Mediawatch

Midweek Mediawatch - Colin Peacock talks to Mark Leishman about political reporters' ongoing efforts to get party leaders to talk about forming a new government and media companies' growing financial problems. Also - an opportunity for journalists honouring Brian Gaynor - and the UK press picks up on the controversial British TV star accused of 'colonising' a Tasman town. Midweek Mediawatch - Medi...

Protecting people who offer the media important information is a fundamental obligation for journalists. Chris Cooke quit TVNZ after it didn't keep a promise to Erin Leighton, whose off-the-record disclosures ended up being aired in court in the defence of her abusers. They're now pushing for a 'shield law' to ensure our media can guarantee confidentiality. Mediawatch - Protecting people who offer...

Rugby in recovery as a media spectacle; keeping it confidential to protect sources; Musk trashing Twitter. Mediawatch talks to a journalist calling for changes to ensure our media can properly protect their sources' confidentiality - and an expert in the US where the media enjoy stronger protection. Also - how anger over rugby's rules and referees ruining matches has created a headache f...

Anger about rules and referees ruining rugby matches ran for days in the media after last weekend's Rugby World Cup final. Players, pundits and even current national coaches have said the game is 'broken' and bad to watch. But billions ofdollars of media companies' money keep rugby going - so will the media fix it for fans? Anger about rules and referees ruining rugby matches ran for days in the m...

In this week's edition of Midweek Mediawatch, Hayden Donnell talks to Mark Leishman about a comparative lack of coverage on Gaza, sympathy for Supie's leaders even as their employees miss out, and a wake for the Twitter-that-was. Midweek Mediawatch - Mediawatch's weekly catch-up with Nights. This week Hayden Donnell talks to Mark Leishman about media coming under fire reporting the war in Gaz...

Major news media outfits have cut back in the regions in recent years. That doesn't just leave locals worse off - it also means all New Zealanders miss out on important ideas, events and perspectives. But even though the media's margins are tight, intrepid publishers and people are still doing the business there. Mediawatch checks in on Whanganui to find out how their media are doing - and how the...

Covering news from all over the country is a struggle for media companies dealing with rising costs and falling revenues. But some local outlets are surviving - and even thriving. Mediawatch's Hayden Donnel finds out who's doing the business in Whanganui - and how they're doing it. In a time when major media organisations are cutting back in the regions, reporters are thin on the ground and there&...

Midweek Mediawatch - Colin Peacock talks to Mark Leishman about the media's mounting problems covering the crisis in Gaza and Israel; TVNZ under pressure over compromised confidentiality; the PM talking policy on The Rock - and rugby pundits reacting badly to the way the World Cup's panned out. Midweek Mediawatch - Mediawatch's weekly catch-up with Nights. Colin Peacock talks to Mark Leishman...

Our new political leaders got off on the wrong foot this week with the political press pack by keeping them at arm's length over their negotiations to from the new government. Was this a genuine media freedom issue with the interests of the public at stake? Or just a bit of collective posturing to pressure the politicians? Our new political leaders got off on the wrong foot this week, with the pol...

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 go...

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....

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 Medi...

Mediawatch looks back on how the media covered a long, long campaign - and how election night played out across the media after the polls finally closed on Saturday. Hayden Donnell in Auckland - and special guest Robbie Nicol (host of RNZ's politics series The Citizens Handbook) joined Colin Peacock for live RNZ National election coverage special on Sunday morning. Mediawatch looks back on how the...

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 h...

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...

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...

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 ar...

Media shift blame for misleading tax policy headlines; political parties' policies for the media; Rupert Murdoch steps down and starts up the succession - or does he? 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 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 Sh...

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 pe...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...