Author Archive

Louise Mensch right wing vixen part 2

I mentioned UK Tory MP Louise Mensch in July applauding her handling of a blackmail attempt. Here’s a profile from The Guardian‘s Decca Aitkenhead Louise Mensch: ‘We’re not all ogres’ which is very interesting for similar reasons, and more… We were still swooning at her brio when rioting broke out across Britain and she made [...]

Blogger not news media … continued

A leaked instruction manual for a cell phone has led to this: Judge: Blogger not a reporter, must turn over information-Chicago Tribune A spokesman for the blog, which has a staff of writers and editors, said the case is the first time in Illinois a judge has been asked to rule whether a blogger is [...]

When hyper-linking gets in the way

From a good article Why Christian Science Monitor stories have too many links, wrong ones by Justin Martin writing at Poynter: A visible link in a news story is a caesura, a stoppage that forces a cognitive pause. The word “caesura” is a poetry term and, just as in poetic writing, literary pauses must be [...]

Lack of truthtelling devastates media, old & new

Forget (for now) the place of unwanted ‘opinion’ in ‘news’ (or somewhere near by) — there’s a bigger issue at stake in modern media … whether (or not!) to call out politicians and other newsmakers for false statements they make. As noted elsewhere, I am troubled by political activists and proxies masquerading (or fancying themselves) as [...]

Mealy-mouthed

Heard on Radio NZ National’s World Watch this afternoon: “There’s strong evidence to suggest the worst of the eurozone crisis could be over…” Crikey. Ya reckon? How to say something without really saying anything or committing yourself. Shoot me (joke) if I write something so equivocal. Please. It’s almost as bad as hyperbolic self-promotion. – [...]

Attacking Mitt Romney

Look at this attack ad aimed at US Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney (below the fold) with NO mention of who its producers and publishers actually support. It’s just a smear of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (vomit) ilk. We don’t have a lot of this type of political advertising in NZ … do we? [...]

A new song from Leonard Cohen

The Darkness — by Leonard Cohen from his upcoming new album Old Ideas For me, Leonard Cohen is an example of someone who produces life-affirming inspiration from behind the cloud of a life blighted by bouts of depression. Good on him. I’ve been listening to his music all summer in my car. More here: Leonard [...]

Liars can be truthful?

The weakest part of Piers Morgan’s attempted refutation of his former employee’s allegations that he (Morgan) must have known about phone hacking at the Daily Mirror while he was editor … Morgan, 46, has already dismissed Hipwell’s claims as the “unsubstantiated allegations of a liar and convicted criminal.” Trinity Mirror Group lawyer Desmond Browne also [...]

Just like ol’ times — NZ Herald tells us what we’re interested in

This from the NZ Herald earlier this week: Wednesday’s article “How to get RICH — 10 steps to becoming a millionaire” (written by a freelance writer whose net worth isn’t stated) is sooo reminiscent of the boom days and the breathlessness of the pursuit of money. And we can see how that worked out. Question: [...]

Denouement of Dean Letfus

This has been a slow train coming down the track, and I take no pleasure in recording it. Almost a year after the wheels fell off the Shaun Stenning-Dean Letfus-Steve Goodey hyperbole machine, reality is sinking in with attendant finger-pointing and blame shifting. As you will see if you care to follow discussion and comments [...]