The big budget for a new non-car harbour bridge in Auckland sparked a big 'bike-lash' in the media last week - and how we build and use our roads has become a huge wedge issue all around the country. Mediawatch asks a journalist dedicated to covering transport: do the deep divisions and inflamed opinions make it hard to report all this effectively?

Against a backdrop of news reports about shortages and anger over delayed Covid-19 vaccinations, a Herald opinion piece this week claimed our supply would run dry within days. But swift fact-checking elsewhere established it was based on the wrong numbers.

Climate message cutting through; too much heat makes transport fraught; wrong numbers dial up anxiety over vaccine supplies.

Climate message cutting through; too much heat makes transport fraught; wrong numbers dial up anxiety over vaccine supplies.

Against a backdrop of news reports about shortages and anger over delayed Covid-19 vaccinations, a Herald opinion piece this week claimed our supply would run dry within days. But swift fact-checking elsewhere established it was based on the wrong numbers.

Mediawatch’s weekly catch-up with Lately. Hayden Donnell talks to Karyn Hay about journalists hitting out at government spin and information  control - and unhappiness over the release of a major climate report. Also: an odd documentary about a celebrity accused of harassment who’s accusing his accusers of manipulation.

Mediawatch’s weekly catch-up with Lately. Hayden Donnell talks to Karyn Hay about journalists hitting out at government spin and information  control - and unhappiness over the release of a major climate report. Also: an odd documentary about a celebrity accused of harassment who’s accusing his accusers of manipulation.

While record-breaking floods threatened to sweep away bridges in Canterbury, the inundation of the Auckland Harbour Bridge by cyclists  made headlines too - and sparked a big backlash on talk radio. The subsequent announcement of a new big-budget bridge just for cyclists and walkers further inflamed the divisive urban issue of ‘bikes vs cars’.

While record-breaking floods threatened to sweep away bridges in Canterbury, the inundation of the Auckland Harbour Bridge by cyclists  made headlines too - and sparked a big backlash on talk radio. The subsequent announcement of a new big-budget bridge just for cyclists and walkers further inflamed the divisive urban issue of ‘bikes vs cars’.

Stories about local issues, from housing developments to cycleway constructions, are nearly always illustrated the same way. Mediawatch asked a Voyager-winning photographer why angry people with their arms folded are so ubiquitous in our media.