Will Hayward • Mar 21, 2016 •
For a country that takes sport too seriously, lives or dies on the international price of dairy products, and has a Prime Minister so weird that international TV hosts are fascinated by him, it is unusual for a social science research project to be one of the stories of the week. But that happened last week, with a barrage of … Read More
Gareth Renowden • Nov 04, 2014 •
In an appalling lapse of editorial judgement, TVNZ has given notorious Climate “Science” Coalition propagandist Bryan Leyland four minutes of airtime this morning [TVNZ page removed: but available here.] to rubbish the work of the IPCC. Yes, that’s right, the nation’s public broadcaster presented a man way out on the crank fringe who has made […] … Read More
Gareth Renowden • Apr 01, 2014 •
New Zealand political reaction to the IPCC’s WG2 report has divided along expected lines: the Green Party and Labour used the findings to call for more action, the National-led government “welcomed” the report but said it is already doing enough, while the fringe right wing ACT party issued a press release making the abolition of […] … Read More
Bryan Walker • Sep 22, 2012 •
A Close Up interview on TV One this week looked at the economic desirability of the proposed expansion of drilling exploration in New Zealand weighed against the environmental concerns. I had just finished my post on the feasibility of renewable energy fully powering the world’s economies by 2050 and it interested me that both the […] … Read More
Bryan Walker • Apr 17, 2012 •
I watched TVNZ’s Q+A on Sunday with dismay. Phil Heatley, the Minister of Energy and Resources, was interviewed about the New Zealand government’s intention to increase oil, gas and coal exploration and mining. The emphasis of the interview was on the environmental issues, yet not a word was said about greenhouse gases or climate change. [...] … Read More
Grant Jacobs • Aug 17, 2011 •
I’m joining Peter Griffin in voicing surprise and dismay at the New Zealand Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA) response to a complaint over a factual error–acknowledged by the broadcaster as wrong–as immaterial in reporting a science item. Peter has the full story; I’m not going to repeat it here. Readers will also want to read media commentator Brian … Read More
Gareth Renowden • May 13, 2011 •
James Hansen’s tour of New Zealand is off to a flying start, with an appearance on TVNZ’s Close Up, coverage in the Herald (they got his age wrong) and an interview with the Dominion Post‘s Kiran Chug, followed by a business lunch (or a lunch with business) and an evening talk to a packed room [...] … Read More
Rebecca McLeod • Aug 24, 2010 •
I had my 10 minutes of fame last week as I was powdered up and thrust before the cameras for TVNZ7’s Media7 special on science and the media. A really fun experience, but there was some kind of weird time-absorbing phenomenon going on in the TVNZ studio that seemed to reduce my time to about 10 seconds. Before I … Read More
Grant Jacobs • Mar 08, 2010 •
Some of my local readers will have seen last night Lorelei Mason of TVNZ (Television New Zealand) present an horrific case of an iridiologist treating a skin cancer on the scalp which went on to invade the patient’s skull, eventually requiring major surgery. [caption id="" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="(Source: wikipedia.)"][/caption] You can read a text … Read More
Gareth Renowden • Jan 29, 2010 •
Christopher, Viscount Monckton of Brenchley (a nice little village in Kent with good pubs, at least when I was growing up nearby) has arrived safely in Australia and embarked on the hectic round of talks and media opportunities that is his birthright and expectation wherever he goes. On Monday morning, my spies tell me [...] … Read More