A documentary film just released in France, titled Les Nouveaux Chien de Gard (or The New Watchdogs) outlines how most newspapers, radio and television stations are owned by industrial or financial groups closely linked to power.
The film is based on an essay by Serge Halimi about media , published in 1997. The book was made into a film in France in January 2012. It sets out the collusion between government media, political and economic, focussing on television and major French newspapers.
It could translate into pretty much any country around the world. I understand it also sets out a challenge to journalists to not be tame and to stand up for their craft.
Perhaps you’ll find it odd that a politician would care, let alone write about such things. As a former journalist I care strongly about the importance of good journalism, the ownership structures of our media, the lack of investment in public broadcasting and the growing concerns about political interference that is daily undermining the craft, putting more pressure on individual journalists and treating news as a commodity.
Isn’t it time we stood up for independence, more objective reporting and pride in the craft of journalism?More distance between media and governments (any government). The media was named as the fourth pillar of democracy for good reasons. Can we fight for it in this country too?
The promo clip below for Les Nouveaux Chien de Gard is in French. But you might get the gist.
Who are our new watchdogs?
Hat tip: BE
That is a very interesting piece Clare. Do you speak French?
And State-owned media would not be “closely linked to power”? You have to be kidding me.
@ Nick K
State owned media would not be financed by industrial or financial interests and would not be forced into ‘sound bite’ infotainment masquerading as news.
Interesting how little coverage the minor parties got at the last election particularly Winston Peters.
Do you think TVNZ or Radio NZ has any influence over what is aired.
Interesting to note John Key’s main advisors Michelle Boag and Simon Joyce are major media players. They stage manage John Key to give him celebrity status and the media have fallen head over heals in love with the guy.
Voted New Zealand’s sexiest politican and one of the young Wizard’s of Wall Street what more could a country want from a politican.
Hopefully the proof will be in the pudding.
As I have said b4 politicans in this country treat us like mushrooms keeping us in the dark and feeding us shit.
What we need is some good financial analysis on the cost vs benefits of selling assets, portrayed accurately to the public.
The full story never came out on the “Winebox Enquiry” because the media put such a spin on it that Winston Peters was made out to be the villan.
Surely New Zealand would be in a stronger financial position had we not sold BNZ, Telecom and NZRail for a pittance.
We keep getting stories that we have to sell assets because we are in the shit.
Muldoon got New Zealand in the shit and forced Labour to sell our State Assets. Now Labour has got us in the shit and has forced National and John Key to sell further State Assets. That’s the story I have got from the media. We have had 9 years of reckless spending by Labour and they have forced National to sell our State Assets.
Why not just keep the assets and get a financial downgrade which will collapse our NZD and hence boost our export returns and improve our balance of payments, basic economics.
Everyone can be a publisher/broadcaster/watchdog. I’ll start by reporting that Civil servants in my neighbourhood
have chopped ~40 hectares of trees on the Tongariro River. A contractor told me they’d poison the tree stumps with Garlon. Garlon poison will become part of the Auckland water supply.
They were planning to BURN 5,000,000 kilograms of chopped vegetation, until I complained, and they could have cheerfully smoked Hamilton, with a southeasterly breeze.
Civil servants have a big wad of our money, and they seem to spend it harmfully.
When herald online recently printed the story of Mr Huljich’s conviction over his “topping up” of the kiwisaver fund without disclosure I asked the journalist who wrote the article how there could be no reference in his article to the Former Governor of the Reserve Bank and former MP (Brash) who was hair at the time of the “top up” nor to Mr Banks who was an Executive Director at the time of the “top up”. His response was that it had been in his article which he submitted to the Editor.
Here is an article referring to Mr Banks as ED of Hujlich Wealth. he seemed happy to be so tagged prior to the revelation of the “top up”.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10497921
Interestingly, go to the Herald search engine and type in “Huljich”.
Tracey , a whole swag of new companies were registered under the Christopher & Banks name recently.
Banks being you know who, but also Peter Huljich using one of his christian names – Christopher. The airbrushing continues.
Tracey, was your reference to the “[c]hair” a Freudian slip or intentional?
We have a choice whether we support private media or not, and are free to compete.
We have no such choice when we are forced to pay for ‘state funded’ media.
Therein lies the immorality.
@ Nick K, didn’t I hear that Big Jezza called the RNZ CE when he couldn’t get on the radio to slag off Lianne? The CE caved, of course, and he got on, and he slagged off Lianne. The CE reckons this is great, as it shows ‘powerful men’ take an ‘interest’, or some such PR crap. And isn’t the new RNZ Chair a raving Tory? And doen’t the CE report to the Chair, more or less?
John Key is the new Watchdog.
TVNZ – Playing ‘yes minister’ for access to the funding stream. If the idiot on Breakfast, dishing up patsy questions to the pm is quality, heaven help public broadcsting. First a racist, now an out and out tory money man getting the scoop. Shame.
3News – Giving $44m worth of bail out thanks to pals in government. 3news = no news.
Prime – Sky = Murdoch = Enough said.
Not really a great media in the big scheme of things.
NZ, could do better.
Seems it’s not just the broadband that’s a joke.
Best news still comes from the BBC and the now sadly MIA on Freeview, Al Jazeera.
For local content, best to trust your own intuition.
Tim G – yeah I saw that after the edit had expired and had a chuckle!
Ghostw – really? Doesn’t surprise me although they would all be declared now Banks in an MP (can’t recall that rule off the top of my head). I understand the need to encourage entrepreneurs BUT in my line of work I see Developer after Developer jumping from company to company, to avoid liability for their shoddy properties, taking profit every step of the way.
serial company jumpers should be discouraged. There are building companies out there in existence for over 25 years including the period of leaky homes, they need to be commended and encouraged by slowing down the company jumpers giving everyone a bad name.
P-P-Head would that “choice” was such a simple concept amongst the billions spent on marketing/branding/advertising/manipulation and that’s just in political circles
Have we not all read ‘ Flat Earth News’ ?
I find it ironical this posting about the media. It seems to me that Labour love the media when they are reporting stories that favour the left / socialist point of view. But as soon as there is a programme that supports the alternate view then they suddenly become “owned by big business” and have an “agenda”
Before the election there was a very biased peince of poverty in NZ. If the following night there was a programme on the benefits of partial privatisation then the left would have been screaming blue murder. The left love the media when speaking the language of the left. How the rich dont pay their fair share (what crap). The docos and news items on “social Justice” , “workers rights” “corporate Greed”, “White collar crime” , is all about owning th elanguagge.
But isnt it funny how when John Key gets a slot on Radio Live you all cry not fair and beg for Phil Goff to be given the same, and when it does not happen you start crying and then make acusations about big business and unfair treatment and how inappropriate and mean the media are to the poor old Labour Party.
If you cannot decode compulsion from choice you deserve all the force you get.
Good and hard.
Hi Clare,
I am also a former journalist (radio and print). The standard of reporting in the NZ media – print and tv particularly – makes me despair. I read Brian Edwards’ blog and generally agree with him on most things to do with the NZ media, including this kaupapa.
I agree with you wholeheartedly about media ownership – here and overseas.
Fairfax – fair? Yeah right!
That is why public broadcasting is so very important. Maori TV is terrific. Channel 7 is great too. Radio NZ remains the best in my view. The Listener has gone to the dogs.
Is there a philanthropic wealthy Labourite/s out there willing to invest in a new national independent daily or weekly? Email me
Iri Sinclair