry and the dumping of Story make for another miserable glut of headlines. But the talent that does remain, Duncan Garner and Guy Williams especially, lends hope that the darkest hour is before the dawn, writes Duncan Greive. Over the past 18 months, there have been a number of disastrous periods … Read more
The Commerce Commission has rejected the NZME-Fairfax merger in a bold draft decision that plays down forecasts of digital doom. Is there any way back from here, asks former Herald editor-in-chief Tim Murphy. An early disclaimer: I merrily predicted on Day One and again as late as yesterday that the Fairfax-NZME merger would be approved … Read more
Former Mediaworks news chief Mark Jennings writes on the background to the departure of TV3’s heaviest hitter, the huge hole it leaves, and the challenge ahead for heir apparent Duncan Garner. When Paul Henry’s expletive-laden interview appeared in the New Zealand Herald eight days ago it looked like a clear case of presentercide. By deliberately labelling … Read more
Compiling the best reading of the week from your friendly local website. Scotty Stevenson: 48 hours drinking with rugby’s greatest losers “I walked into the sheds soon after, to sit and drink with losers. I walked down the long concrete corridor under the main stand, past the North Harbour changing room. Inside they were belting … Read more
Mark Hanna’s greatest passion is debunking bad science. Here, he looks at the New Zealand Beverage Council’s recent media campaign claiming soft drinks aren’t a big factor in obesity. The New Zealand Beverage Council’s president was interviewed on Morning Report today about a curious, conveniently self-serving claim he’d made in a recent media release: “Olly Munro, President of the … Read more
Duncan Greive sits down with Bauer CEO Paul Dykzeul and publisher Brendon Hill to talk about the state of its business, and their double down bet on print in the digital era. Bauer, by far the country’s biggest magazine publisher, is in the midst of another of its regular spasms of change. Last month it announced … Read more
Compiling the best reading of the week from your friendly local website. Ally McCrow-Young: What’s the deal with denial? A NZ Chinese woman on ‘Kiwi-ness’ and casual racism “When I’ve told anecdotes about casual racism – like when people put on a fake broken English accent when speaking to me – I can almost guarantee … Read more
In an essay first published in the non-fiction anthology Don’t Dream It’s Over: Reimagining Journalism in Aotearoa New Zealand, former SST editor Cate Brett looks at the relationship between newspapers and their readers in the age of digital disruption. Editors were once sufficiently important to sack. I survived five years as editor of the Sunday … Read more
On Wednesday, Simon Wilson said goodbye to Metro, where he had worked for nine years, five as editor, and to the magazine’s publisher Bauer Media, which last month made him redundant. This was his farewell speech. “They all laughed at Christopher Columbus, when he said the world was round. They all laughed when Edison recorded … Read more
It started with Stuff, was adopted with gusto by the NZ Herald, and now clickbait content is infecting 1News Now, the online news arm of TVNZ. It’s yet more proof that the state broadcaster is no different from other commercial media organisation, says Jack Close – so isn’t it time we abandoned the pretense it … Read more
Kim Hill fans have been in heaven across the last fortnight. Pete Douglas spends a week waking up to the doyenne of RNZ as she supplements her regular Saturday gig with a super-sub role on Morning Report. My corner of the internet exploded with excitement when it was announced that Kim Hill would join Susie … Read more
Compiling the best reading of the week from your friendly local website. Kristina Hard: In defence of Warriena Wright: an open letter to a slut-shaming newspaper columnist “‘He had made his intentions clear before she set foot in his apartment. She was a willing accomplice‘ She was a willing accomplice in her plan for consensual … Read more
Its ostensible subject was rugby’s recent sex scandals, but yesterday’s op-ed by Northland Age editor Peter Jackson seemed more concerned with criticising the sexual behaviour of Warriena Wright, the New Zealander whose death led to Gable Tostee facing murder charges in a Brisbane court. An appalled Kristina Hard responds. Yesterday nzherald.co.nz republished a vitriolic screed … Read more
Despite all the headlines bemoaning apathy over local body elections, voter turnout is on the rise in Wellington. Jeremy Baker, communications director at Wellington City Council, sticks the boot into traditional media and trumpets the council’s polarising ‘Declare Your Love’ campaign. Last week Bryce Edwards, the high-profile political commentator and academic, announced he didn’t vote … Read more
