TV 3 newsreader Hilary Barry is to join Marcus Lush's Radio Live breakfast show as news anchor from Monday February 9. This is an interesting strategy from Radio Live.
Marcus Lush is an unusually talented broadcaster, but his quirky, folksy style is an unusual choice for a breakfast show on a news and talk station. Lush doesn't come from the classic current affairs interviewer or news journalist background, and sometimes this shows (though he actually does make a good fist of a lot of his interviewing).
Radio Live is no doubt hoping that Barry's profile and newsreading cred will beef the show up a bit as the station tries to make some inroads on Newstalk ZB Breakfast. Radio Live bosses may feel that ZB Breakfast is a little vulnerable at the moment with the departure of Paul Holmes and the arrival of Mike Hosking. Hosking is such a strong current affairs host, I doubt that ZB Breakfast is all that vulnerable, but good on Radio Live for trying.
Barry will be newsreading on the Lush show, but also presenting a new current affairs and information feature called "The World at 7" - a half hour of news, interviews with the day's key newsmakers, and other information from New Zealand and around the world.
It will be very interesting to see how this new strategy goes, and how the on-air relationship between Marcus Lush and Hilary Barry develops.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Saturday, January 17, 2009
REPORTING THE RECESSION
I've heard a lot of people saying lately that they are sick of the media endlessly reporting recession stories and all the negativity and doom and gloom that comes with that. Some folks go so far as to say if we journalists all just shut up about it, everyone would carry on as normal and everything would be a lot better. While there may be some truth in that, journalists can't really ignore something that is a global reality. It isn't the media's role to protect us from bad things that are happening in the world. And people do want to know what is happening and to get advice from those who are, hopefully, in the know.
But because of the "self-fulfilling prophecy" aspect of recession it is incredibly important that our media outlets act responsibly and get the balance right. Over the quiet news period of the past few holiday weeks we have definitely had rather more daily news stories about falling house prices and desperate times in retail than was perhaps really necessary. Overall, house prices haven't actually fallen by a huge amount yet, and Christmas retailing wasn't nearly as bad as so many column inches predicted.
I'm not saying things are great out there, but as Bob Jones said the other day, for people who can keep their jobs and pay their mortgages things won't really change all that much. And there are always those who actually do well out of recession. All sides of the recession story need to be reported. A balanced picture is important to us all, and our journalists must rise to this challenge.
I'm not suggesting all our newspapers suddenly start running "good news" columns - but a bit of positivity here and there would be welcomed by many readers I think. This weekend's Herald on Sunday ran a feature piece by reporter Leah Haines called "Upside to the Downturn" - looking at ways to make the recession work for you. Good on Haines and the HOS for doing that. It was refreshing. More please.
But because of the "self-fulfilling prophecy" aspect of recession it is incredibly important that our media outlets act responsibly and get the balance right. Over the quiet news period of the past few holiday weeks we have definitely had rather more daily news stories about falling house prices and desperate times in retail than was perhaps really necessary. Overall, house prices haven't actually fallen by a huge amount yet, and Christmas retailing wasn't nearly as bad as so many column inches predicted.
I'm not saying things are great out there, but as Bob Jones said the other day, for people who can keep their jobs and pay their mortgages things won't really change all that much. And there are always those who actually do well out of recession. All sides of the recession story need to be reported. A balanced picture is important to us all, and our journalists must rise to this challenge.
I'm not suggesting all our newspapers suddenly start running "good news" columns - but a bit of positivity here and there would be welcomed by many readers I think. This weekend's Herald on Sunday ran a feature piece by reporter Leah Haines called "Upside to the Downturn" - looking at ways to make the recession work for you. Good on Haines and the HOS for doing that. It was refreshing. More please.
CONGRATS TO NORTH AND SOUTH AND MIKE WHITE FOR MARK LUNDY STORY
The February issue of North and South magazine features a piece on the Lundy Murders, by senior writer Mike White. It is a 12,000-word feature, and the level of in-depth research work and the clarity of writing about complex court evidence is really impressive. Congratulations to White for what must have been a mammoth effort.
The great thing about the story is that it goes straight down the middle. It is not an emotional piece playing up on the fact that a man who has lost his family may also have been wrongly convicted of murdering them. It doesn't prominently feature interviews with Lundy supporters. It just lays out and analyses a whole lot of evidence - some of which was presented to the jury and some of which was not.
