RNZ: Mediawatch

Last week the editor of the Sunday Star Times warned against the dangers of fake news, one of his columnists claimed the media were no longer in the business of news, and a long-time contributor quit saying there wasn't enough room for the analysis of business news. Mediawatch's Jeremy Rose explores the issues.

Chorus of condemnation follows cocaine controversy; fudged facts in immigration debate; change at the top of Maori TV; paper ponders the nature of news.

Chorus of condemnation follows cocaine controversy; fudged facts in immigration debate; change at the top of Maori TV; paper ponders the nature of news.

A merger of New Zealand’s two biggest news publishers has been on the table for the past year. This week the competition watchdog pulled the rug out from under it. Mediawatch asks ex-editors if that was the right move, and what it all tells us about the news business today. 

Fallout from the big media merger knockback; questionable coverage of 'cold cases'; a right royal rumour sparks a full-on media flap.

The anniversary of Madeleine McCann's disappearance half a world away prompted questionable coverage of so-called 'cold cases' in this part of the world.

Rumours about Prince Phillip's health sent the media here into a major flap last Thursday -- and they flapped even more than most of the media in Britain.

One boy grabbed the media’s attention by confronting peaceful protesters on camera at an Anzac Day service in Wellington. But Bill English made no headlines when he gave voice to a prominent pacifist from the past at a ceremony in the capital soon after.

Winston Peters accused The New Zealand Herald of peddling alternative facts on immigration and he questioned the ethics of two of its "immigrant journalists" this week. Did he have a leg to stand on?

It's often said that newspapers are dying off as rapidly as their ageing readers, but newspapers written by and for children are bucking that trend internationally.

Falsehoods flourished in the media during the Brexit vote in the UK and the election in the US last year. In France, the media are fighting fake news with facts together during a turbulent election there.

A man dubbed "the internet's biggest liar" targeted Gerry Brownlee with fake news just one day into his new job as foreign minister.

Outburst sparks ANZAC dissent debate; Winston Peters singles out Herald journalists; kids' papers offer fresh journalism; fighting fake French election news; Brownlee hit by fake news on day one.

A quarter of Denmark's population regularly watch Danish TV dramas, while the highest-rating Kiwi drama attracted an audience of just over 250,000 last year. Mediawatch asks a Danish expert what their secret is.

An historic $2 billion pay equity deal dominated the headlines this week but did the media's focus on the part played by one feisty individual obscure the collective efforts of unions and their members?