Mediawatch

Take me to your leader - political press pack gets off on wrong foot with our new political leaders; media in the middle of Gaza claims and counterclaims; World Cup fever - and Irish anguish.Mediawatch looks at how media organisations are copping criticism for the way they are reporting the Gaza-Israel conflict - and asks a BBC news boss how he's handling it. Also: our political reporters got off to a bad start with our new political leaders this week - and how a Rugby World Cup final on the horizon fired up our sports reporters. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Major media organisations all over the world are copping criticism for the way they're reporting what's happening in Gaza and Israel. Mediawatch asks BBC news boss Jonathan Munro how they're handling it - even when it's coming from the UK's own government. Major media organisations all over the world are copping criticism for the way they're reporting what's happening in Gaza and Israel. Mediawatch asks BBC news boss Jonathan Munro how they're handling it - even when it's coming from the UK's own government."Palestinian health officials in Gaza say hundreds of people have been killed in an explosion at a hospital in Gaza. They're blaming an Israeli strike on the hospital. But the Israel Defense Forces said an initial investigation shows the explosion was caused by a failed Hamas rocket launch." That was how RNZ's news at 8am last Tuesday reported the single deadliest incident of this conflict so far - and likely to be the deadliest one in all of the five times Israel and Hamas have fought over Gaza so far.The Israeli Defense Force also singled out Islamic Jihad for the atrocity - but the absence of hard evidence put the media reporting it in a difficult position. Reporting those claims and counterclaims creates confusion among the audience. It's also stoked the anger of those objecting to reporters' choice of words. CNN's Clarissa Ward, for example, was criticised heavily on social media for mentioning the Israeli Defense Force claims - and then expressing doubt about them at the same time. A video showing a pro-Palestinian protester calling Clarissa Ward "a puppet" has gone viral on social media. So did another falsely accusing her of faking a rocket strike. Her CNN colleague Anderson Cooper was also criticised online for referring to a huge civilian loss of life during the live report from Tel Aviv in Israel and repeating himself, but then without the word "civilian."Among those who, alongside expert investigators, tried to sift the available evidence and cut through the information war was Alex Thompson, correspondent for UK broadcaster Channel Four.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyppmRvcwzY"Israel and Hamas can tweet what they like. The truth of what happened here requires independent expert investigation -- not happening," was Alex Thompson's bleak conclusion."Any doubt is due to a fierce information war that in truth matters little to the victims of the Gaza hospital tragedy," another British correspondent - ITV Jonathan Irvine - said on Newshub at 6 last Tuesday. At times, broadcasters have used the wrong words and given audiences the wrong idea. …Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Midweek Mediawatch - Hayden Donnell talks to Mark Leishman about how media handled the claims and counter-claims that followed the deadliest incident yet in the Gaza conflict. Also - friction between the press pack and PM preparing to form the next government - and rugby pundits ripping their Irish peers after last weekend's World Cup quarter final . . . with the benefit of hindsight. Midweek Mediawatch - Mediawatch's weekly catch-up with Nights.Hayden Donnell talks to Mark Leishman about how media handled the claims and counter-claims that followed the deadliest incident yet in the Gaza conflict. Also - friction between the press pack and PM preparing to form the next government - and rugby pundits ripping their Irish peers after last weekend's World Cup quarter final . . . with the benefit of hindsight. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Guest Robbie Nicol, host of RNZ's politics series The Citizens Handbook, joins Colin Peacock on Mediawatch to discuss media coverage of the election. They explore topics like laser Kiwi gimmick, coverage of irrelevant food topics, differences between News Hub and Fakata Mardi, interviews with notable speakers, low voter turnout among under 25 year olds, and the influence of Winston Peters on media narratives.

Midweek Mediawatch - Colin Peacock talks to Mark Leishman about minor parties under the microscope and more heated head-to-head election debates. Also: and the horror in Israel/Gaza gives media a dilemma - and Rachel Smalley vs Pharmac. Midweek Mediawatch - Mediawatch's weekly catch-up with Nights.Colin Peacock talks to Mark Leishman about minor parties under the microscope and more heated head-to-head election debates. Also: the horror in Israel/Gaza gives media a dilemma - and Rachel Smalley vs Pharmac. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

