It’s been controversy upon controversy for the talkback station in recent weeks, so Alex Casey embarked on a Magic Talk marathon to find out what the hell is going on. It has just gone past 6am on a Friday morning. My eyelids are firmly welded shut, the sparrows have barely begun farting, and yet we’ve … Read more
It’s been controversy upon controversy for the talkback station in recent weeks, so Alex Casey embarked on a Magic Talk marathon to find out what the hell is going on. It has just gone past 6am on a Friday morning. My eyelids are firmly welded shut, the sparrows have barely begun farting, and yet we’ve … Read more
Lawyer and commentator Kingi Snelgar has some programming recommendations for a stellar Waitangi Day line-up. Dear Magic FM E ngā kaiwhakarite o Magic Talk, tēnā koutou, I heard in horror the recording earlier this week on your station as your temporary host John Banks allowed and contributed to racist comments by a talkback caller called … Read more
In the wake of the latest round of flagrant racism, some believe it’s time the format was completely written off. Alex Braae argues that talkback has so much more to give than audiences are currently getting. If you think talkback radio in New Zealand is only ever an unremitting stream of bigotry and outrage, you’ve … Read more
It’s easy to sacrifice John Banks. It’s a lot harder for brands, sports organisations and government to truly stop funding racism. Are they willing to try? Yesterday John Banks, the former Auckland mayor and MP, became subject to one of the fastest firings in media history when audio covering his approving response to a racist … Read more
John Banks’ racist exchange with a Magic Talk listener on Tuesday was the latest in nearly 50 years of talkback scandals involving the hosts of radio talkback shows. Donna Chisholm has the receipts. John Banks axed over Māori ‘stone age culture’ comments on Magic Talk 1972: On Radio I, sports talkback host Tim Bickerstaff launches … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Tourism suffers in the shadow of Covid-19, two new positive cases in Auckland confirmed, and National will contest the Māori electorates. The front page of the January 4 Greymouth Star carried grim tidings for several of the glacier towns on the West Coast. The reporting has … Read more
Vodafone and Kiwibank have suspended advertising on the radio station and its website as talkback host John Banks is taken off air after yet another racist outburst. Alex Braae reports. In an alarming segment of talkback radio, former Auckland mayor John Banks endorsed the views of a caller who described Māori as a “stone age … Read more
Newshub’s bombshell story about a Newstalk ZB caller named Merv rocked New Zealand’s political landscape. Roger Bridge, who stands accused of also being Merv, yesterday resigned from the National Party board. But he is far from the first political figure to don a fake name and ring a talkback station. The hour before midnight on … Read more
With everything in politics moving so fast these days, it can be hard to remember characters from earlier seasons who get brought back for yet another run. So with John Banks considering another Auckland mayoralty run, what are some things you might have forgotten? Once upon a time, he was utterly ubiquitous. John Banks was … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: John Banks looking at another mayoral run, warnings from economists of the housing bubble bursting, and Indonesia responds to West Papua protests. Could John Banks be about to get back in the ring and race for the Auckland mayoralty? This report from Stuff’s Bevan Hurley certainly indicates he’s weighing … Read more
1000 Words is a Spinoff series talking to the photographers behind our most iconic political images. In this instalment, Don Rowe speaks to David White, the photographer who shot Colin Craig. Following a failed attempt at the Auckland mayoralty in 2010, notorious goof and Auckland accountant Colin Craig founded and led the New Zealand Conservative … Read more