Now the MediaWorks management have killed off Campbell Live for political reasons and because they tired of his ‘crusades’ like child poverty, the Pike River Mine tragedy, mass surveillance lies, Christchurch rebuild and Novopay, ethical media consumers need fro boycott TV3.
This is sad because there are genuinely some amazing people and programmes of TV3 that I will sadly miss, there are also some I have no problem missing. Now we know this…
“We put news on, but only because it rates. And we sell advertising around news. This is what this is all about.”
…that was MediaWorks Chairman Rod McGeoch, explaining why MediaWorks has all the journalistic ethical standards of a porn web site. Seeing as this company has been given so much corporate welfare by Key’s Government (Steven Joyce previously owned MediaWorks) they have an obligation to us as citizens before their vulture fund stock holders. Seeing as they aren’t holding up their side of the bargain by being a fourth estate that holds the powerful to account, they don’t get my eyeballs ever again.
So.
Things I will miss boycotting TV3
- Paula Penfold on 3rd Degree – easily one of the best investigative Journalists in NZ, her tenacity to fight for Teina Pora’s innocence is the sort of Journalism that requires courage and guts. She went up against an alpha male Police force that can never admit they are wrong and won.
- Mike McRoberts – Quite simply one of the best news reporters in NZ. He’s not just some wooden mouthpiece, he’s actually a journalist. If Mike says it, it’s true. A great man with real integrity.
- Hillary Barry – Best news reader in NZ. Her empathy, understanding and intelligence will be missed on my screens. Michael Laws terrible slagging off of her for showing real emotion when Campbell Live was announced as dead proves once and for all what a sad little arsehole Michael Laws really is.
- Jono and Ben – I was really enjoying their show, it’s actually very funny. Guy Williams and Rose Matafeo are two of the funniest comedians on NZ screens right now.
- David Farrier – I’m really sad I won’t even be able to see his new show as he’s one of the best new broadcasters this country has.
Things I won’t miss
- The Nation – Now we know that management are politically motivated towards the right and that news is just a ratings playground, The Nation is put in perspective as just a right wing echo chamber for MediaWorks bosses. I won’t lose sleep boycotting this.
- Patrick Gower – Watching a homicidal chipmunk on meth machine gun anything worthwhile and progressive and pretend it’s political journalism won’t cost me any sleep.
- Whatever they replace Campbell Live with – Words fail me to describe the contempt I will view whatever they replace Campbell Live with.
- The Paul Henry morning circle jerk session – It’s failing so badly in the ratings and that’s despite the mass promotion MediaWorks have given it.
Now I hasten to note that just because I won’t be watching TV3 any longer that this means I will be watching TVNZ. It doesn’t. I’ll be switching onto Maori TV first before I try anything else as their comedy shows are smarter, and Native Affairs is the last real current affairs show on TV.
If we want better than wall to wall right wing fanatics explaining why the poor deserve contempt we must impress upon the Opposition parties a real need for public broadcasting and we must become far more specific with the media we choose to consume.
Vote with your remote.
You can join the boycott TV3 Facebook page here.
But they (TV3) won’t know you’re NOT watching, will they (other than the claim you have made publically here)? The ratings work with I think are just 1,000 people meters in selected homes. If you’re not being monitored with what you’re watching then watching it or not won’t make a jot of difference to the perceived ratings.
totally agree with ‘the things I’ll miss’ and ‘the things I won’t miss’ as well as the excellent reasons why. After Campbell Live last night, I turned off the tv and I too will not be turning it back on to tv3
Hillary is funny with Paul Henry. And you can cheat and still listen to both Breakfast, and the 6pm news on the radio.
Watching the Paul Henry Show is the equivalent of being bailed up by the biggest, smarmiest boar at a relative’s party who you can only escape by feigning a trip to the loo, the only person who was looking forward to his breakfast show (who is in her 90s so some leeway for cognitive degeneration) is no longer watching and the only reason I can think that he keeps paying to give him viewer time is that the management are the same as him.
.
I wouldn’t mind betting newsreaders Mike McRoberts and possibly Hillary Barry could be next in line for the chop. The excuse likely to be, they don’t fit in with the new MediaWorks/TV3 profile and style!
The new MediaWorks management lineup obviously don’t appreciate professionalism and quality in its broadcasting personnel! Letting one of the best journalists in NZ go, John Campbell, is proof enough of this point!
I disagree with McRoberts/Barry’s impending departure. There is commentator belief that TV3 news is not rating well because Mediaworks lost some Aussie soap opera just prior to the news. But in my view TV3 news was just plain garbage anyway and getting worse. If I want the corporates view on the world and how us Proles are meant to see it I’ll subscribe to the NBR.
I cannot be arsed with stories that are supposed to pull on my heart strings with lilting voiced “reporters”,or the wooden Fox imitation presenters. It’s largely low rent reality TV masquerading as news. Both Garner (when he was on there) and Gower’s love of the National Party was the last straw and I gave up years ago. Having said that I also gave up on TVNZ’s news and free to air channels altogether too.
We deleted TVKey from our freeview, and we won’t be going to ONE either as it’s as bad.
Actually I’m not sure why we still have it.
Oh get over yourself
Hi Martyn,
I feel your pain mate,
Why don’t all your stable of REAL Journo’s get together and start your own channel mate?
NZ needs you to reconstruct TV 7 style again as the dumb opposition Parties appear to have their fingers up their arse!
They don’t even want (it seems) to get together to care to fight to save our crumbling free speech media.
So it’s up to you guys who we know want to badly get back on the TV networks to continue your fabulous work for al of us and our collective future.
Get a Journalist conference going and organise a global fund raising please and we will chip in.
Not a bad point Cleangreen. Give it a go. I will either be a success or total failure. Would be really interesting to see what sort of support it got.
tv is a sun set industry
why watch keytv when you can watch max keiser Armageddon on speed and
open source projects signal the end game for the sun set media.
the standard and daily blog make better reading than keynewspaper as can be seen from Fairfax laying off staff again another sunset industry
I get the emotion here, but surely showing your support for 3 News and their other current affairs programming is the best way to show TV3 management that there is a real demand for quality journalism?
And it’s like as other commentators have said, you can feel free to watch anything you want, if you don’t have a ratings box they have no idea you’re watching…
But we now know the management’s view on news as simply a ratings game with no real value towards 4th estate obligations. So why support that? Those journalists can be as good as they like but with bosses getting ‘tired’ of crusades like Pike River, child poverty, Novopay, Chch rebuild and mass surveillance lies then it will be news that is entertainment and not actually news. Far better we boycott and put our energies in becoming our own news platform than give the American vulture fund holders a single cent more
“Far better we boycott and put our energies in becoming our own news platform”…. I though that was what I agreed with 5 posts above, and all I got was negatives.
I feel bad for David Farrier and the handful of normal, nice professionals on the frontlines at TV3.
In all good conscience, I won’t be watching anymore. There has to be consequences for what they did – not only to John Campbell, but for their other politically motivated shenanigans.
It’s un-Kiwi.
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