RNZ: Mediawatch

The Pike River coalmine disaster 3 years on;the perils of promoting products in the media;reporters react to sporting snubs;how the German giant buying our magazines became a global player.

Two broadcasters are off the air over their response to the 'Roastbusters' story. Does this also reveal a real threat to media freedom? Mediawatch asks a top editor, an advertisers' advocate and a former talk radio manager who's handled on-air outrages in the past.

The Mediawatch team runs through recent queries and comment from listeners on... the fallout from reporting the Super City mayor's affair; sleazy offers of smutty stardom; content partnerships and freebie-driven travel writing; Maori TV rocking the waka; Ko turns pro; inappropriate headlines and incongruous ads.

A TV news scoop sparks anguished debate about the culture of teenagers, Police and talk radio; TV3's news chief on the channel's changing current affairs; more major magazines set to change hands; yet another shopping channel hits the screen.

Are recent revelations about New Zealand journalists under surveillance signs of a state that hates the Fourth Estate? Does the media have their own staff under surveillance and TVNZ closes the last of its digital channels.

A survey suggesting we don't trust our media, the scary but spiritual moment when the big quake hit last weekend, the wall-to-wall coverage of the birth of a new prince, how a TV talent show trumped several other stories in the news and the weird world of reporting conflicts which don't actually exist.

An extraordinary court case pitting a journalist against the armed forces; foreign spellings online; a yarn from the archives showing snooping on phone calls is nothing new.

Sexism at Wimbledon; a premature prediction of a political coup; the media's role in rolling an Aussie leader, and; fears and hopes for the future of in-depth journalism in the digital age.

Mediawatch looks at how there's lots in the media about exotic destinations, air travel and flash cars because travel agents, airlines and car-makers cover the costs. But do the pipers paying the bills also call the tune? Also on Mediawatch: Fact and fiction in the ongoing GCSB saga; and startling stats that overstated our appetite for takeaways.

The media focus on Nelson Mandela; a new free-to-air TV sports channel and new competitors for Sky TV - but do they really change the game for sport on TV?; political kingmaking in the media at a time of anxiety about espionage.

Sizing up the 'polar blast'; Mediaworks calls in the receivers; Sky outbid for soccer; the end of the line for Truth - and a look back at its past; a reporter responds to controversial claims about women in political journalism.

The Mediawatch team runs through listeners' queries and comments and updates recent stories from the programme. This month: The cartoon controversy; fact and opinion in political reporting; the death of diversity in Dunedin; birdcall bungle slapdown; Morning Report's blast form the past; too many species of kiwi; charitable companies; the return of the Tsar; hammering Hanmer pronunciation.

The spying scoop that scuppered a minister and put the reporter who secured the story in the spotlight; RNZ's next boss on why he wanted the job and what he hopes to achieve and the politician pilloried for comparing Key and Muldoon.

Will the recent row over racism sparked by two newspaper cartoons have a lasting impact on the artists and their editors?; slip-ups in a major international story; TV cooking contests are intruding on TV news; how one of many claiming to be Jesus had has plenty of TV exposure lately.

The media and politicians: are the media now calling the shots? And if so, why are so many media people in Parliament, or trying to get in?; a paper publishing handy hints for hackers; little people in the ring; and a birdcall bungle.