One of the political creeds I live by is “Anything The Market Can Do, The State Can Do Better”.
This was short-circuited recently by an associate, who pointed out that state broadcasting was responsible for the abomination that is Seven Sharp … while privately owned MediaWorks gave us the absolutely awesome Campbell Live.
And while for some in(s)ane reason, the Seven Sharp experiment appears to have produced commercial dividends for the public sector (netting upwards of half a million viewers a night mid-way through last year) … not only is Campbell’s audience remarkably loyal (with a viewership that’s remained steady at the quarter-of-a-million mark despite the Seven Sharp onslaught); but, as TV3’s Mark Jennings puts it “In terms of breaking stories and creating change in this country, Campbell Live wins by a mile. Seven Sharp is not even in the same race.”
That’s why Campbell Live is so important. Because it’s NOT just another post-6pm-news attention sucker.
Instead, it’s one of our last remaining “traditional-media” examples of that dying breed: the Crusading Investigative Journalist.
Who else could have held the Prime Minister to account on the GCSB bill; shone a spotlight on Simon Bridges over deep sea oil drilling (or, for that matter, kept something approaching a straight face when Bridges referred to the endangered Maui Dolphin as a species of “fish“); dragged Peter Dunne into Naenae to personally witness the havoc his Legal Highs law was creating; and tirelessly crusaded in favour of the “Feed the Kids” bill into the bargain.
With a record of holding the politically powerful to account like that, it’s perhaps little wonder that experienced pundits like Damien Christie are speculating that the decision to ditch Campbell faster than Natalia Kills might have something to do with the government’s massive cash-injection to MediaWorks less than 24 hours before...
I’m by no means ill-favourably disposed toward Jono & Ben (they do, after all, give Winston frequent awesome exposure) … but the very idea that John Campbell could be meaningfully replaced with something more “infotainmenty” – with, given Jono & Ben are the purported supplement, the emphasis placed quite firmly on the “tainmenty” – is quite frankly ludicrous.
Even Jono & Ben themselves are pouring cold water on it, posting to Facebook last night that the first they’d heard of their impending promotion was yesterday’s NZ Herald article; and further clarifying for good measure that “the only thing Jono wants from John Campbell is [his] marvelous head of hair”.
Still, it could be worse … MediaWorks could have volunteered the 7pm timeslot to Paul Henry!
My own disdain for questionably thought-out hashtaggery as a form of activism in defence of journalists is already reasonably well-known … but with Campbell’s status as a public institution foremost and firmly in mind, I look forward to much of the New Zealand politisphere joining with me in saying:
#JeSuisCampbell
Because despite his epic efforts with both #FeedTheKids and feeding John Key to the lions, prime-time broadcasting is about MORE than just Bread & Circuses.
“This was short-circuited recently by an associate, who pointed out that state broadcasting was responsible for the abomination that is Seven Sharp … while privately owned MediaWorks gave us the absolutely awesome Campbell Live.”
That argument doesn’t really work because while TV One is owned by the government it has to make a profit for it so is in fact a commercial entity owned by the government. To make matters worse, it can easily be manipulated by the government of the day, so it gets the worst of both worlds.
Sacking John Campbell reminds me of the sacking of Judy Bailey all those years ago ,TV has never been the same since.
When I went overseas the thing about returning I really appreciated was seeing the news with Judy Baily ,then I knew I was home.
Coming home now to see Henry and Rawden Christie would induce a state of depression .Well done Weldon get rid of the good people all we have left are National trolls.
Weldon is in the same space as Paula Rebstock, both rewarded for screwing the people of NZ with jobs and board positions. Key can leave now ,Rebstock and Weldon can take over they know all the sly moves, and would obey the corporations as KEY has ,not forgetting Joyce, he will get his reward as a parting gift a SIRship .creeps the lot of them .
If you think the state can do better than the market I suggest you should leave the cloud cuckoo land of left wing student politics, join the real world and work in the private sector. You might also in your spare time read about the failure that is communism, a political system in which the state owned and ran everything.
Stephen? Joyce?
JeSuisCampbell? C’mon now Hosking thinks he is JeSus! (Well God at least. )
I suspect that this may be the plan. TV3 make noises about Jono & Ben getting the Campbell live slot, then “compromise” by giving it to Henry. Thus maintaining a newsish appearance to the time slot, and seeming to listen to the viewing public.
Excellent analysis, Curwen!
Make that +8
My thought processes and well being have been immensely improved since I have moth balled the TV set in our house.
True that Curwen
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