Mediawatch

Parties seal the coalition deal to end long limbo for media; watchdog warns media laws need urgent upgrade; media tuning out of music journalism; Covid response reckons ramp up in inquiry season. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Midweek Mediawatch - Mediawatch's weekly catch-up with Nights. Colin Peacock talks to Mark Leishman about the ongoing process of forming a new government testing the patience of political reporters - and the audience. Also: more financial woe for media companies, 123 years of history ends in Invercargill - and Australia's rugby boss meets a sticky end. Midweek Mediawatch - Mediawatch's weekly catch-up with Nights. Colin Peacock talks to Mark Leishman about the ongoing process of forming a new government testing the patience of political reporters - and the audience. Also: more financial woe for media companies, 123 years of history ends in Invercargill - and Australia's rugby boss meets a sticky end. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

This week the people who make the local stuff for our screens big and small urged the powers-that-be to tax the likes of Netflix and Disney Plus to fund it. But producers here can already get tax breaks and public funding, so can they really persuade the incoming government to make the streaming services another source of funds? This week the people who make the local stuff for our screens big and small urged the powers-that-be to tax the likes of Netflix and Disney Plus to fund it. But producers here can already get tax breaks and public funding, so can they really persuade the incoming government to make the streaming services another source of funds?The annual conference of Screen Producers NZ - still known by historic acronym SPADA - kicks off with a lecture which honours pioneering local moviemaker John O'Shea - a champion of the local industry since the days when film was the entire screen industry. This year TVNZ's John Campbell conducted a sitdown chat with James Cameron, the Hollywood titan who made Titanic, Terminator and Avatar and who now lives and works mostly in New Zealand. John Campbell put what he called the standard "Kiwi cultural cringe" question for famous foreigners to James Cameron: What do you make of the place?Cameron said he loves it and planned to become a New Zealand citizen next year. The news made TVNZ's 6pm bulletin that night and New Zealand Herald website rushed it out as urgent news - though the 'I love being a Wellingtonian' headline might have miffed people across in Wairarapa where Cameron has owned land and homes for some time. James Cameron only had good things to say about filmmaking facilities and talent here - but he also warned it's not cheap to film here and that New Zealand competes with the likes of Australia (which this year increased its rebate) and even faraway Croatia.That pointed to the key issue for the local screen producers after the disruption of Covid: how to finance productions? Cameron - whose first film was 15 minutes long and funded by a dentist - said the Screen Production Rebate incentives productions can claim here were critical. International productions can get up to a quarter of their spending back - and New Zealand-made films can get two-fifths.Tax breaks for hugely profitable offshore movie studios have been controversial in the past. Amazon Prime got a $100 million boost to film The Lord of the Rings television series here - and even that wasn't enough to stop it going offshore after one series. But James Cameron was prepared for John Campbell raising that last Thursday. …Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

As we wait for a new government, one election did deliver a clear-cut result this week - Forest and Bird's Bird of the Century poll. The winner had considerable offshore input thanks to a celebrity comedian's campaign which generated heaps of media exposure - but also some claims of media manipulation. As we wait for a new government, one election did deliver a clear-cut result this week - Forest and Bird's Bird of the Century poll. The winner had considerable offshore input thanks to a celebrity comedian's campaign which generated heaps of media exposure - but also some claims of media manipulation. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Media campaign of the century; producers push for tax on streamers; the legacy of a 'true newspaperman'.This week, Mediawatch looks at producers putting pressure on the incoming government to tax the likes of Netflix and Amazon - and the legacy left by old-school newspaper editors. Also: as we wait for a new government, one election did deliver a clear-cut result this week Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Long-serving Southland Times editor Fred Tulett has died - leaving a legacy of more than 50 years in journalism in which he mentored many top journalists who followed in his footsteps. Long-serving Southland Times editor Fred Tulett has died - leaving a legacy of more than 50 years in journalism in which he mentored many top journalists who followed in his footsteps. On Wednesday last week the Southland Times filled its front page with news former editor Fred Tulett had died, aged 77. News of Fred's death also spilled over onto page two of Southland Times paper last week. "News of Fred Tulett's death relegated a strong story about the financial struggles of medical trainee interns to page 3. He would have gone crook about that," his Times colleague Michael Fallow noted in a separate obituary - A titan of old-school journalism - published in Stuff's papers last weekend. Fred had edited the paper for 15 years following stints at Wellington's Dominion, the notorious tabloid Truth and several papers in the UK. At his funeral in Alexandra, Stuff's chief publishing officer Jo Norris recalled Fred's remarkable scoop about suspected Israeli agents being spirited out of the country after the Christchurch quake in 2011. Soon after, Fred made headlines himself by personally sampling the synthetic cannabis product Kronic and then calling for it to be banned immediately in his paper's editorial the next day. But Fred's best-remembered scoop was one that came out of the blue in 1984 when he picked up a ringing phone at the Dominion Sunday Times. It was Naomi Lange - wife of then PM David Lange - on the line. This was at a time when their marriage was on the rocks. She spilled the beans to him about David's adultery and Fred put it in the paper - but not before pondering the public interest in the exposure of this. Almost 20 years later, when Fred was at the Southland Times, the story of an affair involving Auckland mayor Len Brown made nationwide headlines.But this time the story was being peddled by political opponents of Len Brown who was facing re-election. At that time Fred Tulett spoke to Mediawatch about whether the public interest would be served by this private situation being revealed in these circumstances. "Of course, it's our business. We're talking about a high profile politician that people have had to make judgments on in deciding whether or not to vote for him. And this is all about people being able to make informed decisions about what's going on. Let's be realistic about this," Fred told Mediawatch at the time. …Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

