« White Knight | Main | Overcharged? »
We’re reporting their news, there
By Steven | October 31, 2008
I’m following the US election closely, and I’m a Radio NZ listener, so you’d think I’d be applauding Radio NZ’s decision to send Geoff Robinson there to report the elections from the ground.
But really, I’m wondering why they’ve spent the money. How many of Geoff’s interviews couldn’t have been done from here by phone? (How many of them in fact are being done by phone?) Do we really need a NZ angle on these elections, and is RNZ delivering on that anyway? What’s the point of a bunch of vapid and disproportionately pro-Obama vox pops? Is the possibility of Arnie getting a role in an Obama administration really one of the big issues? Why does RNZ keep interviewing Zogby, which seems to be about the only polling organisation not prepared to suggest that it looks pretty much like Obama’s going to win (check the rolling poll averages and state-by-state breakdowns at RealClearPolitics and Pollster)?
Topics: Media ethics | 1 Comment »
One Response to “We’re reporting their news, there”
Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.
October 31st, 2008 at 10:36 pm
Steven, the reason Geoff Robinson is in Washington is because it somehow thought to be sexy, not because there is the slightest value in having him there. A zillion years ago when I was working in New York we had “ABC rolling news” presented on the hour from New York, London, Berlin, Paris and maybe Taihape. Maybe not Taihape. Yes, the presenter was in each location, but we wrote everything in New York.
Vox pops? Ha! The last resort of a desperate and unimaginitive producer. Vox pops are – and always have been – meaningless crap. Any producer/editor who sends reporters out to do vox pops should be seeking other work, perhaps in a sheltered workshop?