Mediawatch

Gabrielle review lessons for media; Dolphin drama fires up media.Mediawatch looks at how dolphins stalled the Sail GP regatta last Sunday and fired up Sir Russell Coutts in the process. Also, politicians and the media... but were important facts drowned out by all the noise? And a big review of the Cyclone Gabrielle response says the emergency management was not fit for purpose. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Colin Peacock talks to Emile Donovan about the dolphin drama that divided the nation (and the media) last weekend - and royal revelations that overshadowed a terrorist atrocity in Moscow. Also: the PM and party leaders drop hints about upcoming policy to help cash-strapped news media. Midweek Mediawatch - Mediawatch's weekly catch-up with Nights. Colin Peacock talks to Emile Donovan about the dolphin drama that divided the nation (and the media) last weekend - and royal revelations that overshadowed a terrorist atrocity in Moscow. Also: the PM and party leaders drop hints about upcoming policy to help cash-strapped news media.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Mediawatch looks at the fallout from Winston Peters' criticism of the media in his State of The Nation speech.Mediawatch looks at the fallout from Winston Peters' criticism of the media in his State of The Nation speech - and an unlikely stand-off with an English punk band. Also, the death of Rod Oram. The team looks at a broadcaster falling foul of discrimination and denigration rules - and when politicians say the news media must innovate to survive, what does that really mean? Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Hayden Donnell talked to Emile Donovan about Winston Peters attacking the news media in his State of the Nation speech - and the death of Rod Oram, a much-admired journalist dedicated to coverage of business and climate change. Also: how many journalists are left in New Zealand - and the rights and wrongs of airing 'hot mic' comments. Midweek Mediawatch - Mediawatch's weekly catch-up with Nights. Hayden Donnell talked to Emile Donovan about the fallout from Winston Peters attacking the news media in his State of the Nation speech - and the death of Rod Oram, a much-admired journalist dedicated to coverage of business and climate change. Also: how many journalists are left in New Zealand; the rights and wrongs of airing 'hot mic' comments. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Artificial intelligence tech threatens to take our eyeballs even further away from the outlets which produce news - but it's also a tool they can use to make more of it. This week Stuff - which has warned AI could wreck the business of journalism - used Chat GPT to write a stories about readers' opinions. Mediawatch asks an unimpressed editor if we all just have to get used to this now.Artificial intelligence technology threatens to take our eyeballs even further away from the outlets which produce news - but it's also a tool they can use to make more of it. This week Stuff - which has warned AI could wreck the business of journalism - used Chat GPT to write stories about readers' opinions. Mediawatch asks an unimpressed editor if we all just have to get used to this now.Readers browsing the country's most popular news site were beckoned by an enticing headline last week."Stuff poll says Christchurch NZ's best place," it began, before adding, "New Plymouth not happy about it".The headline contained two crucial selling points for news: controversy and a metaphysical conundrum. First of all, is Christchurch truly New Zealand's best place? Could it be that Stuff reader polls are somehow wrong?But more importantly, how is New Plymouth - a metropolitan centre not blessed with the gift of consciousness - able to express unhappiness? Does a cloud roll off Mt Taranaki and hang over the city to signal its displeasure? Do the waves crash more angrily on Fitzroy Beach?The story didn't answer those questions, perhaps because it was written by another entity which has not been awakened to the joy, confusion, and dread of mortal existence.A standfirst at the top of the story explains that it was assembled by a robot."This story was summarised from original Stuff reporting and published member comments using generative AI tool Chat GPT with oversight and editing from Stuff journalists," it said.This may have struck some as a slightly strange thing for Stuff to publish, given its leaders have been outspoken about the threat AI poses to journalism.Its chief executive Sinead Boucher warned about a AI-driven potential media-pocaplyse at a recent select committee hearing on the proposed Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill. "In this last year we have seen the rise of AI technology that has been hailed as a gamechanger for humanity by the tech companies that own it but which at its core has an egregious wholesale theft of our content and our intellectual property," she said. "For the news media globally this development is looking increasingly like an extinction-level event."…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Government intervention in TV news crisis, challenges in broadcasting industry, implications of AI in journalism, debates on media regulations, concerns over political interference in funding decisions, and exploring AI in journalism for innovation in media companies