In this week's edition of Midweek Mediawatch, Hayden Donnell talks to Mark Leishman about allegations of foreign interference in the Bird of the Century vote - and dubious concerns about the general election result.In this week's edition of Midweek Mediawatch, Hayden Donnell talks to Mark Leishman about allegations of foreign interference in the Bird of the Century vote - and dubious concerns about the general election result.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

The news media see themselves as the eyes and ears of the public - but so far political leaders have mostly turned a deaf ear to their questions about forming the new government. How are they handling the silent treatment? The news media see themselves as the eyes and ears of the public - but so far political leaders have mostly turned a deaf ear to their questions about forming the new government. How are they handling the silent treatment? Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Twitter emerged as an important source of live updates, news and images during the Arab Spring more than a decade ago. Many in the media also joined the platform to share news and commentary with users worldwide. But a year after Elon Musk took it over, 'X' is a mess - and a group of local users recently gathered to 'Bury the Bird' for good. Twitter emerged as an important source of live updates, news and images during the Arab Spring more than a decade ago. Many in the media also joined the platform to share news and commentary with users worldwide. But a year after Elon Musk took it over, X is a mess - and a group of local users recently gathered to 'Bury the Bird' for good. Last week the UK hosted a summit on the dangers of AI at Bletchley Park, the site of the celebrated Enigma code-breaking effort in World War II. The British government said that they hoped the presence of the world's richest ever entrepreneur, Elon Musk, would "attract international attention". It did. Musk's interview with the UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also made headlines when it was livestreamed on the social media platform that Musk owns - X, formerly Twitter."Having a referee is a good thing. And if you look at any sports game, there's always a referee. And nobody's suggesting to have a sports game without one," Musk told Sunak when asked how AI advances should be regulated. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjdVlmBjRCA"I think the right way to think about this is for governments to be a referee to make sure there's sportsmanlike conduct and public safety is addressed. We care about public safety," Musk told Sunak. That would ring hollow for users of X who blame Musk for systematically dismantling 15 years' worth of moderation at Twitter in the past year since he bought it. Two days later, Musk told podcaster Joe Rogan he bought Twitter to save it from an "extinctionist mind virus" - but it's Musk himself who seems to be speeding up Twitter's decline - and possible extinction. Twitter was heavily used by the media because it became a powerful way of spreading and sharing news as well as commenting on it. Its other unique selling point was 'micro-blogging' - making it possible to post short, sharp messages for followers of individual accounts and directly to some of the best-known and most powerful people and institutions in the world. But Musk has driven a series of changes over the past year which slashed the platform's value by more than half while also destroying most of its value to its users, including the media and journalists. …Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Mediawatch - A business lobby group is urging New Zealand to emulate Ireland, which has a GDP twice as big as ours - but is the GDP picture warped? The incoming government wants to grow the economy and attract more foreign investment.A leading business lobby group is urging us to emulate Ireland, which had a GDP the same size as ours 30 years ago, but now has a GDP twice as big. The statistics are sobering, but is that the full picture? One of the areas where there may have to be compromises between the parties forming a new government is economic policy. New Zealand First leader Winston Peters' views on the economy, international trade and foreign investment "pre-date Rogernomics, in that he has staunchly opposed the neo-liberal views held sacred by the Thatcherite ideologues within the business community, the Luxon-led National Party and the Act Party", columnist Gordon Campbell wrote at Scoop.co.nz. On his site Politik, veteran political journalist Richard Harman said National would "have to tread between two very different views of how to grow New Zealand's economy". He pointed to a freshly-published report from The NZ Initiative (NZI) think-tank called Irish Secrets - An Irish lesson in prosperity.Harman said one set of figures stood out in the report: In 1990, New Zealand GDP per head was just under $US15,000 - slightly ahead of Ireland's. By last year, Ireland's had jumped to $US127,000, but ours was only $US52,000.The Irish Secrets report followed a week-long tour of Ireland by three dozen businesspeople in June. "The Emerald Isle leapt forward, leaving the Land of the Long White Cloud in its wake. Ireland now sits just below the US at sixth while New Zealand languishes at 20th," NZ Initiative chair Roger Partridge wrote in the New Zealand Herald on their return, about what he called "prosperity's most meaningful measure" - GDP per capita.After the Ireland visit in July, NZI executive director Oliver Hartwich made the post-1990 GDP comparison in an interview with Reality Check Radio."Ireland has commonsense and we have ideology," he said.NZI published a more detailed report - Benchmarking New Zealand's Economic Performance Against Ireland's - in August. This report said Ireland's GDP per capita in 2020 was far higher than any other OECD member country, except Luxembourg, because "Ireland has attracted so much overseas investment that a significant proportion of what it produces at home belongs to overseas investors." …Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details