Experts insist 1080 is by far the best option to save native species and that science backs them up. How can the media report responsibly on opponents’ noisy protests, social media growth and increasingly alarming threats?

Celebrating suffrage, but with some sour notes; 1080 campaign turns toxic; Bok shock prompts rapid rewrite.

Before last weekend’s loss to South Africa, local rugby writers reckoned complacency was the All Blacks’ biggest foe. Judging by their own output, they could have been writing about themselves.

Mediawatch Midweek is a weekly catch-up between one of the Mediawatch team and Lately's Karen Hay. There are links to the stories mentioned in this week's episode below.

Te wiki o te reo Maori - the good, the Brash and the butcher; broadcaster doubles down on Pacific Islands "leeches" claim; channelling Kiwi content to the Pacific; media's ministerial pile-on prompts reflection

Many of the media embraced Māori Language Week with gusto this year, but some sought out the leading opponent of resources for te reo too. Meanwhile the Butcher of the Year proved not everyone wants to air their opinions about things in the news.

"The Pacific Islands don't matter. They are nothing but leeches on us." Newstalk ZB broadcaster Heather du Plessis Allan told listeners this week she stood by her recent comments in the face of complaints - and evidence to the contrary.

Winston Peters recently announced a multi-million dollar plan to pump more Kiwi TV around the Pacific. Is that what people there really want? Or it this a soft power play to project a positive picture of us? Mediawatch asks the boss of the company in charge of the mission.

The media seized on Clare Curran's stumbles and wrote off her ministerial career well before she pulled the plug last week. She cited "intolerable pressure" and said her mistakes were "greatly magnified."

Mediawatch Midweek is a weekly catch-up between Mediawatch and Lately's Karyn Hay. This week: controversial comments about the Pacific Islands; a deep dive into the fertiliser; the GFC ten years on; life on the minimum wage; cartoon crankiness; football back in black and white - and a bogus comeback.