Mediawatch

The TVNZ Young Voters' debate run by Re:News was a rowdy interjection into what had been a relatively subdued election campaign. Its moderator has some ideas on how media organisations can better cater to young people.Undecided voters might decide the outcome of the election and the media and political strategists are now zeroing in on them. There's also support among under-enrolled young people up for grabs, but who's trying to engage them at election time? The TVNZ Young Voters' debate was a rowdy interjection into what had been a relatively subdued election campaign.It was punctuated by fiery exchanges, including one in which Green MP Chloe Swarbrick took NZ First's Lee Donoghue to task over his party's proposed ban on students using the bathroom associated with their preferred gender."The rhetoric and the fear-mongering behind the likes of what you and your party are putting forward are harming people in our communities because it is not evidence-based and ultimately I think there is a responsibility for political leaders to turn down the temperature on this," she said."We need to be able to agree to disagree," interjected Act's Brooke van Velden."I'm not going to deny people's existence," retorted Swarbrick.These confrontations were also interspersed with illuminating policy debates on issues from the cost of living crisis to rainbow rights.In one section about climate change, Donoghue confessed to having been struck by lightning at an Iron Maiden concert. He has that experience in common with National MP Maureen Pugh and Labour health minister Ayesha Verrall, both of whom say they've been struck by lightning.The eye-opening discussions and sharply opposing points of view stood in stark contrast to the first TVNZ leaders debate between Chris Hipkins and Chris Luxon last week, where the two leaders delivered notably similar answers to quickfire questions on issues including a wealth tax (they don't want one), drug decriminalisation (they don't want it), and how old they were when they bought their first home (both were 24).That debate ran in primetime on TVNZ 1 and was chaired by the channel's political editor Jessica Mutch-McKay. The Young Voters' Debate was run by TVNZ's youth-targeted offshoot Re:News. It ran on TVNZ's streaming service TVNZ+ and was livestreamed on social media including TikTok and You Tube. Re:'s content editor Anna Harcourt was the moderator, armed with a ruby-red buzzer which she used bring the politicians into line when they talked too long…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

The undecided could decide the election; giving youth a voice in the election; ZB's 'straight talking' subscribers' service.Mediawatch looks at how the media are zeroing in on the undecided who could decide the election outcome - and what the media are doing to engage younger people during the campaign. Also - a surprising new service from talk radio offering news and opinion for paying customers. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

A new subscriber service offering "straight talking" reporting and opinion was launched this week by talk radio network Newstalk ZB. Owner NZME has several other services putting content behind a paywall, but this one has a provocative blogger in charge of a line-up of pro-business and right-leaning commentators - some of whom are harsh critics of the news media.Talk radio network Newstalk ZB has launched a new service offering subscribers "straight talking" reporting and opinion was launched. Owner NZME has several other services putting content behind a paywall, but this one has a provocative blogger in charge of a line-up of commentators - some of whom have been harsh critics of the news media. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Midweek Mediawatch - Colin Peacock talked to Mark Leishman about the ever-growing volume of election campaign coverage - and the latest TV (and off-TV) debates putting party leaders under the spotlight. Midweek Mediawatch - Mediawatch's weekly catch-up with Nights. Colin Peacock talked to Mark Leishman about the ever-growing volume of election campaign coverage - and the latest TV (and off-TV) debates putting party leaders under the spotlight. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

