Wednesday, 27 July 2011

Norway, Journalism and Stephen Colbert


"The point is, this monster may not be Muslim, but his heinous acts are indisputably Muslish. And we must not let his Islamesque atrocity divert our attention from the terrible people he reminds us of."

I'm really starting to think that Jon Stewart is the better comedian, but when it comes to insight and political commentary Stephen Colbert has gained the upper hand.

Wednesday, 13 July 2011

Miss Representation

Hallelujah, this film is getting played in New Zealand.



Information about viewings in Wellington is available at the New Zealand International Film Festival website.

I'm working on a news story about women in the media and later a review of the film, so stay tuned.

Saturday, 2 July 2011

Diane Sawyer: "I Have Nothing"

Actor/comedian Harry Shearer has posted raw footage of Diane Sawyer preparing for a live broadcast from the disaster area in Joplin, Missouri:



"This is a portrait of a fly-in anchor covering a disaster," Shearer says in a statement. "Diane may be Diane, but this is pretty much what you get when you send high-priced anchor talent into a place where everything has fallen apart and nothing works. The quote, 'I have nothing,' of course, should more appropriately be coming from a tornado victim.'"

Is that really what's going on here? The footage shows the entire crew, not just Sawyer, looking disorganised and shaken after losing power in the middle of a storm. What we don't see is how they recover from the problem. Did they continue struggling when the camera went live or did they pull together and get through it?

I'm all for taking self-important celebrities down a notch, but if Diane Sawyer managed to provide solid coverage in a disaster area without a script, then I don't really mind that she gets paid a lot for doing her job.