Mediawatch

A scoop revealing that ethnicity is factored into Auckland-region surgery waiting lists sparked strong reactions against 'race-based healthcare' and claims that Māori and Pacific patients were "getting to the front of the surgery queue." But it turned out to be nothing new - and the formula might actually mean patients' ethnic background has less impact on waitlist positioning.A scoop revealing that ethnicity is factored into Auckland-region surgery waiting lists sparked strong reactions against 'race-based healthcare' and claims that Māori and Pacific patients were "getting to the front of the surgery queue." But it turned out to be nothing new - and the formula might actually mean patients' ethnic background has less impact on waitlist positioning. "Auckland surgeons are sounding the alarm over a new equity index-based waiting lists that critics are labeling divisive," Newstalk ZB's news at 5am declared on Monday, leading with a scoop from its political journalists Jason Walls and Barry Soper. "The new system uses five categories to place patients on a medical waitlist, including clinical priority, time, speed, waiting location and deprivation level. But it's the fifth category - ethnicity - that's raised concerns," Newstalk ZB reported.That scoop also filled the front page of its stablemate, the New Zealand Herald under the heading: 'Surgeons express unease at new scoring tool, describing it as ethically challenging'.The concern of those unnamed Auckland surgeons quickly kicked off a bigger political debate about 'race-based health' care. By 10am, the National Party had declared "Race Has No Place In Surgical Decisions." ACT launched a campaign to "end race-based waitlists."By the end of the day, the PM had said he had asked his health minister to take another look at the policy. The Equity Adjuster Score (EAS) aims to reduce inequity by re-prioritising patients according to a balance of those five factors. Māori and Pasifika were top of the ethnicity list, while European New Zealanders and other ethnicities were lower-ranked, they said. But it was only ethnicity ZB's listeners were hearing about. "Māori and Pacific Islanders waiting for surgery are being moved to the top of the very lengthy hospital waiting lists," Early Edition host Kate Hawkesby told her listeners shortly after the news broke. She was echoing the news story on the Newstalk ZB website under the headline: 'Auckland surgeons are being dictated to on ethnicity grounds over who should go under the knife first'…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Most publications would never dream of running advertising for free, or publishing a highly ideological press release verbatim, but they may do so if the same information is presented in the form of research or study results.Anyone logging into 1News.co.nz from their home office last weekend would have received some disturbing news about their apparently deteriorating bodies.Under the headline 'Research reveals what remote workers could look like in the future', the site ran a series of pictures of a digitally-generated model dubbed 'Anna', along with a story describing her as a vision of what working from home could do to people by the year 2100.As it turns out, not commuting into the office is more harmful than you might have thought." is a grotesque figure, with claw hands, swollen limbs, red eyes and a hunched back, due to consistent use of laptops and smartphones, poor posture and an unhealthy diet," said 1News.Terrible news, and even worse that this projection was purportedly based on research.Except, as it turns out, it wasn't.A cursory glance at this story's origins shows Anna was actually invented seemingly out of whole cloth by the Scottish company Furniture At Work UK - hardly a disinterested party when it comes to the working from home debate.It seems rather than robust research, the story was a barely disguised ad for office furniture.In fact, the link to the Furniture at Work UK blog introducing Anna later redirected to a page selling ergonomic desk chairs after it started being included in news stories. Good web traffic if you can get it.1News eventually deleted its story.But it was far from alone in spreading Anna across the internet.Stuff also ran a story on Furniture At Work UK's invention with the headline 'Remote worker of the future could look like this, say researchers'.They were following in the footsteps of a host of international outlets, including The Daily Mail and The New York Post.It's not the first time Furniture At Work UK has employed this PR trick to great success. In March, it convinced The Daily Mail to run a story on its similarly made-up vision of what offices could look like in the year 2050.It's also not the only entity using dicey 'research' or so-called 'study results' to garner uncritical media coverage.In May, 1News reported on a study which it said "cemented" the theory that garlic can help treat the flu or even Covid-19.As it turns out the non-peer reviewed study it was citing was commissioned by the lobby group for Australia's garlic producers…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Surgery, equality and equity; starling survey results score easy exposure; independent local radio pioneer 1XX changes hands - but the mission remains the same.Mediawatch looks at how a scoop revealing that ethnicity is factored into surgery waiting lists sparked strong debate - and even a campaign to stop it. But it turned out to be nothing new. Also, startling survey results that end up in our news even if they don't stand up to scrutiny - and a leading local independent radio station that's changed hands after more than 50 years on air. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

A leading local, award-winning and proudly-independent radio station based in Whakatāne has changed hands after more than 50 years on air. We ask the boss who's been there for most of them: is it the end of an era? A leading local, award-winning and proudly-independent radio station based in Whakatāne has changed hands after more than 50 years on air. We ask the boss who's been there for most of them: is it the end of an era? Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Midweek Mediawatch - Colin Peacock talks to Mark Leishman about a 'tough on crime' policy triggering media - after 'Mad Max' Mongrel Mob scenes in the news. Also: media war-gaming the election too soon; a political column winding back the news; problems that scrapped a big newspaper story emerge - and the 'grandfather of whistleblowing' dies. Midweek Mediawatch - Mediawatch's weekly catch-up with Nights. This week Colin Peacock talks to Mark Leishman about how a 'tough on crime' policy tweak triggered the media - after 'Mad Max' Mongrel Mob scenes in the news. Also: media war-gaming the election too soon; a political column winding back the news cycle; the problems that prompted the scrapping of a big newspaper story emerge - and the 'grandfather of whistleblowing' dies. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

