MEDIA MADNESS

I imagine Labour MP Charles Chauvel has been reflecting on the state of the New Zealand media over the last couple of days.

Indeed, choosing his words carefully, he expressed some of his views to Maggie Barry on Radio Live yesterday afternoon.

Chauvel said that, on occasions, he had at least ten journalists pursuing him for comment about the allegations of a right wing blogger that he had told his children to shut up during a weekend flight.

Chauvel is Labour's spokesperson on climate change and he pointedly observed that he has difficulty getting the media interested in Labour's views on climate change issues.

Chauvel isn't the only victim of the media's obsession with trivia and pap.

Last week the evolutionary biologist and popular science author Richard Dawkins gave two sold out lectures in Auckland and Christchurch.

He was ignored by both TVNZ and TV3. Neither media organisations thought that Dawkins was important to warrant an extended in-depth interview. But they were quite prepared to waste journalistic resources on pursing a ludicrous story whipped up by a right wing blogger with an axe to grind.

Then again neither channels have any serious interview shows. These days, everything is just a bit of a laugh and a giggle.

One person did think Richard Dawkins was important enough to warrant a comprehensive interview. Congratulations to Graeme Hill on Radio Live who talked with Professor Dawkins for over an hour on his Saturday show. Fascinating stuff. You can hear the interview here.