New Zealand: Salmond on abuse of democratic freedoms

### stuff.co.nz Last updated 10:57 13/01/2015 — Dominion Post
Erosion of democratic rights
By Dame Anne Salmond
OPINION In the wake of the shooting of cartoonists and journalists in Paris, political leaders in New Zealand have expressed shock and horror, and their support for those who uphold freedom of expression in other countries.
What about freedom of speech and thought at home, however?
Over the past decade or so, politicians seeking to uphold their own power have abused democratic freedoms in New Zealand. Journalists including Jon Stephenson (for reporting on New Zealand’s involvement in Afghanistan), Andrea Vance (over a suspected leak of a report about the GCSB spy agency), and Nicky Hager (for exposing scurrilous relationships between senior politicians and muck-raking bloggers) have been intimidated and attacked.
While our leaders do not shoot people, they work with others to try to ruin the lives and careers of those who disagree with them. The means may be different, but the intent is the same. One way or another, their critics (however valid their points of view might be) must be silenced.

It is not just outspoken individuals who are at risk. Institutions that are the bulwarks of our democracy have been undermined. Since the 1980s, the civil service, which is supposed to offer informed, impartial advice to politicians, has been brought under ministerial control, and instead of serving civil society now largely serves its political masters.

The freedom of the press has been compromised, for instance in the wake of the teapot tape scandal, when newspaper offices were raided in an effort to prevent the publication of those recordings, or when improper pressure is brought to bear on journalists and media outlets for partisan political purposes.
While H L Mencken defined good journalism as “afflicting the comfortable, and comforting the afflicted”, much journalism in New Zealand now does the opposite. Read more

█ Dame Anne Salmond is a Distinguished Professor at the University of Auckland. She was the 2013 Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year.

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Anthony Robins at The Standard says:
“Salmond goes on to cover attacks on “The independence of the judiciary and the rule of law”, “Independent statutory bodies”, “Freedom of thought and inquiry in universities and Crown Research Institutes” and “Radical extensions of the powers of the SIS and the GCSB” […] It’s an excellent article, and a depressing summary of the state of NZ.” Link

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Google crap destroys searchable record

Read this post at Cameron Slater’s blog Whale Oil Beef Hooked.

### whaleoil.co.nz July 5, 2014 at 7:30am
Google’s demise starts here, ctd
By Pete
Not only are Google changing history, they are effectively censoring you, and me, and journalism too. This morning the BBC received the following notification from Google:

Notice of removal from Google Search: we regret to inform you that we are no longer able to show the following pages from your website in response to certain searches on European versions of Google: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/legacy/thereporters/robertpeston/2007/10/merrills_mess.html

What it means is that a blog I wrote in 2007 will no longer be findable when searching on Google in Europe. Which means that to all intents and purposes the article has been removed from the public record, given that Google is the route to information and stories for most people. So why has Google killed this example of my journalism?
Read more

█ Whale Oil Beef Hooked

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Front page NEWS @!&^#$%

Received from Grahame Sydney
Friday, 17 May 2013 5:35 p.m.

Just in case you were nursing some warm notions that our proudly independent local newspaper slaved to keep a balanced, objective approach to the day’s news and its presentation, a glance at today’s dominating front page story by Dene Mackenzie on yesterday’s National Party Budget might prove instructive.

Under the banner headline “It’s a Win for the South”, Mackenzie begins the story as follows:

“Budget 2013 provides plenty for the South” (my italics) then goes on to state “Most attention was directed towards the Budget’s focus on the lack of housing in Auckland and on the rebuilding of Canterbury – but there was certainly something for those in business south of the Waitaki.”

Given the statement that “most attention” was directed at Auckland housing and the rebuilding of Canterbury – by which single stroke Christchurch now becomes Canterbury – it’s hard to see where the “Win for the South” emerges triumphant, unless of course you’re in business south of the Waitaki.

Tough bikkies if you’re not in business…

The article then goes on to state that “Mr English’s Budget was reasonably exciting for the South”, listing at the top of its illustrations the allocation over the next four years of money for an additional 20 places at Otago Medical School, though not necessarily in Dunedin. Exciting indeed !

Further evidence of the “Win for the South” apparently lies in the additional money for aged care and dementia services, because “the South has an ageing population (and) regional medical services should be in line for some of that money.” Hmmmmmm.

I suppose Mackenzie would also claim a significant win for the lower latitudes in the $19 million taken from the general education allocation to fund John Banks’ charter schools project. That’s what you get with cynical coalitions.

However the best comes mid-way in the lead story, Mackenzie plainly stating the ODT’s biased position as follows:

“The major disappointment of the day was the failure of the Opposition to land a significant blow on what was Mr English’s fifth Budget.”

and
“Labour leader David Shearer resorted to cliches, calling it a “blackjack Budget””

and
“Green Party co-leaser Russel Norman demonstrated again his inability to read a balance sheet.”

and
“Apart from the three leaders saying National was, in various ways, catering for its “fat-cat developer mates” there was nothing for the Government to worry about from yesterday’s Opposition statements and speeches.”

Hey, here’s a bold idea:
Why not try keeping the front page news stories to reporting the facts, with some effort at balance, and let readers make their own decisions on matters of interpretation ? The Op Ed columns are the place for heavily-weighted opinion like this.

