Stories by Colin Peacock

Mediawatch looks at the response to the revelation of 'inappropriate editing' of online world news at RNZ - and asks two experts what may come out of the investigation into how it happened. Also…

Years before the Grenfell Tower fire killed 72 residents, it was foreshadowed by another fatal fire in London which wasn't adequately investigated. A journalist who has worked on that story for six…

The nation’s news outlets aren’t usually interested in local government ructions in the south, but deep rifts in one dysfunctional council have made many headlines lately. When a ‘showdown’ meeting in…

Brian Tamaki couldn't get on TV last weekend to announce the launch of a new umbrella movement to contest the next election. But other political leaders had better luck recently week getting a media…

US-based NewsGuard is rating New Zealand's significant news sites for reliability - and even preparing ‘nutrition labels’ to warn users to treat them with caution. NewsGuard is also using human…

Midweek Mediawatch - Mediawatch's weekly catch-up with Nights. Colin Peacock talks to Mark Leishman about criticism of the Coronation coverage - and the PM grilled by the BBC on republicanism and…

The Coronation this weekend was an historic event that anointed a new head of state for us for the first time in 70 years - and also a made-for-media spectacle that captivated broadcasters. After the…

After putting almost all its news online for free for a quarter of a century, Stuff launched subscription-based websites this weekend for its biggest daily papers - The Press, Waikato Times and The…

The government is beefing up RNZ’s budget after scrapping the new public media entity it planned over four years. But what’s the ‘broadcasting strategy for all New Zealanders’  the minister says he’s…

This week the prospect of pizza by drone from store-to-door hit the headlines again - seven years years after a similar PR fly-by prompted stories insisting this was just around the corner for needy…

Mediawatch looks at the results of the biggest annual survey of New Zealanders’ trust in news - which shows it’s on the slide for the fourth year in a row. For the first time it also shows many of us…

The government has boosted the annual budget of RNZ by more than 50 percent for the next four years after the recent collapse of the plan for a new public media entity. The broadcasting minister also…

TVNZ’s chief executive Simon Power has resigned and will leave in June after just 15 months in the role - during which a new public media entity to replace TVNZ was scrapped. He’s the second media…

Why did MediaWorks kill a network launched with heavy hype only a year ago - which was also the source of news for half the country's commercial stations? The major media company also scrubbed the…

Midweek Mediawatch: Colin Peacock talks to Susana Lei’ataua about the advertising watchdog scuppering an expensive and important TV advert - and a surprise rise in the media’s income from…

An RNZ investigation lifted the lid this week on lobbyists and how they communicate with politicians outside the public gaze or official oversight. But it also raised questions for the media about how…

The fly-in fly-out visit of provocateur Posie Parker was obviously a divisive issue - with people going to court to try to prevent it and then taking to the streets when that failed. Opponents drowned…

An RNZ investigation this week revealed ministers and their staff are messaged by lobbyists using apps out of the public gaze - but discoverable under the OIA. In the UK, one minister’s messages…

The National Party unveiled two dove-tailed policies last weekend - pumping up childcare subsidies while cutting down on consultants to cover the cost. Mediawatch looks at how the media ran the rule…

Media on the ground in cyclone-hit communities found road-blocks and local people reporting looting, theft and threats backed up with firearms. Meanwhile police and politicians insisted there was no…

Once the scale of Cyclone Gabrielle’s destruction became clear, politicians of all parties agreed restoring and improving our infrastructure is our top priority. We’re told we’ve underinvested in it…

Midweek Mediawatch: Colin Peacock talks to Susana Lei'ataua about coverage of Cyclone Gabrielle's destruction - and the backlash against talk radio hosts who played the disaster down early on. Also…

Our media were in emergency mode yet again this week, offering hours of extra coverage on air, online and in print. Outlets in the hardest-hit places reported the basics - even without access to…

The PM has confirmed what pundits have predicted for weeks: the plan for a public media entity has been scrapped – before they even settled on a name for it. It’s the second time in five years…

The communications failures following the downpour  - now under review - weren’t all Wayne Brown’s fault, but the mayor’s antagonistic and arm's-length management prolonged a media pile-on which…