The election campaign went up a gear in the media this week as party leaders lined up on live TV for the first time. But while the public tuned in in numbers, the pundits reckoned the debates failed to fire up the campaign. The same could be said of the other exposure opportunities the media made for the leaders. The election campaign went up a gear in the media this week as party leaders lined up on live TV for the first time. But while the public tuned in in numbers, the pundits reckoned the debates failed to fire up the campaign. The same could be said of the other exposure opportunities the media made for the leaders. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Three years ago Sinead Boucher took over the country's biggest publisher of news from Aussie owners who gave it away "like a set of steak knives." In the absence of big backers and the government backing away from funding journalism, does its future now depend on getting money from Google and Facebook? And does she still have the Stuff staff on board for the future? Three years ago Sinead Boucher took over the country's biggest publisher of news from Aussie owners who gave it away "like a set of steak knives".In the absence of big backers and the government backing away from funding journalism, does its future now depend on getting money from Google and Facebook? And does she still have the Stuff staff on board for the future? "We have to make sure that (AI) generates value for journalism. Because if we don't get it right, in this current wave of disruption, I think that wave is going to wash right over us," Stuff owner Sinead Boucher told an Asia Pacific summit of the International News Media Association (INMA) in July. AI services like Google's Bard and Microsoft Bing Chat and Open AI's ChatGPT respond to simple prompts from users and then summarise information scraped from the internet - including news produced at great cost by publishers. Boucher warned other media executives present not to repeat the "mistakes of the past" by allowing offshore tech companies free access to their content again. The likes of Google and Facebook made much more money out of their content online in the past 20 years than the news media outfits which produced in the first place. But generative AI is also a tool news media are using for journalism. Some are even calling it "an editorial co-pilot".When Sky TV appointed a new CFO this week, subscriber service BusinessDesk reported Ciara McGuigan had previous experience in media, telecoms and retail. Sky's CEO Sophie Moloney said she was excited about McGuigan joining the team. The author of that story was ChatGPT. BusinessDesk uses it to turn simple statements from the stock exchange into online stories."They can assist in research or in the creation graphics. They can also allow us to replace a lot of repeatable internal processes," Boucher told Mediawatch. "We've instituted a really clear set of guidelines for it to be used. We're very much at the experimentation stage . . . but there always has to be human in the loop," she said. Stuff recently cut the numbers of staff producing and printing its newspapers. Could AI be deployed for those tasks? …Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Discussion on the recent election campaign in New Zealand, reactions and analysis of the recent debate, use of AI in journalism and news media, addressing power imbalance in commercial discussions, divestment of Fairfax Media's New Zealand business, and challenges of adapting to change in the media industry.

In this week's edition of Midweek Mediawatch, Hayden Donnell talks to Mark Leishman about the first live TV leaders' debate of the election campaign and the sports analogy-filled post-match analysis.In this week's edition of Midweek Mediawatch, Hayden Donnell talks to Mark Leishman about the first live TV leaders' debate of the election campaign and the sports analogy-filled post-match analysis. Also - party leaders picking and choosing interview opportunities - and reporters doggedly pursuing the National Party's data-deficient tax plans. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

The Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update lifted the lid on the nation's finances this week - and Treasury's projections for the foreseeable future. This dropped some 'un-spun' numbers into the election debate - but our media still seized on support-seeking politicians airing irreconcilable opinions about the state of our economy.The Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update lifted the lid on the nation's finances this week - and Treasury's projections for the foreseeable future. This dropped some 'un-spun' numbers into the election debate - but our media still seized on support-seeking politicians airing irreconcilable opinions about the state of our economy. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

New Zealand's biggest publisher of news this week joined big global names in blocking Open AI from using its content to power generative artificial intelligence tool Chat GPT. Stuff says it is being harvested without permission for AI products already turning out low-quality results. Mediawatch asks Stuff's if keeping Ai at arm's length is a good move. New Zealand's biggest publisher of news this week joined big global names in blocking Open AI from using its content to power generative artificial intelligence tool Chat GPT. Stuff says it is being harvested without permission for AI products already turning out low-quality results. Mediawatch asks Stuff if keeping AI at arm's length is a good move. "It's not that we're stealing your content. We want to just be a neutral librarian helping you find the right book - but not not having written in the book," Google's chief technology advocate Michael Jones told Mediawatch in 2012. Back then, Google itself was only eight years old, but already news publishers were worried about how many people were finding their news through it. Critics complained its online search had created a 'walled garden' around the online content it had indexed so well. "I cannot imagine us saying; 'Get the news from Google - and we'll tell you what the news was'. It feels very awkward," said Jones at Project evolution, a conference at AUT all about the growing impact of online digital technology and social media.Jones died two years ago, shortly before the launch of the first generative AI applications. And among those which are creating a version of the news for users is Google's own AI service Bard. Last month, the New York Times reported Google was testing an AI tool called Genesis, which uses AI technology to write news articles. Google reportedly pitched this to US news outlets as an aid for journalists, rather than a replacement for them. Earlier this month at another Auckland University of Technology event - the AI + Communications Symposium - former journalist and PR strategist Catherine Arrow warned Google's walled garden could become something much more restricted."Search engines created a walled garden where we can pick and choose what they've decided are the best blooms. As we get into search generative experience (SGE), we find ourselves only shown the flowers that they decide that we can look at. There's a real danger there," she said. AI services like Google's Bard and Microsoft Bing Chat and Open AI's ChatGPT respond to simple prompts from users and then summarise information scraped from the internet - including news produced in the first place by publishers. …Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details