Books are doomed
Tuesday, February 10th, 2009Yeah, I don’t much like e-books either. But here’s the thing: that doesn’t matter. Old paper-and-binding books are doomed anyway. Don’t believe me? Read this. The logic is unassailable, I think.
Books banned in New Zealand
Thursday, February 5th, 2009The censor’s office has posted an interesting list of the books banned or restricted here since 1965. 250 books have been banned or restricted in that period. Interestingly, nearly two-thirds of those bans/restrictions have been since the passage of the Films, Videos and Publications Classification Act in 1993, and nearly a third were in the period […]
In Jesus’ name, amen
Thursday, February 5th, 2009Someone complained to the Advertising Standards Authority that a Christmas ad from Bond and Bond was offensive to Christians. The ad said: CELEBRATE THE BIRTH OF JESUS WITH SOME NEW GEAR, IT’S WHAT HE’D WANT Offensive to Christians? Well… maybe some. But it’s mostly spoofing the brazen commercialisation of Christmas, including by Bond and Bond. […]
“Vile racist abuse?”
Wednesday, February 4th, 2009Here’s Vince Siemer’s case in a microcosm. Siemer writes intemperately about Stiassny. The courts overreact to Siemer. Siemer overreacts to the courts. In the $920,000 damages judgment, Justice Cooper accuses Siemer of directing “vile racist abuse” at Stiassny. Here’s his reasoning: [48] [Stiassny] complained also that some of the language used by Mr Siemer had […]
Siemer files appeal
Friday, January 30th, 2009Vince Siemer has filed an appeal against Cooper J’s judgment awarding $920,000 in damages against him. Can a person who is debarred from defending a case appeal against it? I guess we’ll find out.
Coverage of Siemer case
Friday, January 30th, 2009Jock Anderson of Truth writes to say the Siemer decision didn’t slip under his radar. So those readers who take a regular interest in his august organ (a hideous image, yes) will have read about the result a couple of weeks ago. The DomPost also covered it today, under the headline “$920,000 payout for defamation”, […]
Judge awards highest ever defamation damages
Thursday, January 29th, 2009This news seems to have slipped under the media radar: just before Christmas the courts handed down the highest defamation damages award in NZ’s history. Cooper J awarded Michael Stiassny and his firm $920,000 damages against Vince Siemer for his long-running attacks on Stiassny, including $900,000 for defamation. (To recap: those are the attacks that led […]
Talkback officially a balance-free zone
Thursday, January 22nd, 2009In this extraordinary decision, issued this month, the BSA has effectively re-written the Broadcasting Act and exempted talkback radio from the balance standard. It also seems to largely give talkback shows a pass when it comes to fairness complaints. The BSA had already established a rule that talkback hosts could be inaccurate pretty much whenever […]
Gold star awards
Wednesday, January 7th, 2009David Farrar weighs in on the drink-driving debate with the sort of thoughtful analysis that threatens to give blogging a good name. NoRightTurn does the same thing with the Crown Law Office’s vet of the Domestic Violence (Enhancing Safety) Bill. Well done, those chaps.
Misjudged
Thursday, December 18th, 2008Two of our top judges recently denied a Fairfax journalist permission to speak to jurors about the strengths and weaknesses of the jury system, even though the journalist promised not to identify the jurors or the defendants or discuss the particulars of the cases. The judges cited Solicitor-General v Radio NZ, and said the request “lacks […]
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