This week political reporters seized on fresh figures showing the National Party overstated the benefits of its tax cut policy - and accused its leaders of misleading the public. Yet some of them had repeated the party's spin in their own reports when it was unveiled a month ago - and even praised the 'political marketing.This week political reporters seized on fresh figures showing the National Party overstated the benefits of its tax cut policy - and accused its leaders of misleading the public. Yet some of them had repeated the party's spin in their own reports when it was unveiled a month ago - and even praised the 'political marketing.'"The National Party has admitted that its much-feted tax cut of $250 a fortnight will only go to 3000 families. Despite knowing that number all along the party is denying it's mislead the public," Newshub at 6 told viewers on Thursday. The revelation followed research from the Labour Party-aligned Council of Trade Unions, and Newshub political reporters spent a full frustrating day trying to pin down National for a response. But when National's policy was first announced back in early September to ease what the party dubbed "the squeezed middle" it included claims an "average income family" with children would benefit. But Newshub didn't mention its own reporters were among those who feted the policy in the first place. And they weren't the only ones to give National's maximum fortnightly benefit headline billing when the policy was unveiled. Families in line for $250 a fortnight under National tax cut, said The Press. National promises $250 more a fortnight for average households, said Interest.co.nz.Election 2023: National's tax plan offers average household with kids $250 and Kiwi worker $50 a fortnight, said The New Zealand Herald. Under that Herald headline the paper's deputy political editor Thomas Coughlan pointed out "all the savings are expressed as fortnightly figures rather than weekly figures, making them look larger." On Mediawatch, Hayden Donnell pointed out many reports also adopted the National Party's preferred unit of measurement for people as well - 'households' rather than individuals. Also, most reports neglected to mention the $250-a-fortnight saving for a qualifying family also included $150 from the already announced Family Boost tax credit scheme. That could also replace the 20 hours of free childcare for two year-olds announced in the Budget this year. …Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

After seven decades up to his neck in media - and having a profound and world wide influence on them - now nonagenarian mega mogul Rupert Murdoch's starting up the succession plan for his empire. Or is he? We ask an Australian expert who wrote all about this ten years ago when one of Murdoch's biggest companies was mired in an epic scandal, he'd just been divorced and it looked like the succession was on. So is it now? After seven decades up to his neck in media - and having a profound and world wide influence on them - now nonagenarian mega mogul Rupert Murdoch's starting up the succession plan for his empire. Or is he? We ask an Australian expert who wrote all about this ten years ago when one of Murdoch's biggest companies was mired in an epic scandal, he'd just been divorced and it looked like the succession was on. So is it now? Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

The media have been a political football this year - and now some politicians are complaining the media are against them in this election. But hundreds of millions of dollars of public money is spent on media each year - so what do the political parties plan for the media if they're in power?The media have been a political football this year - and now some politicians are complaining the media are against them in this election. But hundreds of millions of dollars of public money is spent on media each year - so what do the political parties plan for the media if they are in power? In a combative and cranky interview last weekend on the TVNZ Q+A show, NZ First leader Winston Peters claimed presenter Jack Tame was biased - and he said the bosses at the state-owned broadcaster wanted it that way. He also claimed this was part of a campaign to keep NZ First out of government and that Tame "and his masters" had made a good case for NZ First having the broadcasting portfolio after the election. "Just an idea," he said teasingly when asked if it was a kind of threat. Earlier in the election campaign Peters had singled out Newshub and Stuff and said that the absence of an honest fourth estate - coupled with co-governance - had left "our democracy hanging by a thread".The NZ First website carries a strident call for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into media bias and manipulation in New Zealand - and a petition with about 5000 signatures. The pattern in past election campaigns is broadcasting and media plans are often left to the last minute - or overlooked entirely as our political parties push policies on big-ticket issues like tax, health and education. But while media policy is not seen as a real vote-winner grabber by most parties, our media are important and influential - and also partly state-owned. Over the past decade, spending on media by successive governments has increased to more than a quarter of a billion dollars a year - and rising. What do the parties have planned this time around? Labour's plan for the future was built on the merger of TVNZ and RNZ in a new public media entity funded with an extra $107 million a year until 2026. But just weeks before the new entity was supposed to come into being the government scrapped that plan. There is nothing specific in the party's policy for this election, but Labour's post-merger Plan B is a $25m a year boost to RNZ, $10m for the government broadcasting funding agency NZ on Air and substantial funding increases announced in Budget 2022 and 2023 for Māori broadcasting. …Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Exploring the controversial tax policy, media bias and manipulation in New Zealand, and Rupert Murdoch's succession plan

In this week's edition of Midweek Mediawatch, Hayden Donnell talks to Mark Leishman about an outcry over the soiling of the sacred Ranfurly Shield, a rancorous interview with Winston Peters, and media complaining about Christopher Luxon not turning up.In this week's edition of Midweek Mediawatch, Hayden Donnell talks to Mark Leishman about an outcry over the soiling of the sacred Ranfurly Shield, a rancorous interview with Winston Peters, and media complaining about Christopher Luxon not turning up.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details