American Fissures
Recently, upon arriving in Eugene, Oregon a taxi driver told me a story which sums up America`s incivility today. A prospective customer, with avowed pro-Trump sentiments was about to enter the vehicle. When the driver, part Hispanic but Caucasian looking, gave an opposite view the customer walked away. Avoiding the company of an anti-Trump liberal was well worth the inconvenience of a delayed journey.
Read More →Happy 200th Birthday Karl Marx
May the fifth marks the 200th birthday of Karl Marx – philosopher, political economist and revolutionary. A few days before the celebrations begin he granted this extraordinary interview at an unnamed ale house in Auckland.
Read More →MUST READ: Yes it could happen here. Facebook, Cambridge Analytica & the poisoning of electoral democracy
Under MMP our small voting public effectively constitutes a single manipulable seat. The psychographic dispositions of swing voters could be identified , targeted and manipulated without difficulty. Certain offshore and resident billionaires could easily meet campaign research expenses and hide their contributions behind blind trusts. In place of Cambridge Analytica would be another similar organisation with a friendlier sounding name. Election campaigns centred around the issues of tax, national sovereignty and/or oil, gas and coal exploration would certainly draw the attention of the one-percenters .
Read More →MUST READ: “This is a state of emergency” – New Zealand at the Turning Point
This is a state of emergency. If only piecemeal measures are contemplated and if the structural underpinnings of wealth polarisation are not recognised, our county`s future is bleak . Slums on the edges of our major cities, prison riots, civil unrest and a secluded one per cent contributing to charities but secretly blaming the poor for their plight.
Read More →New Zealand media ownership: History and obfuscation
This year’s New Zealand Media Ownership report written by Merja Myllylahti and published by the Journalism, Media and Democracy research centre (JMAD) recounts how two attempted mergers failed. The Sky TV–Vodafone and NZME–Fairfax mergers were prevented by the Commerce Commission (in the latter case an appeal is before the High Court). These events are of […]
Read More →New Zealand Media Ownership : why it matters
The general results have been catastrophic for those committed to public sphere principles. Newsrooms contracted, news content thinned out, and current affairs journalism disappeared from prime time television. We have here an over bearing convergence of finance, political and media culture which obscures the issues of media ownership.
Read More →SPECIAL INVESTIGATION: Fraud, class and the media: the Metiria Turei controversy
Research by Associate Professor Lisa Marriot from Victoria University reveals that 5 per cent of welfare recipients are investigated compared to .01 per cent of taxpayers. Welfare fraud attracts 800-1000 criminal prosecutions a year compared to 60-80 for tax fraud. Of tax dodgers whose offending reaches about $270,000, 18 per cent will be jailed. Of those welfare fraudsters who have obtained around $70,000, 67 per cent can expect jail time
Read More →5 lessons we learnt from the British election result
Tony Blair`s dismissal of Labour`s election chances was entirely misplaced. Jeremy Corbyn increased Labour`s vote share by more than any leader since 1945. Labour received more votes in England than in Tony Blair`s landslide win of 1997. The success of Labour`s campaign slogan `For the many not the few` retrospectively exposed the vacuity of Tony Blair`s `third way` ideology.
Read More →Spin-off outsmarted: Why the NZME -Fairfax merger decision is essentially correct
Predictably, opposition to the Commerce Commission`s decision came from Fairfax and NZME; their own submissions had argued strenuously for a merger go-ahead. Accordingly, the New Zealand Herald`s May 5 editorial was entitled `Blocking this merger is a big mistake.`
Less predictably, Duncan Greive on `Spin-Off` was even more virulently opposed to the Commerce Commission`s decision.
I expected a more considered argument from an on-line magazine which is said to employ `some of New Zealand`s best non-fiction writers to create smart, shareable content`.
Read More →STAKE YOUR CLAIM – A review of Nicky Hager and Jon Stephenson’s Hit and Run
The construction of this book was a painstaking and dangerous enterprise. John Stephenson risked life and limb by returning to the villages and interviewing survivors, and assembling the family trees of the dead and wounded. Empty shell casings from Apache helicopter cannon rounds were collected and photographed. A series of locally sourced stories from the Pajhwok News Agency, pointing to civilian deaths and casualties were filed. And, as mentioned earlier, a locally documented list of the dead and wounded was obtained and photocopied. By triangulating this material with the admissions of anonymous sources throughout the SAS and NZDF, Hager and Stephenson have built a powerful case.
Read More →Trump, Time and History
The two and a half weeks since Donald Trump`s inauguration seem longer. Does anybody else have the uneasy feeling that we are six or so months into the first term? If so then welcome to this blog. What follows is an interim depiction of Donald Trump as President through the lens of time and history.
Read More →Keeping Up Appearances: The verdict on John Key and the NZ Listener’s adoration of him
If the appearances of a leader are taken on trust by influential commentators and the general populace, then mythology will prevail. History will be fabricated rather than examined. The three widely propagated myths about John Key are; that he was not really ideological, he occupied the political centre and that he left no legacy.
Read More →`I’m comfortable with that’ A review of Gavin Ellis` ‘Complacent Nation’
Census figures reveal that the number of print, radio and television journalists fell from 2,214 to 1,170 between 2006 and 2013. Ellis notes that remaining journalists must respond to print, broadcasting and digital platforms as news budgets contract. Unsurprisingly, tabloid news values have predominated. Ellis` front page,weekday survey of five metropolitan dailies (during January 2014) showed that 60 per cent of the New Zealand Herald`s lead stories were about crime or emergencies.
Read More →Whither England – the real Brexit
At present, the Westminster system protects a directionless political class, landed`gentry`, corporate elites and the city of London. Meanwhile a dysfunctional EU awaits the next financial crisis as the United Kingdom slowly unravels.
Read More →One Party Media
“Newstalk ZB, Radio Live’s Sean Plunkett and TV3’s Paul Henry operate like mini Fox News outlets reproducing the neoliberal outlooks and prejudices of the Party”
Read More →Blood, sweat and IPhones a review of `Cyber-proleteriat : global labour in the digital vortex` by Nick Dyer-Witheford
It is now evident that information and communication technologies (ICTs) are central to global capitalism.
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