The Sunday Newspaper Brunch Club

On the Sunday Newspaper Brunch Club today on Alt Tv, Sky Digital 65, 11am - Ben Thomas from the NBR and Bill Ralston, former TVNZ News President

News Story that caught my eye this week:
An Australian at my news table – what sin have I committed to have an Australian run TVNZ News? Tony Flannery comes from A Current Affair, who were last year involved in a sordid news story with Channel 7 over a faked noble savage story about a little boy being saved by white people from a bunch of fictional cannibals – I blogged on this and thank Christ, the brilliant Anthony Hubbard has picked the story up:

STORY 1
SST - 100% Pure Images, not so pure: if it says 100% pure, shouldn’t it be a pure image? Don’t we risk a Ribeana backlash?

Almost 100% Pure NZ images show New Zealand's not picture-perfect
Tourism New Zealand admits its latest images in its 100% Pure New Zealand campaign are not 100% pure New Zealand shots - they're digitally enhanced pictures of scenic Kiwi spots. Tourism NZ released its latest images for its 100% Pure New Zealand advertisement campaign on Friday, which they hope will accompany tourism stories about New Zealand and ultimately entice international tourists to this country. The two images, one of Mt Cook and another of Glenorchy, feature people enjoying the beautiful landscapes - "an experience that can happen any day in our country", said Tourism NZ spokeswoman Simone Flight in an email. She said the shots were digitally altered for technical reasons. "Technically, an image that has been shot at a wide angle may need to be altered and reformatted to fit all the features we want to show in the format it will appear.Richard Mitchell, of Otago University's business school, said if the photos were promoting 100% Pure NZ, the images should be 100% pure. He said that although It wasn't uncommon for images to be doctored in tourism advertising, and the changes were "at the lower end of the scale", the technique could be perceived as misleading.


STORY 2
HERALD ON SUNDAY - Rude Awakenings a $5 million flop? Come on – didn’t TVNZ kill this by putting it on a Friday night at 9.30pm? WHO THE HELL IS HOME ON A FRIDAY NIGHT?

Rude Awakenings a $5m ratings flop
A Television New Zealand charter-driven drama which cost the taxpayer more than $5 million to produce has ended with "disappointing" ratings. The final episode of TV One's Rude Awakenings, a satire set in Ponsonby, screened on Friday night. It had received a New Zealand On Air grant of $5,497,382 but rated poorly, compared with other programmes that aired in its 8.30pm timeslot. TVNZ sources said the viewing figures meant it was unlikely there would be a second series.

STORY 3
SST – Bashed prisoner ‘terrified of jail’ – intellectually impaired prisoner is bashed in prison van, this follows a teenager being murdered in a prison van – Corrections make a media fart noise that they are ‘looking into it’, but prison vans that are actually secure cost money – gentlemen, tell me – are we really going to spend money to make prisoners safe?

Bashed prisoner 'terrified of jail'
The prisoner bashed in the back of a prison van last week is intellectually impaired, faces numerous child sex charges, and is terrified of being in jail, his lawyer says. Kenneth Ford, 34, was beaten in a prolonged attack by four other prisoners sharing the same compartment in a van on the way from Mt Eden remand prison to the Waitakere District Court on Thursday.
He suffered a broken jaw, and police have launched an investigation. Ford's lawyer, John Cagney, said his client's mental impairment was the reason he was bashed. "The other prisoners asked him what he was in for, and he's so simple he told them. So those 'heroes' automatically gave him a beating." The Corrections Department confirmed the victim and all four of his assailants should have been segregated during their trip in the Chubb van.

STORY 4
Virginia Tech and making Cho a multi-media anti Christ – we need more guns to solve this?

US networks limit use of gunman video
WASHINGTON - US television networks limited broadcasts of a video manifesto by the Virginia Tech killer after heavy coverage drew criticism today from police and victims' families.

Final Word:
Congrats Ben Turnquist on TVNZ catching out Exclusive Brethren Grand Wizard, Tony McCorkell – (if you save his picture off the Heralds website, it comes up named ‘fat tony’)