TVNZ Crisis

First it was Warner Bros. Discovery announcing the closure of New Zealand's TV3 news department; now state owned TVNZ are about to make major cuts to their news section.

Hah, brilliant, these people conspired against the people, now they're about to lose their jobs, well, boohoo, they'll get no sympathy from me.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/501094/tvnz-results-show-steep-drop-in-profit

Fresh Faces: New Zealand TV News Presenters

In general I don't hold out much hope for the mainstream media free-to-air TV news. However, two people in New Zealand that I can stand to watch are Jenny Suo who reads the news at 10:30pm on TV1, while Oriini Kaipara can often be seen reading the news at 4:30pm over on TV3. 

They don't get everything right, sometimes both mispronounce words. Recently, I heard Ms Kaipara refer to Hanmer Springs as Hamner Springs. That grated a little. Another common mistake presenters make is calling the Cawthron Institute, Cawthorn. Grr. But the two at least try to sound clear, and slow down to say each word. Quite often, these days presenters enunciate just a slurry of flubber, you'd be lucky to know what was being said. They must have their mouths full of marbles while speaking. So, with these two there is hope, we just need both channels to start reporting fact instead of government propaganda.

Rob Campbell on Q&A

TVNZ's Q&A had Rob Campbell on this morning; I thought, oh dear, New Zealand has to be in real trouble if Rob Campbell has emerged from his cave and is speaking out. 

Many NZers will only know Campbell from his current role as a professional director. But in a previous life he was a Labour party stalwart and union boss. He's a graduate in economics and seen a lot. That said, he's basically saying; New Zealand is jiggered. He talked of there being no plan, and that the government is not harnessing the resources of business sectors. One could say, that's because Labour are now trying to destroy business. 

He did suggest, if you listen carefully, that tourism may never recover. This effectively turns Queenstown into a ghost town. Add to that Wanaka, Franz Josef and Te Anau. 

Some may have missed his reference to the problem of relying on the one thing. I agree with this although he was far too polite. NZ is dangerously reliant on a very shallow base. Shallow in terms of breadth and depth. Today, NZ consists of cafes and bars (which are now endangered species) and farmers below them. Between the two, from producers to services, there is very little for the country to hang its hat on. NZ has very clever people but the government is so myopic, and I'd add functionally illiterate and innumerate when I say this, that the country has been whittled away to nothing. I equate NZ to a logging company that has made so many cuts it's now down to one chainsaw but thinks this clever. Clearly you've got serious trouble when that one chainsaw breaks down. Right now, NZ's chainsaw is spluttering. 

We are standing right at the edge of the cliff folks. One more step and that's it, NZ falls over the edge.

Climate Strike

The event is planned for March 15, 2019. Supposedly this event is being organised by school children without the endorsement of schools. In New Zealand at least; who is really behind the planning for this event? What are their politics exactly and what are their credentials for safely managing a nationwide campaign?

I've noticed a decided lack of information about this. I don't believe for one minute that children are capable of organising a nationwide political campaign. The children are being used as pawns. Disgraceful.

Are valuable learnings possible? As things stand there is no valuable lesson as schools are not on board with it. Without classroom time examining all the angles of the debate, the whole exercise amounts to brainwashing.

The media has been complicit in this brainwashing. We need to know who the adults are behind this event and who is to be held accountable if anything goes wrong. Media, start being the professionals you claim to be.