Is there too much news about the news?
Is there too much news about the news?
A big week for media and a big week for small apartments
Kia ora and welcome to The Weekend with Madeleine Chapman, in partnership with Kiwi Property.
You’d be forgiven for getting a bit tired of hearing about the news while watching the news. The media is in the unique position of both serving as an all-seeing eye on behalf of New Zealanders while also having the privilege of being able to turn that eye inward and report on itself ad nauseum if it so desires. This week has been one of those weeks, with Three journalists (not the grunts behind the cameras or in the offices, mind you) bidding farewell on various platforms, including ours. (Note: If you’ve ever been fond of Mike McRoberts and/or Samantha Hayes, I do recommend reading their exit interview with Duncan Greive.)
Is it too much? Is it gauche? It’s genuinely hard to know because no other industry has that type of front-facing relationship with its consumers. In December, 800 construction workers lost their jobs four days before Christmas when the company that hired them collapsed. About 500 of those whose jobs were terminated so abruptly were migrant workers. It was duly reported for five days before newsrooms went into summer hiatus mode. The story never returned after the break.
For us, a publication that specialises in TV and culture, among other things, there’s absolutely a number of stories to write about the end of widely watched and regarded shows. We’ll be recapping the end and beginning of AM, Newshub and Stuff’s new venture just as we farewell local sitcoms or personalities and review new shows. But as a story about job losses and industry upheaval? The newsworthiness of that will be in the eye of the beholder.
Behind the Story:
Spinoff founder Duncan Greive has been writing regularly this year on business, politics and pop culture. But his slightly more niche area of interest is the media itself. This week was a big week for the media with AM and Newshub airing their final episodes and a new lease on life for the Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill. Both stories were covered in different format by Duncan this week.
He joins Madeleine Chapman on Behind the Story to talk about what he’s looking for in exit interviews, how he keeps a story interesting over a number of years, and what compels him to write.
Renting in New Zealand sucks, but it doesn't have to
From a six-bedroom basement flat well suited to DNB gigs and unintentional microgreen/mushroom cultivation to a brand new apartment with 24/7 gym, rooftop terrace, and the ability to hang stuff and have pets. One Auckland renter explores a new-to-New Zealand renting solution. Read the full story here. (sponsored)
There’s nothing more political than amateur rugby
The most-read piece of the week (by a healthy margin) was this op-ed from Liam Rātana after a historic win over Auckland Grammar by Dilworth being docked due to an eligibility rule. In Liam’s piece it is heavily suggested (unsurprisingly) that Auckland Grammar was the one to complain to College Sport about the rule breach. Since then, an NZ Herald article has reported Grammar saying they did not raise a complaint. If that’s to be believed, who tipped off College Sport about this very specific and obscure breach? Whatever the case, the win has been forfeited on paper but not to those watching.
Lush and lost on Ponsonby Road
Lush and lost on Ponsonby Road, this week’s Sunday Essay, explores the glitzy yet destructive career of a wine brand manager in Ponsonby. From cocktail hours and VIP events to waking up in strange beds with aggressive men, Becs Tetley must find a way to reconcile with her boozy past and move forward without a glass of wine in each hand.
Which one of you told Lorde she walked like a bitch?
Just an incredible headline for an incredibly funny “investigation” by Alex Casey. If you haven’t listened to ‘girl, so confusing version with Lorde’, do that immediately. Then come back to read this deep dive into the funniest and weirdly most intense lyric of 2024.
The stories Spinoff readers spent the most time with this week
We’re just over halfway through the year and halfway through our 2024 reader-funded editorial project, What’s Eating Aotearoa. At the end of June, readers had spent over 430,000 minutes enjoying all the different flavours of food writing across 26 features and stories. This week Preyanka Gothanayagi’s in-depth Cover Story on how Wellington became a cornucopia of Malaysian food was our top read.
As mentioned above, readers couldn’t get enough of Liam Rātana’s story on the Dilworth Grammar rugby game.
As we chatted about in Behind the Story, Duncan Greive had a busy week, including writing this story about the Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill.
Alex Casey had one question to answer this week: which one of you told Lorde she walked like a bitch?
After discovering Pharmac, Hayden Donnell had some suggestions about what the government should find next.
More recommended reads for your weekend
Welcome Lyric Waiwiri-Smith to The Spinoff editorial team reading her first published story, about the reality of being a bus driver.
Help Me Hera: My neighbours keep pissing on the fence
Episode four of Juggernaut: It’s good and if you’re new, I’d suggest starting from episode one
A strong recommendation from Tara Ward to check out Madam, the new local drama about a Northland brothel
“How I got a reputation for telling my audience to shut it.” No, this was not written by Lorde but our newest music columnist Vera Ellen.
Still confused about what you can and can’t recycle? Shanti Mathias tries (again) to explain. Check out the comments for Alice Neville’s valiant attempt to be the official recycling helpdesk.
Speights, apricots, oats – Otago is a bread basket, and there’s plenty of interesting work happening around the region to keep it that way. Food security and sustainability are top of mind for Miranda Mirosa, Head of the Food Science Department at University of Otago, and Rory Harding, founder of George Street Orchard. Join our guests and host Sophie Gilmour to celebrate and eat local kai and to explore a better food future for Aotearoa.
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Reader feedback of the week
“All you ladies pop your zussy like this”
On the argument Claire Mabey and I had about whether The Bear sucks now
“Team Madeleine here. Season 3 rambles along in a disjointed and pointless fashion. It's like it was made because they had to rather than had anything to say. Boo!”
On Liam Rātana’s assessment of the Matariki public holiday
“Thank for you this essay. I think its a good reflection of where things at, definitely a positive shift for our Aotearoa. There will always be little wrinkles and some won't engage - but thats similar to similar debates re Anzac Day and Christmas. I am heartened by the continued growth of knowledge by many. For example,
- I know most of the basics pretty well now, but my first encounter with Matariki was at uni in 2006 or 2007 when the then government created a giveaway Matariki calendar. I had no idea what thatwas about!
- my 5yo nephew learned about it in school and gave me a paper matariki ball with stars on it Friday morning - that wouldn't have happened 3 years ago! :)”
Thanks for reading and see you next week,
— Madeleine Chapman
