As someone who has produced independent TV in this country, I look at the $700 000 that was pissed against the wall here and shake my head in disgust. I consider how we at Waatea Māori Radio managed to make a 5 night a week, 7pm Current Affairs show that led the agenda for 7 months for a mere $20k per month and then stare at this SpinOff TV abortion in horror.
With global economic recessions looming and the existential threat of climate change – we need a town square on public broadcasting platforms that includes rather than splinter and divides in social media echo chambers.
I get the Troll Farm at the NZ Herald need to churn out hate against the Left every day, but deciphering scribbles and criticising a Minister for not participating in a process he’s not allowed to participate in is pretty desperate even for the Troll Farm.
The show plays late at night on a Friday, if you are at home and choosing to watch this, you need a hug and an intervention, not the God Squad playing TV Guide monitor.
When his wife isn’t complaining about prisoners not being beaten with rubber hoses and waterboarded, Trump defender and NZs answer to what would you get if Piers Morgan and a meth smoking scorpion had a baby, Mike Hosking, is at the NZ Herald Troll Farm today complaining about a holiday he had in Hawaii.
We should show her views and those who champion vengeance over mercy the contempt they deserve, they have no enlightenment, just the boorish bruise of the very barbarism they claim to recoil from.
Apparently The Spinoffs “Gonzo reporting, scorching hot takes, and ruthless media analysis” – (that’s honestly a real quote, I’m not factiously making that up) – has gone down about as well as Donald Trump acting in a self written play performed at Silo Theatre during Pride Week.
Those who would weaponise difference and seed resentment require brutality, civility is a guard against that. I’m not saying turn the other cheek when a Nazi strikes you, confusing civility with refusing self-defence isn’t a solution, but by strangling off freedom of speech, we only add to their cause, we don’t counter it.
If people don’t believe in the justice system, they will turn to alternatives to find that justice, which in turn can easily become vigilantism. In an increasingly social media dominated environment, how can we differentiate between subjective belief and objective truth without due process?
When Reporters Without Borders chief Christophe Deloire introduced the Paris-based global media watchdog’s Asia-Pacific press freedom defenders – including from Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea – to his overview last week, it was grim listening.