Is it OK for journalists to cry on camera?

For many reporters covering the Christchurch terror attacks, detachment and objectivity gave way to human emotion, and journalist turned academic Dr Rukhsana Aslam argues that’s perfectly fine.  To be objective, neutral and dispassionate while doing a story is the long-practised norm of journalism. It is the principle we journalists live by. We are trained to … Read more

RNZ in 2018: will well-meaning government interference end its dream run?

It has been the best-performing media brand of the past five years. Yet Labour’s bold plans to grow it have caused RNZ nothing but trouble so far, and major clouds loom on the horizon, writes Duncan Greive. While reporting this series I spoke to over a dozen executives, senior editors and reporters across the New … Read more

In praise of The Nation, the most old-fashioned show on New Zealand television

Duncan Greive watches the ’70s style politics show The Nation, and finds a lot to love. TV3’s The Nation isn’t that old. It was founded in 2010, but despite the flash modern set and the lively twitter conversation which accompanies it, the show might be the most old-fashioned to air on New Zealand television. It returned to … Read more

#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