In my commentating on media coverage of the Napier seige story, I remarked upon the sensational tone of a lot of the coverage. Since then we've had the Christine Rankin and Melissa Lee sagas also reported on at fever pitch. And maybe it all began with the Tony Veitch case, which attracted an extraordinary amount of frenzied coverage that still festers on.
A journalist friend of mine, Zara Potts, remarked on Twitter that she felt our media was getting more hysterical every day. I think I agree with her. I've never been a purist in my media commentating. I accept that in these commercial times, there will be lighter stories, and showbiz stories and a sometimes populist approach to journalism. But at the moment things feel a little out of control.
Is it the result of increasingly tough economic times for our media outlets, and the added pressure of mainstream media fighting something of a losing battle with the online world? Are we breeding a new wave of young journalists who think that breathless sensationalism is the normal way to go? It's getting scary. If someone with fairly populist taste like myself is getting turned off by it all, I hate to think how people with more classic taste in journalism are feeling.
Sadly, one little oasis of calm in our local media landscape made its final appearance last Sunday. Finlay McDonald and Andrew Patterson's excellent Sunday Live show on Radio Live has ended to make way for sports programming. The show was a fine mix of pop culture and current affairs. It was informative and entertaining - intelligent but never elitist. It was a soothing Sunday morning listen and I will miss it. I hope Radio Live has plans for it to come back in some form or other.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Sunday, May 10, 2009
MEDIA COVERAGE OF THE NAPIER SIEGE
The Napier siege has been a huge news story and a lot of journalists have done a lot of hard work, in some cases in quite scary circumstances. As I have said before in my media commentating, we tend to be reasonably good at on-the-spot news reporting in New Zealand, and coverage of this awful incident was generally strong.
But one thing I would criticise is the rather sensational tone that crept into a lot of the coverage. In these very competitive commercial times for our media outlets that does seem to be the way of things - to be sensational - and the language a lot of reporters used was rather over-the-top at times.
A mate of mine who knows a thing or two about guns and the military - from a historian/collector point of view, I hasten to add - says not only was a lot of the reporters' language sensational, in some cases it was also inappropriate and inaccurate.
He says: "They talked about the gunman firing a 'volley of shots' at police. A volley is fired by a number of shooters firing at the same time. What the gunman fired was a 'burst' or 'series" of shots."
The New Zealand Herald made an interesting call for its Saturday morning edition when it came out that morning with the banner headline Gunman Dead - something that was not confirmed at that time. Maybe a question mark at the end of the headline might have been a better, more accurate option.
Talkback radio has been an interesting part of the media coverage of the siege. On the plus side, it was an opportunity for some really strong and immediate first-hand eyewitness reports as events unfolded, and also a good chance for people who knew him to paint a picture of the gunman. But on the downside, as usual there were all the same old armchair experts who knew what they would do if they were there and doing the job of the police. Yeah right.
It was a hell of a situation, and it seems to me the cops handling it were doing okay. Especially when they were knee-deep in journalists at the time!
But one thing I would criticise is the rather sensational tone that crept into a lot of the coverage. In these very competitive commercial times for our media outlets that does seem to be the way of things - to be sensational - and the language a lot of reporters used was rather over-the-top at times.
A mate of mine who knows a thing or two about guns and the military - from a historian/collector point of view, I hasten to add - says not only was a lot of the reporters' language sensational, in some cases it was also inappropriate and inaccurate.
He says: "They talked about the gunman firing a 'volley of shots' at police. A volley is fired by a number of shooters firing at the same time. What the gunman fired was a 'burst' or 'series" of shots."
The New Zealand Herald made an interesting call for its Saturday morning edition when it came out that morning with the banner headline Gunman Dead - something that was not confirmed at that time. Maybe a question mark at the end of the headline might have been a better, more accurate option.
Talkback radio has been an interesting part of the media coverage of the siege. On the plus side, it was an opportunity for some really strong and immediate first-hand eyewitness reports as events unfolded, and also a good chance for people who knew him to paint a picture of the gunman. But on the downside, as usual there were all the same old armchair experts who knew what they would do if they were there and doing the job of the police. Yeah right.
It was a hell of a situation, and it seems to me the cops handling it were doing okay. Especially when they were knee-deep in journalists at the time!
Friday, April 3, 2009
TV NEWS RATINGS
It's not the done thing these days - in sales and marketing terms - for TV networks to refer to 5+ ratings (that is, all viewers five and over). Somewhere along the line the advertising world decided that big bulk audience didn't matter and demographics, particularly younger ones, were where it was at. But despite that, I've always been surprised that TVNZ doesn't make more of the fact that its news programmes always have more viewers in 5+ than TV 3's news shows do. They've tried all sorts of fancy tag-lines on their promotional billboards over the years, but never the basic "New Zealand's most watched news." So I was intrigued yesterday to see a small, simple advertisement placed in the Business section of the NZ Herald just quietly stating the 5+ viewing figures for all of the main news shows across the two big networks in March. The ad didn't have a note on it to say who had placed it, but I can only assume it was TVNZ, though the subtlety was unusual compared to the network's usual efforts. And of course the rarely quoted 5+ figures show a very rosy picture for the TVNZ shows - quite a different picture than that painted by the many news releases TV 3 puts out talking up its ratings success in News and Current Affairs. These many news releases play with ratings data shamelessly, and if TVNZ has finally been driven to a bit of subtle rebuttal - good on them.
