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May 31, 2015
Native Affairs on Maori TV is the last bastion of TV Journalism
Waatea Team
Posted On May 31, 2015
Native Affairs on Maori TV is the last bastion of TV Journalism
MARTYN BRADBURY
And so it has come to pass. The incredibly popular Campbell Live has been punished and switched off by MediaWorks bosses for doing their job of holding the Government to account.
The new CEO of MediaWorks, Mark Welden, is a good friend of John Key who has been picked by the PM for project after project. His appointment as CEO spelt out an immediate danger to Campbell Live and the pretence of a review for supposedly slumping ratings was shown up for the joke it was as Campbell Live rated higher and higher every day.
Campbell Live was punished for holding the Government to account on child poverty, Novopay, the Christchurch rebuild and mass surveillance. The show gave voice to working people in a way Seven Sharp and Paul Henry's show would never bother with.
The role of the media is to challenge the Government, with many of our mainstream media implicated and involved with helping Cameron Slater smear and attack Government opponents, that role has been terribly damaged over the last 7 years. Campbell Live was one of our few lighthouses on a fairly bleak media landscape.
The loss of his show heralds a dangerously lax time in critical review of a Government who have abused power more than any Government before it.
We are now left with the very excellent Native Affairs on Maori TV to hold high the critical questions which make it uncomfortable for the powerful. Native Affairs has become the benchmark for news integrity and being the last voice to still be able to challenge the powerful leaves them with an enormous responsibility.
If we do not wish to see the total silencing of critical voices, we must rally now to Native Affairs and ensure it survives this 3rd term of a National Government.
Martyn Bradbury
Editor – TheDailyBlog.co.nz
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