Presidents and Prime Ministers happily hogged the screen in TV specials this week - but not our PM. Ex-top cop Andrew Coster broke his silence at length - and big deals are being done in overseas media.

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Australia’s banning social media for teens, and there’s a slick media campaign for the same here. The PM’s onside, but will the government follow? And why is a social media pioneer resisting this? Also: the media’s fever for foreign flatpack furnishings.

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0:50 How Ikea’s Auckland opening monopolised the media this week

11:00 Midweek Mediwatch - in case you misused it

12:37 A costly campaign to copy Australia’s imminent ban on social media for under-16 has picked up public support - and political backing from the PM and his party to change the law next year. A major media company and telco are also getting the message out.

20:23 Social media pioneer Rabble aka Evan-Henshaw Plath on why he’s campaigning against a law change to take teens of social media.

Guests: Evan Henshaw-Plath / Rabble

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PM pushes back the rumours of a rolling, but Dallow leaves TVNZ. Also: the ethics of intimate image exposure, RNZ's numbers boost - and when is it too soon to wrap up 2025?

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The government pledged to ‘build the future’ with its first election policy this week - and TVNZ aired a special about our economic problems. Do our media give us the big picture on our economy? Also: fact-free stories about rolling the PM - and Covid-19 hindsight flip-flops.

In this episode:

1:12: Even as he launched his first election policy this week, pitched to ‘build our future,’ Christopher Luxon faced a flurry of reports his own future as PM and party leader was in doubt. But they were high on rumour, chatter and opinion - and almost fact-free.

15:30: TVNZ aired a special show - ‘You, Me and the Economy’ - this week, zeroing in on the problems and possibilities in our economy.

17:48: Bernard Hickey, founder of independent outlet The Kākā on media coverage of our economy. and if the ‘burps and farts’ of party politics obscure important issues. Also: how subscriber-based public interest journalism can flip the script.

35:46: The report from UK’s Covid 19 inquiry has slammed the former government there for indecision and confusion, and delaying lockdowns that cost lives. One broadcaster seized on it to slam the government here, even though he changed his own position several times.

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Guests: Bernard Hickey

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The Field family's funeral livestreamed, newspaper readership rebound, Press shines a light on who owns Christchurch, but Stuff slips up on the story of a jobless man. Also: why did the chickens cross the road in Tāmaki?

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EVs were booming, but incentives have been stripped back and recent reports of fires have fueled safety fears. Has media coverage amped up the danger? Also: a year ago a NZ Geographic revealed its own flaky finances to persuade supporters to step up. How did that work out?

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In this episode:

1:06 For a while the EV market boomed with incentives in place, though they came at a cost. Now the incentives have been dialled down - and so has demand. And a steady stream of stories about the fire hazards have spread like wildfire.

13:18: Dr Troy Bailsden on how to ‘pre-bunk’ alarmism about EV safety - and where to find facts on the real but remote risks of batteries.

19:51: Magazines devoted to longform journalism are struggling to stay in print. A year ago award-winning NZ Geographic urged subscribers to up their backing to keep it going. One year on publisher James Frankham on how that worked out - and what’s next.

Learn more: Mediawatch: Angst about EVs blows up in the headlines | RNZ News

Guests: Troy Baisden, James Frankham

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Trump vs BBC escalates, Irish and Scottish footballers - and Ronaldo - make epic media moments, Emile's Irish podcast slapdown. Also - Tararua tavern tension, Mercep rocks out at Metallica for 1News.

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One edit in one episode ended up at the epicentre of major crisis for the world’s biggest public broadcaster. Trump might take the BBC to the cleaners over it while media rivals crank up the damage to its reputation. But is the BBC’s real impartiality problem internal?

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In this episode:

0:45: How the media responded to the shock news that the BBC’s boss and head of news quit after revelations of editorial failures - and President Trump threatening to sue for $1bn.

17:20: Ex-BBC Panorama editor-turned-mediawatcher Roger Bolton on the BBC’s response to its problems, the media hostility BBC faces from rivals and claims of political influences at play within the BBC.

32:02: Other big news this week: the shocking IPCA report that kept newsrooms and their lawyers busy; and Te Pāti Māori’s meltdown in the media.

Learn more: Mediawatch: BBC under pressure from outside - and within amid edit scandal | RNZ News

Guests: Roger Bolton

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Two top BBC bosses quit in wake of Trump editing scandal, Police top brass blasted by damning IPCA report, Te Pāti Māori meltdown prompts more media criticism.

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Surveys say our trust in the news is slipping seriously, but the latest one asks Kiwis why and what might get it back, and an RNZ editor’s new book zeroes in on how to repair the relationship. Also: the downfall of the ‘Duke of Yuck’ yields unexpected local angle.

SHOW NOTES

Read more about this episode of Mediawatch on the RNZ website

In this episode:

0:58 The serious slide of New Zealanders’ trust in news, journalism - and the media general. The latest one asks Kiwis why they’ve lost trust and what might get it back.

7:29 RNZ’s Tim Watkin on his new book ‘How to Rebuild Trust in Journalism.’ He sees the relationship like a marriage on the rocks - and the media are the cheating partner that needs come to terms with the fact the public just aren’t that into them any more.

30:29 Melanie Bunce - the Kiwi director of the new Centre for Media and Democracy in London - says our high levels of news readership moderate the effect here, but warns that political actors are exploiting and amplifying distrust.

36:52 Unexpected local angle on downfall of the ‘Duke of Yuck

Learn more: Saving the marriage of journalism and the people | RNZ News

Guests: Tim Watkin, Melanie Bunce

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