#PeakCray: Making current affairs TV during NZ’s strangest election

From the legalistic urges of Colin Craig to Dirty Politics to the Kim Dotcom Town Hall spectacular, the unstoppable weirdness of the 2014 New Zealand general election was best encapsulated by the hashtag #PeakCray. In this chapter from the new collection Moments of Truth: The New Zealand General Election of 2014, Nicola Kean recounts the … Read more

What You Missed: Decision ’14 Leaders Debate

Last night John Campbell moderated John Key and David Cunliffe in an hour-long debate. They arrived in separate cars to what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse building. Faced with the desolate dystopian setting, it seemed the only suitable podium for Campbell was a zig-zag of metal that had clearly travelled here from the future. Many of the important issues … Read more

Ain’t No Party Like a Minor Party: The Debate in Vines

The multi-party leaders debate aired on Saturday night on TV1. Hosking took to the podium with his standard halo back-lighting. Although the angelic effect paired with his twinkling wet eyes was breathtaking, it was not enough to distract from the fact that he had seriously downgraded his wardrobe. Swapping out the three-piece suit of the first debate … Read more