RNZ: Mediawatch

Claims that the government "cheated" on carbon emissions made headlines recently, but those in the know said this was actually old news. An international expert in climate change journalism tells Mediawatch it's a sign that reporting the issue needs to change.​

Our media don't usually get in behind a politician angling for a top job, but there's been plenty of cheerleading lately for Helen Clark's campaign to be the UN secretary general.

Is The Herald eating TV's lunch?; natural history out of the vaults and onto the net; media punching below their weight on 'Helen4SG' 

Stories sparked by the Panama Papers keep on coming. Will they encourage more leaks? Or are people with things to hide now wise to the risks?

Mixed messages in the media on seasonal drinking.

A judge's ruling that a police search of the home of journalist Nicky Hager was unlawful has been claimed as a victory by journalists. It became a test case for the principle of journalistic privilege, but Nicky Hager himself recently told Mediawatch he wasn't sure precisely what that meant at the time of the raid. 

Media companies now offer us plenty of online video, both short and long: Netflix, Lightbox, Neon, 3 Now, TVNZ on Demand, WatchMe. But traditional viewing on old fashioned TV sets still makes up the most of our screentime, according to the audience research. Is the demand for on-demand video overstated? 

Each week in 2015, Mediawatch looked at media coverage of issues in the news and tried to put them into context for you. For the last piece of our last show of the year, we mash them up without the context instead - and pay tribute to a radio host who survived a talkback shift from hell last Easter.

'Tis the season to be boozy; How Nicky Hager fought the law and won; The demand for on-demand video; 2015 - the Mediawatch mashup.

The government is under pressure to pay for another costly cancer 'wonder drug'. It's not the first time the media have weighed in on how the nation's pharmaceutical budget should be spent, egged on by vested interests.    

Journalists have long complained that their Official Information Act requests are deliberately delayed and subject to political interference, but a review of the law - the largest ever - by the official watchdog has found no evidence to back up the claims. But does that mean there is no problem?

The brand new Lightpath cycleway in Auckland got glowing coverage in the media - mostly - but a report on one being built in Wellington was all one-way traffic.

Media clamour for new 'wonder drug', the information watchdog's health check on the OIA; contrasting coverage of cycleways

The police ruffled feathers in the media by rifling through the home of a TV journalist this week. She had bought a gun to prove a point and break a story. But they say she broke they law and will be treated like anyone else. But is it also a signal to the media? If so, what message are they getting? 

TV3 has confirmed the canning of its weekly current affairs show 3D. It was no surprise as its owner Mediaworks had already said the show didn't pay its way in a tough TV market, even with public funding. State-owned TVNZ has more viewers and more income, but it is also a commercial broadcaster required to turn a profit. Mediawatch asks the news boss at TVNZ if it is still committed to costly current affairs shows - or likely to follow TV3's lead.