External experts are poring over the 'inappropriate editing' of international news published online by RNZ. It has already tightened editorial checks and stood down an online journalist. Will this dent trust in RNZ - or news in general? Were campaigns propagating national propaganda a factor? Mediawatch asks two experts with international experience. External experts are poring over the 'inappropriate editing' of international news published online by RNZ. It has already tightened editorial checks and stood down an online journalist.Will this dent trust in RNZ - or news in general? Were campaigns propagating national propaganda a factor? Mediawatch asks two experts with international experience.The comedians on 7 Days had a few laughs at RNZ's expense against a backdrop of the Kremlin on Three this week. "A Radio New Zealand digital journalist has been stood down after it emerged they'd been editing news stories on the broadcaster's website to give them a pro-Russian slant, which is kind of disgusting," host Jeremy Corbett said. "You'd never get infiltration like that on 7 Days. Our security is too strong. Strong like a bear. Strong like the glorious Russian state and its leader Putin," he said. "I love this Russian strategy: "First, we take New Zealand's fourth best and fourth most popular news site - then the world!" said Melanie Bracewell, who said she hadn't kept up with the news. Just a joke, obviously, but this week some people have been asking if Kremlin campaigns played a role in the inappropriate editing of online world news. It was on 9 June the revelation of it kicked off a media frenzy about propaganda, misinformation, Russia, Ukraine, truth, trust and editorial standards that has been no laughing matter at RNZ. The story went up a notch last weekend when TVNZ's Thomas Mead revealed Ukrainian New Zealander Michael Lidski - along with 20 others - had complained about a story written by the journalist in May 2022, which RNZ had re-edited on the day to add alternative perspectives after prompting from an RNZ journalist who considered it sub-standard. The next day on RNZ's Checkpoint, presenter Lisa Owen said the suspended RNZ web journalist had told her he edited reports "in that way for five years" - and nobody had ever queried it or told him to stop.RNZ chief executive Paul Thompson, who's also Editor-in-Chief, then told Checkpoint he didn't consider what he had called "Pro-Kremlin garbage" a resignation-worthy issue. "I think this is a time for us actually working together to fix the problem," he said…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Mediawatch looks at the response to the revelation of 'inappropriate editing' of online world news at RNZ - and asks two experts what may come out of the investigation into how it happened. Also: Mediawatch asks about claims that state-sponsored offshore disinformation campaigns could be undermining our media.External experts are poring over the 'inappropriate editing' of international news published online by RNZ. It has already tightened editorial checks and stood down an online journalist. Will this dent trust in RNZ - or news in general? Were campaigns propagating national propaganda a factor? Mediawatch asks two experts with international experience.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

In this week's Midweek Mediawatch, Hayden Donnell talks to Anna Thomas about RNZ's 'pro-Russia edits' saga now extending stories about other countries - and a newspaper's feature story that fell short of standards. Also: one RNZ host leaves the broadcaster while another returns to air; the intense focus on political party leaders' 'rinky dink' phrases - and what they say off-message; the media war over Australia's most famous soldier- and whether people can weather the long forecasts. In this week's Midweek Mediawatch, Hayden Donnell talks to Anna Thomas about RNZ's 'pro-Russia edits' saga now extending stories about other countries - and a newspaper's feature story that fell short of standards. Also: one RNZ host leaves the broadcaster while another returns to air; the intense focus on political party leaders' 'rinky dink' phrases - and what they say off-message; the media war over Australia's most famous soldier- and whether people can weather the long forecasts. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Crime is set to be a big election year issue, with polls showing the public feels unsafe and the opposition claiming the government is 'soft' on offending. A pair of Herald journalists have tried to get to the truth behind the political jousting.Crime is set to be a big election year issue, with polls showing the public feels unsafe and the opposition claiming the government is 'soft' on offending. A pair of Herald journalists have tried to get to the truth behind the political jousting.On RNZ's Morning Report this week, Foodstuffs chief executive Chris Quin struck a sombre tone talking about what he called a "scary" rise in crime at the company's supermarkets."We've got a duty to keep customers and keep teams safe and when you see retail crime up 38 percent, serious assaults up 36 percent - and repeat offenders being responsible for over a third of retail crime, we absolutely have to acknowledge we have an issue," he said.Some people raised eyebrows at the timing. A day earlier Consumer NZ had hit out at the supermarket giants over allegations they're ripping customers off with "dodgy specials".But he's not the first to air his concerns about rising retail crime in recent weeks.The owners of Titirangi's only post shop, Shrikant and Aboli Bhave gave a series of media interviews in May, saying they were closing their doors after two decades in business over repeated burglaries.Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, interviewed straight after the pair on the AM Show, told Ryan Bridge their story was "heartbreaking". "I absolutely acknowledge the situation we're facing around retail crime with ram raids and aggravated robberies is utterly unacceptable," he said.Those ram raids dominated the headlines last year, with some media outlets reporting what they called a "youth crime spike" or "youth crime wave".The barrage of coverage seems to have had an influence on people's perceptions of crime.On Monday this week, the Herald reported the results of an exclusive poll which showed 67 percent of New Zealanders were more concerned about being a victim of crime than they were five years ago.Respondents were also asked what action they wanted to see to address crime.The largest number - 34 percent - wanted harsher prison sentences while 27 percent wanted more police.Only 4 percent wanted more social workers and other support, and 6 percent wanted a focus on rehabilitation rather than prison.This may be understandable given the real rise in headline-grabbing types of crimes like ram raids, but it doesn't always mesh with the data released by authorities…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

How stories about the war in Ukraine ended up with a pro-Russian slant on RNZ's website; reports of crime are on the up but does the story change when reporters run the numbers before running a story? Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details