Hard to argue with someone who knows

[Magoo]

or is she some right wing ringer come lately with an axe to grind?

her accusations are succinct and her questions blunt.
as an outsider im loath to judge just yet. 
best wait until i see how she peels a banana.
she doesnt say where she was prior to here, just 'overseas'
somewhere with a pretty good press agency i guess.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/12768281...o-arrogant

[Olive]

"the most prevalent, trend I’ve noticed is the almost complete refusal of government departments and agencies to allow journalists to speak to subject experts."

Maybe this is the reason that journalists are writing such utter tripe lately, e.g. lancing the boil of MIQ.

Anna Fifield is actually a very experienced journalist, at one point she was Beijing bureau chief for The Washington Post, and when she returned to Aotearoa I had high hopes of her lifting the overall standard of journalism here, but sadly she seems to have got on the anti-Government bus along with the rest.

[Oh_hunnihunni]

Must be challenging though in New Zealand, finding a meaty news story when actually we are so blessed in comparison with the rest of the planet...

[Olive]

Must be challenging though in New Zealand, finding a meaty news story when actually we are so blessed in comparison with the rest of the planet...

But they can always make something up.   Or find yet another whingeing restaurateur.  Or someone who missed their cousin's next door neighbour's birthday party became they had taken a holiday in Sydney.

[yousnoozeyoulose]

I'm guessing that the Govt has gone down the route of "the less information we provide, the less chance we'll get it wrong" which isn't particularly useful for many of the so-called journalists who spend their time copy and pasting press releases. All of this probably explains why we have so many opinion pieces masquerading as content these days, void of content and high on bias.

Fifield is a proper journalist, even if she's spent much of her career offshore parroting news from the Chinese Communist Party and using questionable South Korean sources to write about North Korea. She came back to NZ decrying clickbait articles and was keen to be involved with Stuff - who have since increased their output of clickbait. Even the Fifield-edited Dom Post has at least two headlines framed as questions today which is sloppy.

The media has had a decidedly blue tinge the last few months, so we're into 'that' part of the electoral cycle where the opposition gets a little more puff and the people doing the work get a little more criticism. Why report the news when you can make the news?

[Oh_hunnihunni]

Must be challenging though in New Zealand, finding a meaty news story when actually we are so blessed in comparison with the rest of the planet...

But they can always make something up.   Or find yet another whingeing restaurateur.  Or someone who missed their cousin's next door neighbour's birthday party became they had taken a holiday in Sydney.

Beats the hell out of America winding up the Russians, and the Brits trying to bring down their own Boris...

[Olive]

I'm guessing that the Govt has gone down the route of "the less information we provide, the less chance we'll get it wrong" which isn't particularly useful for many of the so-called journalists who spend their time copy and pasting press releases. All of this probably explains why we have so many opinion pieces masquerading as content these days, void of content and high on bias.

Fifield is a proper journalist, even if she's spent much of her career offshore parroting news from the Chinese Communist Party and using questionable South Korean sources to write about North Korea. She came back to NZ decrying clickbait articles and was keen to be involved with Stuff - who have since increased their output of clickbait. Even the Fifield-edited Dom Post has at least two headlines framed as questions today which is sloppy.

The media has had a decidedly blue tinge the last few months, so we're into 'that' part of the electoral cycle where the opposition gets a little more puff and the people doing the work get a little more criticism. Why report the news when you can make the news?

I agree.   Fifield and Stuff are both disappointments.   When Stuff had its makeover I became a subscriber because I fell for its self-promotion, but, although I held on to hope for a while, John Bishop was too much and I unsubscribed.   The only local news entity I support now is The Spinoff.

[Zurdo]

I opened that to read on Stuff...and then saw Opinon, and Journalist, and didn't go any further. I am interested in a journalist reporting facts, I am not interested in their opinion.

[yousnoozeyoulose]

I agree.   Fifield and Stuff are both disappointments.   When Stuff had its makeover I became a subscriber because I fell for its self-promotion, but, although I held on to hope for a while, John Bishop was too much and I unsubscribed.

Curious family the Bishops...

With Fifield and Stuff, there's probably an element of "One day I'm going to run a newspaper and everyday it's going to be like Watergate and we'll get all the scoops." Ultimately, little old NZ doesn't sustain that which is why we need to get a plethora of stories on restaurant and bar owners wondering why their business is going down the gurgler.

Quick aside: "Hey restaurant and bar owners, while Covid had a part to play, you guys had already over-saturated the market. Many of you were struggling pre-Covid, but it's way easier to blame somebody else when your dream tapas bar doesn't quite live up to expectations."

[Olive]

....

Quick aside: "Hey restaurant and bar owners, while Covid had a part to play, you guys had already over-saturated the market. Many of you were struggling pre-Covid, but it's way easier to blame somebody else when your dream tapas bar doesn't quite live up to expectations."

Exactly. There would be a lot of owners of doomed-to-fail small businesses who struck it lucky with the wage subsidy scheme. It kept them afloat long after their natural end, and for some gave them delusions of relevance/feasibility.

Another thing that often strikes me is how personally unappealing are the complaining hospitality and tourism whingers. As potential customers we are unlikely to patronise outfits whose owners are so sour and bitter that we would cross the road to avoid them.

[Lilith7]

I agree.   Fifield and Stuff are both disappointments.   When Stuff had its makeover I became a subscriber because I fell for its self-promotion, but, although I held on to hope for a while, John Bishop was too much and I unsubscribed.

Curious family the Bishops...

With Fifield and Stuff, there's probably an element of "One day I'm going to run a newspaper and everyday it's going to be like Watergate and we'll get all the scoops." Ultimately, little old NZ doesn't sustain that which is why we need to get a plethora of stories on restaurant and bar owners wondering why their business is going down the gurgler.

Quick aside: "Hey restaurant and bar owners, while Covid had a part to play, you guys had already over-saturated the market. Many of you were struggling pre-Covid, but it's way easier to blame somebody else when your dream tapas bar doesn't quite live up to expectations."

Indeed; it must have been quite helpful, & somewhat face-saving to be able to blame it all on covid.

[Magoo]

Covid is the new go-to umbrella for ineptitude. a blessing for useless bastards everywhere.