Sentencing the Christchurch mosque terrorist

In the latter part of last year the New Zealand Law Journal published a four-part paper on ground-breaking processes introduced for the sentencing of the Christchurch mosque gunman in 2020.

The paper, which I co-authored with Dr Denis Muller of Melbourne University, found that high levels of institutional trust between New Zealand media organisations and the justice system were instrumental in denying the terrorist any opportunity to use the proceedings as a soapbox for white supremacist beliefs.

The paper has been subject to a six-month copyright stand-down period required by the New Zealand Law Journal’s publisher. That restriction no longer applies to Part 1 and you can access it below. The remaining parts will be posted at the beginning of March, April and May.

Justice, the media, and the Christchurch mosque terrorist Part 1

Flair and loathing on the front page

My review of Part 1 of veteran journalist Jim Tucker’s memoir Flair and loathing on the front page has been published in the Pacific Journalism Review. (click for link)

Social media: Kid gloves or boxing gloves?

The Australian government is taking a tough line with social media companies like Google and Facebook over use of local news content. New Zealand is taking a softer line. I examine the moves on both sides of the Tasman on Auckland University’s The Big Q. Here is a link to the article: https://publicinterestmedia.blogs.auckland.ac.nz/2020/05/26/are-google-and-facebook-taking-new-zealand-for-a-ride-a-trans-tasman-divide-on-social-media/

We need balance in media ecosystem

A companion article to the submission I made this week to Parliament’s Epidemic Response Select Committee has been posted on The Democracy Project website. In it I call for a balanced approach to the preservation of the New Zealand media ecosystem. We need strong public AND private sector news organisations. Here is the link The Democracy Project