Internet name suppression

You can read the full New Zealand Herald article here

Internet Censorship in China

The CNN summary of internet censorship in China can be found here

This Reuters story is both an interesting insight into what people actually use the internet for, and a useful example of how the internet is 'imagined" in mainstream media. You can read the full story here

Focus on Politics

In May, National Radio did a Focus on Politics piece on blogging and political parties' use of the internet more generally in election year. You can find it here.

The organisation of news

Rodney Hide's laying of a complaint against Winston Peters with the NZ Police is an excellent example of a politician utilising some of the aspects of news organisation that Sue was discussing in last week's lecture. Watch the One News report here and consider how Hide utilised news organisation.

NZ Election Coverage

For the take-home exam you will need to discuss media coverage of either the New Zealand elections, or the US presidential election. The NZ election can take place no later than Nov 15, and some of the major news organisations have begun packaging their political news as "election coverage". You can find blogs, archived footage, political analysis, and other media coverage at the following sites (this list will be updated regularly):

One News
3 News
New Zealand Herald

Online political blogging will also be an important feature of the campaigns (we will be discussing blogs in a few weeks). Some of the more well known NZ political blogs are:

kiwiblog (right)
Hard News (left)
No Right Turn (left)
frogblog (left: this is the Green Party's blog)

Asian Angst

The Press Council ruling on Deborah Coddington's "Asian Angst" article is available here.
Here is a NZ Herald article on the ruling. And Tze Ming Mok (one of the complainants, and a blogger on Public Address) has an archive regarding the case here.

The TVNZ charter

From the TVNZ site. There are links here to the charter itself, and to proposed revisions of it.

TVNZ Charter

Here are some links related to the TVNZ charter, which we will be looking at next week:

Nats would get rid of TVNZ Charter

5:00PM Monday July 07, 2008

Television New Zealand should be released from its charter obligations and have to compete for the associated funding with all other broadcasters, National Party broadcasting spokesman Jonathan Coleman said.

Dr Coleman released National's broadcasting policy today with the charter policy as its centrepiece.

Full story here
And further discussion here

And the One News coverage here

Advertising in the news?

From Ed Pilkington in The Guardian (23 July 2008)

US advertising: McMorning Las Vegas, here's the news

"The tentacle-like growth of clandestine advertising in American TV shows in the form of product placement has taken another controversial step with the introduction of McDonald's products into regional news programmes.

Several TV outlets have begun to sell the fast-food giant the right to place cups of its iced coffee on to the desks of news anchors as they present morning current affairs shows.

Typical is Fox 5 News in Las Vegas, an affiliate of Rupert Murdoch's Fox television network. Two cups of coffee, their cubes of ice glinting in the studio lights, now daily stand before the channel's morning presenters. The presenters conspicuously do not drink from the cups, which is just as well - the cups contain a bogus fluid and fake ice to prevent the cubes melting."

Read the full story here

TVNZ ondemand

There is archival footage of a wide range of TVNZ shows available here at their OnDemand site. This includes news footage and programmes aired on their freeview channels.

Media7 and the TVNZ charter

Media7 is a weekly media commentary programme on TVNZ's Freeview Channel 7.  It is hosted by Russell Brown, one of the country's best known media commentators.  Last week's episode featured a panel discussion on the TVNZ charter that those of you who are doing response papers on the topic will find useful.  We will be utilising Media7  throughout the course. Clips from previous episodes can be found here, and on their YouTube site here.  Russell Brown also has a blog here.

Tony Veitch and mediated apologies

Below are some links to coverage and discussions of Tony Veitch's alleged assault on his former partner, and some discussions of media coverage, and media responsibility.  

ONE News coverage of press conference

Close Up piece

Coverage from the Stuff website

Mediawatch

National Radio has a weekly media comment programme that often includes some excelllent media analysis. This week there is a discussion of the Tony Veitch story, amongst other things. Here is the podcast link.

