15 July 2008

Veitch and real issues

Tony Veitch would not be an issue for the government per se, if the state didn't own TVNZ. Then it would be the matter of a violent man and his victim, and whether or not charges were or weren't brought, and whether she sued for exemplary damages or not. It's interesting to people because he was such a public figure, and frankly what he had to say never interested me one moment.

However, whilst the media circle this issue like piranhas (nothing so feral as the media turning on its own), it remains painfully incapable of offering any educated debate on major political issues that have an impact upon the whole country. Like whether or not education should remain a state monopoly, like whether the state should continue to own the dominant free to air broadcasting channels, like whether the welfare state and the system of pay and neglect is causing more harm than good in low income parts of New Zealand.

Why do people read blogs after all? Yes some bait you to the left and the right, and you know in advance what their views are, but others also give some intelligent insights.

and these are the unpaid blogs, the blogs that aren't run by the newspaper websites. For example, simply because it is my profession, I have yet to see a single New Zealand mainstream media outlet give consistently well researched coverage of transport or censorship issues. The tendency is to quote whatever lobby group or mainstream political reactions there are and take it from there.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

What does the Veitch issue have to do with education or transport or whatever eh?

Veitch should have been put through the court system like any other thug. Unless you think the court system is only for brown thugs who assault Asians eh Scott.

Perigo's position is disgusting and I think you know it -- as a rational man.