Colin Peacock talks to Emile Donovan about a manic Monday afternoon of news - cricket, Oscars, terror in the skies... and the post-Cabinet media conference. Also: the royal photo fakery frenzy; political responses to the TV newspocalypse; US politics satirised and fact-checked by TikTok; the leap-year community's struggles. Midweek Mediawatch - Mediawatch's weekly catch-up with Nights.Colin Peacock talks to Emile Donovan about a manic Monday afternoon of news - cricket, Oscars, terror in the skies . . . and the post-Cabinet media conference. Also: the royal photo fakery frenzy; political responses to the TV newspocalypse; US politics satirised and fact-checked by TikTok; the leap-year community's struggles. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

TVNZ has proposed big cuts to news that could leave the country with only one daily TV news bulletin and almost no current affairs on TV within weeks.Mediawatch looks back at another worrying week for NZ journalism with yet more cutbacks to TV news - this time at TVNZ.TVNZ has proposed big cuts to news that could leave the country with only one daily TV news bulletin and almost no current affairs on TV within weeks. But could they have been avoided? Also: has David Seymour crossed a line with criticism of TVNZ? Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Hayden Donnell talks to Emile Donovan about job cuts looming at TVNZ as its crosstown rival Newshub faces a shut-down. Also: coverage of Chris Luxon's terrible, no-good week - and Heavy Metal Morning Report.In this week's edition of Midweek Mediawatch, Hayden Donnell talks to Emile Donovan about job cuts looming at TVNZ as its crosstown rival Newshub faces a shut-down. Also: coverage of Chris Luxon's terrible, no-good week - and Morning Report goes heavy metal (but Mediawatch got there first . . .)Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

For years news media bosses warned the creaking business model backing journalism would fail at a major local outlet. It finally happened this week when Newshub's owners proposed scrapping it. Then TVNZ posted losses prompting warnings of more cuts to come there. Can TV broadcasters pull a crowd without news? And what might the so-far ambivalent government do? Newshub staff leaving a meeting on Wednesday after the announcement was made.For years news media bosses warned the creaking business model backing journalism would fail at a major local outlet. It finally happened this week when Newshub's owners proposed scrapping it. Then TVNZ posted losses prompting warnings of more cuts to come there. Can TV broadcasters pull a crowd without news? And what might the so-far ambivalent government do? After Warner Bros Discovery top brass broke the bad news to staff on Wednesday, Newshub at 6 that night became a news event in itself. In her report political reporter Amelia Wade reminded viewers more than 30 years of TV news and current affairs - spanning the entire period of commercial TV here - could come to an end in June. Before TV3 launched in 1989, state-owned TVNZ had been the only game in town. But for most of its recent history, TV3's parent company MediaWorks was owned by private equity funds and it was hamstrung with debts. There were periodic financial emergencies too which seemed to signal the end. In 2015 the boss Mark Weldon axed the current affairs shows Campbell Live and 3D and replaced them with ones that didn't pull in more viewers or pull up many trees with their reporting."Reports of our death at 6pm have been greatly exaggerated", host Hilary Barry responded to reports 3 News might be for the chop the following year. But Weldon persuaded the owners to stump up a significant sum to launch Newshub instead. When the huge global company Discovery bought MediaWorks loss-making TV channels in December 2020, many in the media were pleased a major media outfit was now in charge. Using the Official Information Act, Newsroom later reported the Overseas Investment Office fast tracked Discovery's application and sought no guarantees of a commitment to local news. The 2021 mega-merger in the US that turned it into 'Warner Bros Discovery' excited The Spinoff founder Duncan Grieve. "Tova O'Brien breaking stories on CNN NZ at 6pm, before an evening of local reality TV souped up by global budgets and distribution - with major sports and drama rights for good measure," was one scenario. "It could also swing the other way, with the New Zealand linear asset seen as too small and obscure," he warned…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details