Are media confusing us with claims of green shoots in the economy at the same time as headlining more dire data? Also: the epic security fail at the top of the Trump regime that gave a journalist the easiest scoop he'll ever get - and the battle for control of NZME ramps up with a flurry of letters.

But first -- it’s not news that our economy;s been going backwards - and the numbers on that don’t lie.

But now some new numbers are on the way up - and that is news.

But other economic numbers in the news are still bad news.

We look at the the dire data and the claims of green shoots - and ask if the media might be mixing its messages - and confusing us all:

Mistakes happen. Everyone makes them. That’s why security protocols exist—
Security systems are only as effective as the people who use them.
But looping a senior journalist into top level chat about imminent military strikes?
easiest scoop ever

That didn't stop the MAGA-men playing a lame blame game with the media.
The bitter battle to control NZME - the company that publishes the Herald and owns NZTB - rolls on, mostly in exchanges of letters.

Also - how producers behind the scenes can keep their presenters on the mic on the straight and narrow.

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Billionaire Jim Grenon's letter-writing spree as he tries to take control of NZME's board & a click-driven incentive scheme at the company. Also - more journalists are killed in Gaza & an Oscar-winning filmmaker assaulted; Stuff quietly drops a disclosure commitment from its AI policy.

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A Kiwi lifting the lid on Facebook's been gagged before she could talk to RNZ. Why? And what did she say before Meta called its lawyers? Also: news publishers' ownership in play & lifestyle journalism's being squeezed by our cash-strapped media, but RNZ’s boosting it and the country’s oldest magazine is shifting its focus.

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Rivals appeal to NZME shareholders as Stuff carves its chief's one share into a million. Also: MAGA-powered podcasters control the zone - and have we lost the appetite for school lunch scrutiny?

Rivals appeal to NZME shareholders as Stuff's chief turns one share into a million. Also: MAGA-powered podcasters control the zone, have we lost the appetite for school lunch scrutiny?

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The PM’s got plenty on his plate right now - including media hinting his time is up in the top job. Is that true - or fair? Also: a new move to use the media to improve integrity in public life and push back at vested interests. Sounds good, but are things really that bad?

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A new poll piles pressure on the PM and his party, the billionaire bidding to unseat NZME's board hits back at claims about his intentions, a Paddington clarification

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Concern over a sudden change of editorial direction at NZME as a billionaire bids for control. Also: reporting Wellington’s water woes and a sudden rush of top-level resignations.

The publisher of the Herald and owner of Newstalk ZB has told its investors it’s going to set “a new tone” for New Zealand and “share stories of economic success and positive momentum.” NZME also plans to roll out AI to shape the Herald homepage.

All this will change what we see and read in the future. But NZME’s top brass now have another problem - a billionaire who’s backed alternative online outlets has bought a big chunk of the company and now James Grenon wants to control it.

Also this week: how the media handled a rash of resignations from top public jobs and Wellington’s water woes - no resignations yet but plenty of headlines.

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Midweek: The ever-present US President makes the most of set-piece media events. Also -billionaires seeking stakes in our media & rights to air rugby - and TV shows about life in NZ fifty years apart.

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Chinese warships in the Tasman Sea promp big calls to bump up the budget for defence ASAP. Also - the super-heated headlines about factory-to-school lunches and we talk to the international outfit defending public broadcasters from de-funding.

Chinese warships appearing in what we like to think of as our ‘benign strategic environment’ sparked something of a media frenzy lately - culminating in commentators claiming our defence spending’s going to have to go up ASAP.

Right now the two main public media networks in the US face bids to de-fund them - even though their federal funding is tiny. They also face MAGA-driven inquiries into bias and how they stay in business.

Public broadcasters elsewhere in the world also face more political pressure on their funding and even their legitimacy these days. This week ask the boss of the outfit that represents them around the world: how do you defend against de-funding?

Also: school lunches have been in the headlines ever since the new cheaper factory-to-classroom ones appeared this year - or not, in some cases. And isolated cases of things going badly wrong have certainly been seized on by the media. Just teething troubles blown out of proportion because of politics? Or are our media rightly demanding more transparency? (more than on the cellophane lids of those boxes of burnt bolognese we’ve all seen in the news . . .)

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Media go forensic on Andrew Bayly's ministerial resignation, the PM's ZB stumble, NZME's revealing annual results - & the real story of Golriz at PaknSave

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