You can’t move for a symposium or petition bemoaning the state of current affairs on television today. Yet John Campbell’s Checkpoint is a throwback to exactly the kind of programming people say they want, writes Duncan Greive. Yesterday on Face TV, a channel I have never knowingly before watched, we got a glimpse into TV’s … Read more
Watch the first in RNZ’s big new series of interviews, The 9th Floor, and read our slightly shorter interview with their interviewer – on the contrast with Morning Report, Jim Bolger’s surprise attack on neoliberalism, and why John Key isn’t involved. RNZ this morning launched an ambitious new series of filmed interviews with former New Zealand prime … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today: José Barbosa reviews RNZ broadcaster Paul Brennan’s hair. If I think of what RNZ sounds like (at least the bits I like) I always think of Paul Brennan’s voice (and also, it must be said, the authoritative, no mucking … Read more
News that the Ministry of Justice spent $23,000 on five internal videos, including one featuring staff lip-synching to a Justin Timberlake hit, has caused the usual sputtering about wasteful government spending. Kathryn van Beek can’t stop the feeling that Timbergate isn’t actually a story. When you’re organising an employee engagement activity for public servants, the … Read more
It’s been a long, lazy summer for many of our morning news outlets, which are finally set to return on Monday after a month off air. But who provided the best holiday cover for Hosking, Ferguson, Barry and the rest? Duncan Greive grades the breakfast news stand-ins. Thanks to the internet and aeroplanes and probably My … 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
The winners of our “exciting” new writers residency award will be announced live on air this Friday by Jesse Mulligan. Famous broadcaster Jesse Mulligan will announce the winners of the inaugural Surrey Hotel Steve Braunias Memorial Writers Residency in Association with The Spinoff Award on his Radio New Zealand show on Friday . The new … Read more
RNZ needs to do some serious soul-searching about its decision to give a platform to non-scientific nonsense, writes Dr Siouxsie Wiles As I write my blood is boiling. I’m in a rage. There is a measles outbreak going on in the Waikato region, with over 20 confirmed cases. It looks as though the virus has … Read more
In the latest in a series of interviews with key media personalities, Duncan Greive sits down with the head of the station known until recently as Radio New Zealand for a full and frank discussion about its place in our media. For most of the 2000s Radio New Zealand felt unmoored from the rest of … Read more
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