For the record, here are the numbers that appeared in the ad:
TVNZ TV 3
NZI Business 38,100 ASB Business 12,440
Breakfast 113,830 Sunrise 21,980
ONE News Midday 93,890 3 News at 12 29,600
ONE News 548,580 3 News 303,670
Close Up 456,990 Campbell Live 177,960
Tonight 164,200 Nightline 138,210
For the record, here are the numbers that appeared in the ad:
TVNZ TV 3
NZI Business 38,100 ASB Business 12,440
Breakfast 113,830 Sunrise 21,980
ONE News Midday 93,890 3 News at 12 29,600
ONE News 548,580 3 News 303,670
Close Up 456,990 Campbell Live 177,960
Tonight 164,200 Nightline 138,210
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
KEVIN SMITH TRIBUTE
As well as my media commentating and executive producing, I have recently taken up the position of Content Director of NZ On Screen. NZ On Screen is the NZOA-funded website that is charged with acquiring and showcasing New Zealand television and film content going right back to the beginning of the industry. The website is great - there's already a lot of good content there and it is being added to all the time. And we've just launched a new feature where you can access a collection of titles from one home page button. We can use this to celebrate the work of a significant performer or producer, or to mark an occasion like ANZAC Day.
Our first featured collection is a tribute to the late actor Kevin Smith. It went up on the site to mark his birthday on March 16 and will be there for around six weeks. The tribute features television and film work from Smith, as well as written pieces by friends and colleagues such as James Griffin, Michael Hurst and Geoff Dolan.
The collection has come together very well and shows what a versatile and appealing performer Smith was, and what a terribly sad loss his early death was. It feels like there would have been so much more to come.
If you would like to have a look at the Kevin Smith collection, or anything else on NZ On Screen, go to www.nzonscreen.com
Our first featured collection is a tribute to the late actor Kevin Smith. It went up on the site to mark his birthday on March 16 and will be there for around six weeks. The tribute features television and film work from Smith, as well as written pieces by friends and colleagues such as James Griffin, Michael Hurst and Geoff Dolan.
The collection has come together very well and shows what a versatile and appealing performer Smith was, and what a terribly sad loss his early death was. It feels like there would have been so much more to come.
If you would like to have a look at the Kevin Smith collection, or anything else on NZ On Screen, go to www.nzonscreen.com
A CORO ST FAVE BOWS OUT
The episode of Coronation St where long-time favourite character Vera Duckworth died was watched by 760,400 people when it screened here last Friday night - up from the usual average of 530,000. When the tear-jerker episode screened in Britain a year ago, almost 12.5 million people watched it. As is always the case with Coro St, when there's a big event to stage, they do it well. Bill Tarmey, who plays Vera's husband Jack, was just right in his reaction to her death. It was a very moving piece of tele. Vera was played by Liz Dawn, who is retiring due to ill-health. Her portrayal of her larger-than-life Coro alter ego will be missed.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
ROBERT BRUCE R.I.P.
Long-time agent Robert Bruce's sudden passing is a very sad loss for the television and film industry. Robert was one of the true gentlemen of the business. I had a lot of dealings with him when I was running TVNZ's internal production unit, as he represented many of our top presenters as well as actors. Even though we were haggling over his clients' pay, our discussions were always friendly and enjoyable. Robert got great deals for his clients, but producers like myself didn't come way hating him or never wanting to deal with his talent again (and believe me some agents can have that affect on you!).
Robert's business style was always to be amiable and respectful. He was very good at his job. I came to be extremely fond of him, as I think did everyone in our very strange and imperfect screen industry. His death was sudden and unexpected. He was such a fit, strong, larger-than-life man. I couldn't believe it when I first heard of his passing, and I still feel a bit in shock.
Robert's funeral on Thursday was incredibly sad, but also really lovely. I've never seen so many actors and showbiz personalities in the same place at the same time. It showed the mark of the man and the big loss that is felt. Jackie Clarke and Frankie Stevens made our spines tingle with their acapella version of Amazing Grace, Tem Morrison made us laugh with his eulogy then made us cry when he led a rousing haka around Robert's coffin, bagpipes played, and SPCA dogs howled. It was a heart-felt and heart-breaking send-off.
R.I.P. Robert. You showed us all how the business side of show business should be done.
Robert's business style was always to be amiable and respectful. He was very good at his job. I came to be extremely fond of him, as I think did everyone in our very strange and imperfect screen industry. His death was sudden and unexpected. He was such a fit, strong, larger-than-life man. I couldn't believe it when I first heard of his passing, and I still feel a bit in shock.
Robert's funeral on Thursday was incredibly sad, but also really lovely. I've never seen so many actors and showbiz personalities in the same place at the same time. It showed the mark of the man and the big loss that is felt. Jackie Clarke and Frankie Stevens made our spines tingle with their acapella version of Amazing Grace, Tem Morrison made us laugh with his eulogy then made us cry when he led a rousing haka around Robert's coffin, bagpipes played, and SPCA dogs howled. It was a heart-felt and heart-breaking send-off.
R.I.P. Robert. You showed us all how the business side of show business should be done.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
FAREWELL TO TIM PANKHURST
Dominion Post editor Tim Pankhurst is leaving the job after seven years. Pankhurst has an excellent track record for supporting and encouraging investigative work, including the long-running Louise Nicholas story, the Donna Awatere fraud story, and some good work on the Winston Peters and Vela Brothers saga late last year. Investigative reporting is time and resource consuming and therefore expensive, and Pankhurst is to be commended for his efforts in this area. Pankhurst is leaving to run the Newspaper Publishers' Association. I wish him well, and hope the Dom Post continues to do well in his absence.
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