Grahame Sydney
Cambrian Valley, Central Otago

{ODT Online says —Editor: The article was clearly marked ‘Budget Comment’ in the ODT print edition. That it was not marked as such online was an error which was rectified.}

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

ODT “stories” —parochial sun rays

Email received from Grahame Sydney
Saturday, 27 April 2013 1:22 p.m.

re ODT

My heart goes out to the loyal reporters at the ODT having to file garbage promotional stories extolling the fabulousness and phenomenal success of the Plastic Stadium, most of which “stories” are given front page treatment: since when did a “story” on the Aerosmith gear-haulage convoy rate as front page “news”, let alone the disgraceful banner headline and page-wide photograph of the band performing (“SILVER SPANGLED SPECTACLE” -Thursday 25 April) ? Is there no limit to the depths to which the editorial staff at ODT will sink in order to underwrite the foundering stadium, at the cost of editorial integrity ?

But while such transparent commercialism makes the opening of the ODT an increasingly difficult daily ritual, testing to the limits one’s own parochial tendencies, and the assault of full-page advertisements (7 in the first 22 page section today, not counting half-page ads…) makes the reading an habitual speed-read, is there any explanation for the strange appearance on page 12 today (27.3.13) of a colourful little child’s world picture of six happy Small People, one on a bike, one with a pet dog, two with a ball, all beaming innocently as yellow sun rays glow from a distant unseen horizon and five dinky, driverless vehicles crowd the streets ?

Below this merry fantasy is the exhortation: “Spend QUALITY TIME” at Dunedin’s intersections… there’s so much to see !”

No clue offered as to who is responsible for this mysterious insertion, nor why, what it might mean, or who it is aimed at. If it’s the DCC Traffic people, the message is highly questionable. Perhaps it’s the start of a new branding exercise, in the “It’s All Right Here” mould. If it’s a new campaign from the city’s tourist promotional wing, embarking on a bold new initiative to identify the REAL attractions of the town – I can see the entrance billboards and the bumper-stickers now: IGNORE THE HOTEL: COME AND EXPERIENCE OUR INTERSECTIONS !” – then someone needs to be singled out and front-paged for their imaginative genius.

It’d be a change from yet another damned propagandist sell on the Stadium, if nothing else.

[ends]

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Dunedin city was ranked at the top of the agency’s [NZTA] list for urban intersection crashes causing either fatal or serious injuries during the five years from 2006 to 2010. The city also featured in the top five for the crash categories involving pedestrians (second), motorcycles (third), older drivers (third), cyclists (fourth) and young drivers (fourth), and ranked sixth for accidents caused by distracted drivers. ODT 24.3.12

Dunedin is ranked the third-worst local authority area in New Zealand for fatal and serious injury crashes, statistics in the NZTA’s “communities at risk” register show. The NZTA has compiled lists ranking local authorities across 12 categories, although there is some contention about the methodology used to record the statistics. ODT 23.10.11

Related Post and Comments:
6.2.13 Editorial bias

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Journalist sums up 2012, against the ‘odds’ how does it rate ?

### ODT Online Tue, 1 Jan 2013
Ups and downs, but no worries
By Nigel Benson
It was the year that had a bit of everything. A bit like most other years, really. Nigel Benson looks back on 2012… Dunedin wakes up with a New Year’s Day hangover, but feeling rather smug. The driest December since 1918 has brought the best weather in New Zealand, while heavy rain and floodwaters sweep the rest of the country.
Read more

We always enjoy the news. We note the abridgements, deletions, non-acknowledgements and hijackings that meant the most concerning news generated within our Community never got through. No “lack of political motivation”, as ’twere.

Consolation Prize: DCC continues to ‘advertise’ with ODT, by special arrangement.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Blogs are fun are news and comment

BROADCAST ALERT

Sunday Morning with Chris Laidlaw
on Radio New Zealand National
10 May 2009

11:05 Ideas: The Future of Journalism
We’ve been hearing a lot about the death of newspapers lately.
In the US the national daily ‘The Christian Science Monitor’ recently went web-only, and a question mark hangs over such well-known titles as the ‘Boston Globe’. But with the rise and rise of the internet are we simply seeing quality journalism switch from one delivery medium to another – or is it something more serious?
Robert McChesney – the founder of the half-million strong American lobby group, Free Press, for one believes the future of journalism itself is in peril.
Ideas talks to Robert McChesney, former newspaper editor and current head of the Whitireia journalism programme Jim Tucker, and Julie Starr – journalism commentator and one of the team responsible for the Daily Telegraph’s internet strategy.

Links
Free Press
Robert McChesney
Julie Starr’s webpage

Presented by Chris Laidlaw
Produced by Jeremy Rose

{see audio link at Comment}

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Check out www.radionz.co.nz/sunday for more information about featured guests, books or music featured on the programme, live streaming audio, archived audio from programmes dating back to January 2008, and podcasts.

To contact Sunday with feedback or enquiries, send an email to sunday@radionz.co.nz. The studio texting number during the programme is 2101. The cost is 20c per text (including GST) or your normal plan fee; Sunday cannot text you back.