Compiling the best reading of the week from your friendly local website. Natalya King: Aaron Smith got screwed – and Stuff could end up getting sued “In the legal sense, an invasion of privacy is the “highly offensive” disclosure of private facts. That is, if Aaron had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the facts … Read more
To mark the release of a new online film about intelligence agencies and privacy, seven New Zealand artists reflect on self-censorship in the surveillance age. As many as 11% of Yahoo Chat conversations involve naked participants. That is what British surveillance agency GCHQ discovered while testing their surveillance powers in the operation “Optic Nerve”. While … Read more
Hayden Donnell recently speculated on the meaning of a leaked internal memo from Stuff.co.nz. Today the site’s editor Patrick Crewdson tells him why he’s not really a slave to Mark Zuckerberg. Before I begin, here’s a haphazard, non-complete listicle of great journalism being carried out in mainstream New Zealand commercial media. 1. Everything by Stuff … Read more
With newsrooms in a state of flux and old-fashioned news values losing out to Facebook algorithms and snackable content, it’s no wonder young journalists enter the industry with some trepidation. But how much of that worry is justified? Elizabeth Beattie talks to a group of newbie reporters to find out. Last year I and 26 … Read more
Alex and Joseph are joined by New Zealand’s own Graham Candy on the couch to look at the latest in pop music and eat jet planes. This week Alex and Joseph get their put their back into it with Berlin sensation Graham Candy. Also known as a Troye Sivan impersonator, Candy arrives mystically with a bowl of … Read more
Today marks the 10th anniversary of one of YouTube’s first viral videos. To celebrate, Madeleine Chapman looks back on 2006, the year of stellar YouTube content. October 12 has always been an eventful day in our history. On this day in 1492, Christopher Columbus reached land in The Bahamas. In 1773, America’s first insane asylum was … Read more
A top-level Fairfax memo has somehow found its way into the hands of youth web tool The Spinoff. We picked it apart for clues as to the future of journalism. About a week ago, we received an email originally sent out to editorial staff at Stuff.co.nz. It was filled with intrigue, Facebook, slightly concerning editorial policy, … Read more
Compiling the best reading of the week from your friendly local website. Tim Murphy: A final Pokarekare Ana and a punch in the air: post-mayoricide, Len Brown goes out on a high “This is not a tabloid story, taking things out of context and boasting a headline like: ‘Sex Scandal Made Me a Better Mayor’ … Read more
Aaron Smith’s indiscretions have been the biggest media story of the week. But lawyer Natalya King believes both the couple who made the recording and the outlets which broke the story may have committed an invasion of privacy. Amidst the red-eyed rage that greeted the news that All Blacks have sex – and sometimes have … Read more
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When rugby players make catastrophic screw ups, their bosses like to smooth things over with the public by taking away key learnings. We stole their method and took some of our own lessons out of the Aaron Smith sex toilet scandal engulfing New Zealand. 1. Having sex in a toilet is a romantic experience Nothing … Read more
Steve Braunias reviews a peculiar new book by a living legend of American journalism. This is the way the publishing career ends for one of the great innovators of literary journalism: not with a whimper, but a bang, the story blowing up in his face. American writer Gay Talese’s latest book – and maybe his … Read more
We’re launching our new media section with the first in a series looking at the state of US media by Yasmine Ryan, who is visiting newsrooms across the US under the auspices of the World Press Institute Media Fellowship. To kick off, a visit to Washington DC and the offices of The Washington Post and … Read more
TVNZ has been the doughy dinosaur in the media room for years now, content to defend the biggest, oldest and least mobile audience in the country. Last Thursday though, they suddenly showed their teeth at a very different new season launch. Duncan Greive was there to watch. Kevin Kenrick is on stage, looking oddly like … Read more
Compiling the best reading of the week from your friendly local website. Deborah Mahuta-Coyle: ‘You’ll never undo the hurt.’ A Māori woman’s open letter to Don Brash “You see, Don, when you talk about Māori privilege, you say you’re referring to the Treaty, or to water rights, or to all these “special privileges” that Māori … Read more