Author Archive
Politicians and the media
Richard Nixon on “outrageous, vicious, distorted reporting” from Oct. 26, 1973 Press Conference (days after the Saturday Night Massacre) … reminds me of something. But I can’t quite put my finger on it. -P
Always try to be the one to write the contract
Those in the news media undertaking scrutiny of the New Zealand coalition government’s unpopular* state-owned asset sales/partial privatisation (your choice) programme will, naturally, look for ‘fish hooks and broken glass’ and clauses like this … and write headlines like Vernon Small’s Loophole allows sale of over 49pc A democracy depends on it. *I say ‘unpopular’ […]
Danger of dogma
Following our protracted discussion on conservatism and liberalism (for want of better labels)— and differing levels of willingness by adherents to validate the values of ‘The Other’ … by coincidence, here’s William F Buckley on what Andrew Sullivan calls ‘the Danger of Political Dogma’. From a brilliant article What William F. Buckley Would Think of […]
The web: almighty humbler of power, or useful tool?
Worth a read: this brief article by Dan Zak at The Washington Post Woodward and Bernstein: Could the Web generation uncover a Watergate-type scandal? discussing how a ubiquitous internet has so seized the world-view of even bright people that they think journalistic ‘sleuthing’ can be done online and that no corrupt power can but kneel […]
Bank sugar coats price-fixing penalty as ‘rebate’
‘Spin’ (bending reality), is not a phenomenon just confined to politics. At the risk of being accused of ‘looking a gift horse in the mouth’, here’s a fine example: Yesterday I saw this letter which looks like a kind gesture from the BNZ — telling ‘small business owners’ who are credit card merchants about the […]
Entering the ‘monolithic, exclusionary, activist liberal media’ lion’s den
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c Good Morning Real America www.thedailyshow.com Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog The Daily Show on Facebook “Oooh, [Sarah Palin is] ‘infiltrating’ the Today Show. I think it means [Palin] is cynically exploiting a manufactured notion of herself as a crusader […]
Hitchcock’s ‘Rear Window’ panorama
Following my own recent humble stumblings in time-lapse photography, here … Via Jason Kottke, this stitched together time-lapse panorama of the scene outside the window of Hitchcock’s classic film is, apparently, accurate. Wow. Follow the link on Jason’s site to the ‘how this was made’ page. Extraordinary. -P
For the record: Teapot tapes media audit clears ‘pond scum’
Herald on Sunday journo Jonathan Milne’s narrative of how the ‘cup of tea’ media stunt got recorded and the actions following is a must-read (if you care). See: Findings not quite Key’s cup of tea (NZ Herald) Read it. Seriously. (Ignore the 1 April dateline.) In the same paper, I noted that broadcaster Mike Hosking […]
Richard Nixon’s resignation letter
I had not seen this image before. A little piece of political history. via Reg Braithwaite (It seems genuine.) See my quote of Hunter S Thompson’s Nixon obit in this post: Gonzo – P
Loyalty, engagement and criticism
Andrew Sullivan is a writer I respect. And that’s for a lot of reasons, whether I agree with everything he says or not. Elements of his ‘The Daily Dish‘ blog have been widely copied by the less imaginative* (Mental Health Break, Face of the Day, Quote of the Day, Tweet of the Week, blog ‘awards’) […]
Killer whale submarine
From Mashable, number 1 on their list of things you could buy if you won the lottery … Made me chuckle. 1. Personal Killer Whale Submarine Price: $100,000 What does it do?: If you won the lottery, why not jump into a 17-foot watercraft that resembles a killer whale? The submarine can travel underwater at […]
So, who is Simon Lusk?
Scratch this one down to idle curiosity: I’m seeing Simon Lusk‘s name bandied about in Parliament, in the media and on the interwebs. He’s a fairly low-key chap, apparently, who works as some sort of campaign manager/political careers advisor/ninja for various ‘players’ (or wannabe players) on the right of politics in New Zealand. A blogger […]