Media Imagining the Media

Network and news promos are a useful site for examining how the media articulates its imagined relationship to us.  Here are some links you might find useful in preparing for your first tutorial.

7  (Australia)

3 News (NZ)

ONE News (NZ)

ONE News Weather (NZ)

BBC News website

BBC poll on press freedom

"World opinion is divided on the importance of having a free press, according to a poll conducted for the BBC World Service.

Of those interviewed, 56% thought that freedom of the press was very important to ensure a free society.

But 40% said it was more important to maintain social harmony and peace, even if it meant curbing the press's freedom to report news truthfully.

Pollsters interviewed 11,344 people in 14 countries for the survey.

In most of the 14 countries surveyed, press freedom (including broadcasting) was considered more important than social stability."

Read more

Government hearings about media ownership and concentration in the US

From Bill Moyers Journal on PBS in the US:

"On November 2, 2007, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin announced that the Commission would hold the sixth and final public hearing on media consolidation November 9, 2007 in Seattle, Washington. Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein blasted the Chairman's decision to give the public only five business days notice before the hearing: 'With such short notice, many people will be shut out ... This is outrageous and not how important media policy should be made.'

The Seattle hearing was contentious — reflecting the aptness Chairman Martin's opening words to the Seattle meeting:

'The decisions we will make about our ownership rules will be as difficult as they are critical. The media touches almost every aspect of our lives.'"

What is of particular concern here is the FCC's intention to lift the ban for the ownership of newspapers, television and radio and the distinct propsect that in many American cities the same company could own own media outlet.

Read more and watch the programme...

The future of news

A Frontline programme on the future of news:

"In a four-part special series, News War, FRONTLINE examines the political, cultural, legal, and economic forces challenging the news media today and how the press has reacted in turn. Through interviews with key figures in print, broadcast and electronic media over the past four decades -- and with unequaled, behind-the-scenes access to some of today's most important news organizations, FRONTLINE traces the recent history of American journalism, from the Nixon administration's attacks on the media to the post-Watergate popularity of the press, to the new challenges presented by the war on terror and other global forces now changing -- and challenging -- the role of the press in our society."

Read more and watch the program

NZ Blogger interviewed by Online Journalism Review

"OJR: For those of us who are not very familiar with New Zealand – could you describe the country's media landscape?

Stevenson: There are two major newspaper companies: APN News & Media, which owns our biggest paper, the New Zealand Herald, as well as half of the provincial newspapers; and Fairfax Media, which owns most of the rest. There are two major online websites: the New Zealand Herald site and stuff.co.nz. Recently, Fairfax Media made a major purchase: It paid 750 million NZD for our version of eBay called Trade Me, a move to try to get the advertising that had been lost to Trade Me. I think Trade Me is the biggest site in New Zealand, in terms of online forums and the volume of trades.

OJR: How popular are blogs in New Zealand?

Stevenson: They are popular. One of the earliest blogs is called Public Address. It was started by Russell Brown, a leading blogger, and he has been struggling to make it pay. The blog's been going for 10 or more years and his advertising's rising so he's hopeful."

Read more...

Networks, cell phones and Web 2.0

An interview with Belinda Barnet, from Swinburne University

"Mobiles are definitely having an effect on society and on youth culture in particular, but there is little public discussion of this. In Australia, the media is more interested in hysterical stories about mobile phones causing brain tumours or literacy problems in children. The real-world effects of mobile use are more subtle, and they touch all of us – not just kids. I don’t think these effects are detrimental either. As you point out, mobile devices are always on, always connected to the network – and in Australia at least, they are in the pocket of over 96% of the population. Many of these devices are also equipped with cameras and the ability to send and receive images. So for the first time in history, we have a citizenry who are in perpetual contact with the network, who are able to send and receive images wherever they are, who are never ‘offline’ unless they choose to be. If there is any kind of news event, a natural disaster or celebrity sighting for example, then someone is usually there with a camera in their pocket to capture it; perpetual surveillance."
Read more...