Coverage of international news is an embarrassment and leaves NZers blinded to events that will impact us in a fragmented world in which competition between big powers squeezes small trading countries such as NZ. All we get are sound bites on NZ TV and partisan, often rabid views on social media. More “successful” small countries such as Finland and Ireland have quality public broadcasting. Unfortunately the puritanical pursuit of KPIs puts little weight on abstract public good and the importance of an informed electorate in a functioning democracy. I have downloaded a couple of overseas streaming sites so I have better insight into international events- https://www.haystack.tv/home gives access to multiple TV stations such as CNN, Bloomberg, ABC, France24 etc. I also look at Al Jazeera and NHK world.
However, we also need better long form local TV which explores issues and celebrates NZ ways of life. Sunday has done some important stories lately but has been chosen for the msm scrap heap.
Thanks for those thoughts, Philip, and for the tips re TV channels. I gather that the quality of TV news in NZ is poor. And I don't see why the recently announced merger of TV3 news into Stuff should make it any better. I tend to ignore TV anyway and largely read the news from a variety of websites. It's surprising how little the video content actually adds. I don't rely on social media feeds, although sometimes I pick up on something worth reading from those sources. Cheers, Grant
Thanks for your reply. Re linear TV I do believe it has an impact in conveying the reality of major events such as Ukraine and Gaza but also events in Africa or Latin America that NZers are cut off from by mediocre coverage. So often also NZ sound bite international news is sanitised and does not show the brutality of war and conflict. I think it should. For example this coverage by CNN would never be shown in NZ:
As the old cliche goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. However, as with all media, critical analysis is the key. Media has always been manipulated but the tools are so much more powerful now. This is why, as a former educator both in NZ and overseas, I am a big believer in equipping students with a critical thinking mindset plus the processes to analyse sources.
Good article! It seems the western philosophical tradition of dialectics/debate is no longer enthusiastically supported by the majority of journalists or the medium/large (especially commercial) organisations in the media. I recall how good TV news used to be in the early 1980's when people like Ian Fraser and Lindsay Perigo were around, but the commercialism brought in to TVNZ among other things) appears to have undermined all that. It seems you can't get enough "bums on seats" with those kinds of people and for the last 30 years it's all just been watered down to the point of banality.
I've given up on TV news, don't care about the loss of TV3/NewsHub (I don't think there's any real difference between the content they produce and TVNZ) and the newspaper too, in favour of lots of YouTube, Substack subscriptions etc. Yes it takes more work but I get a much broader range of views than I've been able to find on MSM for a very long time (if ever). I think a period of "small" / ground up journalism from quality individuals is the way to go and from that new organisations will arise (hopefully). The only hope for TVNZ, in my view, if any would be removing the commercial charter etc but I suspect the organisation and its culture are now "damaged" beyond redemption. Good riddance if that's the case.
Thank you for this thoughtful response, Malcolm! I don't even own a TV set, to be honest. I like your idea of 'ground up' journalism. When a prominent broadcaster calls his critics 'enemies' (instead of bringing them into the studio), we have a real problem, and it's time to start afresh. Grant
Very good. The battle for hearts and minds has never been more interesting. What would really revitalise my interest in TV would be more political debate, yet it never happens, except at election time. Talking about debate, how about a talk show featuring say Paddy Gower and Peter Williams? The issues of the day are fascinating and polarising. Now some attention to that that would get the audience tuning in...
Thanks Mike! That kind of talk show would perhaps be like The Rest is Politics podcast with Alistair Campbell (UK Labour) and Rory Stewart (Conservative). Possibly some fresh voices are needed too. Do we even need TV?
Coverage of international news is an embarrassment and leaves NZers blinded to events that will impact us in a fragmented world in which competition between big powers squeezes small trading countries such as NZ. All we get are sound bites on NZ TV and partisan, often rabid views on social media. More “successful” small countries such as Finland and Ireland have quality public broadcasting. Unfortunately the puritanical pursuit of KPIs puts little weight on abstract public good and the importance of an informed electorate in a functioning democracy. I have downloaded a couple of overseas streaming sites so I have better insight into international events- https://www.haystack.tv/home gives access to multiple TV stations such as CNN, Bloomberg, ABC, France24 etc. I also look at Al Jazeera and NHK world.
However, we also need better long form local TV which explores issues and celebrates NZ ways of life. Sunday has done some important stories lately but has been chosen for the msm scrap heap.
Thanks for those thoughts, Philip, and for the tips re TV channels. I gather that the quality of TV news in NZ is poor. And I don't see why the recently announced merger of TV3 news into Stuff should make it any better. I tend to ignore TV anyway and largely read the news from a variety of websites. It's surprising how little the video content actually adds. I don't rely on social media feeds, although sometimes I pick up on something worth reading from those sources. Cheers, Grant
Thanks for your reply. Re linear TV I do believe it has an impact in conveying the reality of major events such as Ukraine and Gaza but also events in Africa or Latin America that NZers are cut off from by mediocre coverage. So often also NZ sound bite international news is sanitised and does not show the brutality of war and conflict. I think it should. For example this coverage by CNN would never be shown in NZ:
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/04/17/world/video/shahed-young-girl-killed-gaza-israeli-airstrike-children-diamond-pkg-digvid
As the old cliche goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. However, as with all media, critical analysis is the key. Media has always been manipulated but the tools are so much more powerful now. This is why, as a former educator both in NZ and overseas, I am a big believer in equipping students with a critical thinking mindset plus the processes to analyse sources.
Good article! It seems the western philosophical tradition of dialectics/debate is no longer enthusiastically supported by the majority of journalists or the medium/large (especially commercial) organisations in the media. I recall how good TV news used to be in the early 1980's when people like Ian Fraser and Lindsay Perigo were around, but the commercialism brought in to TVNZ among other things) appears to have undermined all that. It seems you can't get enough "bums on seats" with those kinds of people and for the last 30 years it's all just been watered down to the point of banality.
I've given up on TV news, don't care about the loss of TV3/NewsHub (I don't think there's any real difference between the content they produce and TVNZ) and the newspaper too, in favour of lots of YouTube, Substack subscriptions etc. Yes it takes more work but I get a much broader range of views than I've been able to find on MSM for a very long time (if ever). I think a period of "small" / ground up journalism from quality individuals is the way to go and from that new organisations will arise (hopefully). The only hope for TVNZ, in my view, if any would be removing the commercial charter etc but I suspect the organisation and its culture are now "damaged" beyond redemption. Good riddance if that's the case.
Thank you for this thoughtful response, Malcolm! I don't even own a TV set, to be honest. I like your idea of 'ground up' journalism. When a prominent broadcaster calls his critics 'enemies' (instead of bringing them into the studio), we have a real problem, and it's time to start afresh. Grant
Very good. The battle for hearts and minds has never been more interesting. What would really revitalise my interest in TV would be more political debate, yet it never happens, except at election time. Talking about debate, how about a talk show featuring say Paddy Gower and Peter Williams? The issues of the day are fascinating and polarising. Now some attention to that that would get the audience tuning in...
Thanks Mike! That kind of talk show would perhaps be like The Rest is Politics podcast with Alistair Campbell (UK Labour) and Rory Stewart (Conservative). Possibly some fresh voices are needed too. Do we even need TV?