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.
Read More →Wealth, inheritance and inter-generational conflict
The ‘one percenters’ must be enjoying the spectacle of young adults fighting baby boomers for the privileges of a diminishing middle class lifestyle. Unfortunately, the inter-generational conflict frame pervades many conventional analyses of social inequality.
Read More →Bernie versus Wall Street
In Washington the finance lobby is more powerful than big Oil, big Pharma and Hollywood. In the Federal Reserve senior positions are occupied by alumini from Goldman Sachs and other major investment banks. And, Hilary Clinton, like her husband, is not going to upset these people.
Read More →MUST READ – Flagging the TPPA
In the middle of the anti-TPPA march down Queen street was a stooped pakeha woman carrying the New Zealand flag. A few paces in front, groups of Maori marched under the Tino rangitiratanga ensign. These domestically opposed symbols of national identity were,for the moment, standing together against a common threat – the transnational corporation.
Read More →The Cost of Living: A review of Thomas Owen’s ‘Patents, Pills and the Press’
Hidden within the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement is a longstanding conflict between pharmaceutical corporations and health activists over the availability of generic medicines.
Read More →Media Ownership in New Zealand : 2015
For those wondering why our quality of journalism has declined ,and why current affairs television has disappeared amidst a deluge of `reality` shows, tabloid pap and advertising, help is on its way. As co-director of a research centre entitled Journalism, Media and Democracy (JMAD) I announce the publication of our 2015 New Zealand Media Ownership report.
Read More →Don`t take the knighthood Richie
Don`t accept the knighthood Richie ,your extraordinary accomplishments and those of the team speak for themselves , they require no further adornment.
Read More →Global Capitalism, national democracy and the TPPA
The TPPA matches the desire of transnational corporations to hollow out national economies, polities and legal systems. Signatories to the agreement are in effect answerable to organisations of the transnational state at the expense of national populations.
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