Pike River privacy breach
Friday, November 26th, 2010My colleague, privacy expert Dr Nicole Moreham, reckons the media are guilty of breach of privacy with their splashy coverage of the victims’ grief-stricken families emerging from the briefing where they were informed of their loved ones’ fate. She has kindly allowed me to cross-post (original source here): There would be few New Zealanders who […]
Bill of Yeah Rights
Thursday, November 11th, 2010Since the Bill of Rights was enacted, the government has, on average, ignored one section 7 report a year, according to the Minister of Justice. (A section 7 report is a legal opinion given by the Attorney General to Parliament that the proposed legislation breaches fundamental rights in an unjustified way.) Simon Power was addressing a […]
Read this
Monday, November 8th, 2010If you haven’t seen it already, I recommend Emma Woods’ thoughtful and moving response to Michael Laws’ attack on her in the Sunday Star-Times. In some ways, it’s an indictment of every columnist who sallies forth based on some incomplete news report, every ideologue who tries to marshall someone’s story to support their pet cause, […]
Irony
Sunday, October 31st, 2010Something sounded funny to my ear on this morning’s episode of MediaWatch on Radio NZ National. Colin Peacock referred to the Listener’s Quips and Quotes column, which had quoted the following journalistic aphorism and told readers it was attributed to the City News Bureau of Chicago: If your mother tells you she loves you, check […]
Double jeopardy?
Friday, October 29th, 2010Is the Law Commission being tasked with a job already farmed out to the Dean of VUW’s law school? The Attorney-General engaged VUW dean Tony Smith to write a paper on our contempt of court laws, including the ways in which they are being affected by the internet. Is it undermining confidence in court orders, […]
Hobbiter dicta
Friday, October 29th, 2010It’s now clear that the government intends to change the law relating to employment contracts for the film industry. So why are some in the media still calling this a “clarification”? Does it have anything to do with journalists’ warm regard for the elasticity of the appellation “clarification” as illustrated by their frequent use of […]
Burning questions
Thursday, October 28th, 2010For those interested in the Morse flag-burning case that I argued with Tony Shaw and Felix Geiringer in the Supreme Court earlier this month, Greg King interviewed me about it on The Court Report. (It’s part 3 of the show).
Key questions
Thursday, October 28th, 2010I’m no expert on employment law. I claim no insider knowledge on the Hobbit fiasco. But there are some obvious questions that I haven’t seen anyone in the media ask: 1. John Key says he’s going to pass law “clarifying” the difference between employees and contractors, at least in connection with the film industry. What […]
Did Paul Henry breach broadcasting standards?
Thursday, October 7th, 2010As you know, TVNZ Breakfast presenter Paul Henry asked the PM whether he would appoint someone to Governor-General who looked and sounded more like a New Zealander, plainly suggesting that because Sir Anand Satyanand is ethnically Fijian-Indian (though born and bred in NZ), he’s not appropriate for the job. I think that’s racist. But I’m […]
Henry Fool
Monday, October 4th, 2010I wonder when TVNZ is going to get a Breakfast presenter who looks and sounds like a journalist?
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