The story doesn't overtly criticise Lundy's defence team, but the implication is that they were rather weak. Neither does the piece overtly criticise the Police - but once again you get the feeling that the cops picked their man and then picked and chose their evidence to fit.
We all form our own opinions on these high profile court cases that are not cut and dried - based on what we read and what we hear. I've always sensed that Lundy was guilty as charged. But the North and South story made me think again. Even if the man is guilty, it certainly doesn't seem that this was proven beyond reasonable doubt.
Mark White's feature story is a long read but it's a very good read and well worth the effort. Grab a copy of North and South and have a look for yourself.
The great thing about the story is that it goes straight down the middle. It is not an emotional piece playing up on the fact that a man who has lost his family may also have been wrongly convicted of murdering them. It doesn't prominently feature interviews with Lundy supporters. It just lays out and analyses a whole lot of evidence - some of which was presented to the jury and some of which was not.
The story doesn't overtly criticise Lundy's defence team, but the implication is that they were rather weak. Neither does the piece overtly criticise the Police - but once again you get the feeling that the cops picked their man and then picked and chose their evidence to fit.
We all form our own opinions on these high profile court cases that are not cut and dried - based on what we read and what we hear. I've always sensed that Lundy was guilty as charged. But the North and South story made me think again. Even if the man is guilty, it certainly doesn't seem that this was proven beyond reasonable doubt.
Mark White's feature story is a long read but it's a very good read and well worth the effort. Grab a copy of North and South and have a look for yourself.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
HAVE YOU HAD YOUR THREE HOURS AND EIGHT MINUTES TODAY?
Nielsen research figures released by the NZ Television Broadcasters' Council say that New Zealanders watched an average of three hours and eight minutes of television in 2008 - the highest level of TV viewership in this country since records began.
Many would have predicted that the arrival on the scene of new media, in particular the internet, would have hurt the traditional old media of television. But it seems the reverse has happened. As Television Broadcasters' Council Chief Executive Rick Friesen says - "it seems that content from these newer media outlets is helping grow interest in traditional television programming." I think another part of this same equation is that when viewers are deciding whether or not they will commit to a long-running series, the fact that they can now access missing episodes on the internet perhaps means they are more willing to make a commitment to the series.
The tightening economy may also have contributed to the rise in viewership. There is certainly a TV industry theory that television is something that does well in tough times because people are staying home with their cheap entertainment option. And with the technology we have these days - wide-screen, flat-screen, high definition, etc - perhaps the home viewing experience is getting closer to that of the cinema.
It was also a big year for television in New Zealand - we've got a lot of channels now and most of them did what they do reasonably well. Pay operator SKY TV had a particularly good year in 2008. It was also a year with a lot of special event television - the Olympics, the New Zealand General Election, the American Election, and big stunt-type local series like Dancing with the Stars and Who Wants to be a Millionaire.
Health experts and educationalists may not think NZers watching over three hours of tele a day each is a great thing, but it is certainly very good news for the television industry.
Many would have predicted that the arrival on the scene of new media, in particular the internet, would have hurt the traditional old media of television. But it seems the reverse has happened. As Television Broadcasters' Council Chief Executive Rick Friesen says - "it seems that content from these newer media outlets is helping grow interest in traditional television programming." I think another part of this same equation is that when viewers are deciding whether or not they will commit to a long-running series, the fact that they can now access missing episodes on the internet perhaps means they are more willing to make a commitment to the series.
The tightening economy may also have contributed to the rise in viewership. There is certainly a TV industry theory that television is something that does well in tough times because people are staying home with their cheap entertainment option. And with the technology we have these days - wide-screen, flat-screen, high definition, etc - perhaps the home viewing experience is getting closer to that of the cinema.
It was also a big year for television in New Zealand - we've got a lot of channels now and most of them did what they do reasonably well. Pay operator SKY TV had a particularly good year in 2008. It was also a year with a lot of special event television - the Olympics, the New Zealand General Election, the American Election, and big stunt-type local series like Dancing with the Stars and Who Wants to be a Millionaire.
Health experts and educationalists may not think NZers watching over three hours of tele a day each is a great thing, but it is certainly very good news for the television industry.
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