Enduring memories of lost comrades-in-arms

Last week I lost another former colleague, one who contributed so much to his adopted land.

Rod Oram was an outstanding business and environmental journalist who taught many of us about the consequences of climate change.

His death while cycling in Auckland’s Ambury Park was widely reported and well-deserved tributes flowed. Fellow Newsroom journalist Tim Murphy said: “His ambitious, high-calibre journalism set the new business section [of the New Zealand Herald] apart and in some ways changed the face of corporate and economic reporting in that era.” I agree. I was immensely proud of what Rod and his Business Herald staff accomplished when I was the paper’s editor.

I also agree with what many said elsewhere in recognition of his contributions to the environment and sustainability.

Rod was a kind and generous man and his name will live in the memories of all of us who worked with him or engaged with him in the course of a hugely productive career. His enduring legacy will be in the people he persuaded to think about sustainability and the impact of humanity on an age where our presence is so significant it has been named after us ­– the Anthropocene.

After I had recovered from the initial shock of the news of the death of someone who had positively radiated good health, I began to reflect on legacy. Continue reading “Enduring memories of lost comrades-in-arms” →

Kensington Palace’s family snap did the world a great service

It was one hell of a way to do it, but Kensington Palace did society a huge favour by releasing a digitally altered photograph of the Princess of Wales and her children.

The photograph – distributed then withdrawn by picture agencies around the world – may have finally brought home to the general public the fact that they can no longer take ‘reality’ for granted. And it sent a message to the media-knocking public that charges should not always be laid at the feet of journalists.

The amateurish nature of the manipulation (I doubt the palace has the latest version of Photoshop) made it easy for the public to see that the picture of the family had been altered. Poor Prince Louis appears to have had a terrible accident to his right hand. Princess Charlotte’s wrist appears to have suffered a nasty sideways fracture. And shock, horror: Kate’s wedding ring seems to be missing. Continue reading “Kensington Palace’s family snap did the world a great service” →

Where will consumers turn to get a fair go?

If I were planning to set up a shonky, shady business to rip off consumers (and I assure you that would be entirely out of character) I would wait until Fair Go ceases broadcasting.

The programme that has been protecting the rights of consumers for 47 years faces the axe under the cuts announced last week by Television New Zealand although its staff – characteristically and courageously – will not admit defeat until they are deep into the Valley of Death.

It is unlikely that it will stay as part of the TVNZ inventory. There may be a faint hope that the format could be sold to another media entity but TV3 is out of the question given the imminent demise of its entire news and current affairs offering. Stuff and the New Zealand Herald could pick it up for streaming on their websites as could Sky but each possibility must be seen as unlikely in the current financial climate. It carries the added burden of being inherently local and therefore not attractive to a streaming service looking to maximise its value on the international market.

So, barring miracles such as a financial rescue package from the coalition government, Fair Go is destined to disappear.

I will mourn its passing not so much because it came so close to racking up the magic half-century but because New Zealand will lose a unique form of consumer power. Continue reading “Where will consumers turn to get a fair go?” →

Newshub bell is tolling but who can hear it?

I had two visions when the imminent demise of Newshub was announced last week. One was comical and the other spiritual. Both carried a message.

The initial government reaction to the news that a significant portion of the country’s journalism could disappear at the end of June was comical. It brought to mind the Black Knight scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail when King Arthur cleaves the knight’s limbs from his body, and the knight responds: “Tis but a scratch!”

It came to mind because neither Prime Minister Christopher Luxon nor his communications minister Melissa Lee seemed to grasp the significance of a decision made in New York that will reduce this country to one mainstream – and state owned – television news service and take out a sizeable percentage of New Zealand’s journalists and news crew.

Lee suggested there was plenty more where that came from, and the prime minister fell back on his lexicon of business school phrases, the most dismissive of which is ‘market forces’.

Coalition partner David Seymour brought only confusion to the table with his suggestion on how to even out those market forces. His solution – the logic of which escapes me – was to look at making the loss-making TVNZ pay a dividend. And the opposition had no meaningful suggestions either.

Only the other coalition partner Winston Peters seemed to grasp the impact that such a culling would have on a functioning democracy. Given Mr Peters’ long-standing combativeness toward journalists and their employers, he couldn’t resist an after-thought on media ‘wokeness’. Nonetheless, his recognition of the impact on democracy was a welcome reality check. Continue reading “Newshub bell is tolling but who can hear it?” →