Colin Peacock

Big tech platforms have failed to tackle the misinformation and toxicity they spread - and their dominance of the market for digital media revenue is becoming increasingly obvious. Australia's…

This week's call that Auckland must linger longer in Level 3 - but with picnics and double bubbles - upset those who wanted more freedom, those who saw it as waving the white flag and those demanding…

Opposition parties’ plans for lockdown-free Covid management and re-opening our borders made headlines this week - kicked off former PM John Key last weekend. All of them dangled the prospect of free…

A new campaign is urging people with possible symptoms of cancer to get a diagnosis - and never mind the lockdown.  This week two media outlets claimed  'almost half of new cancers' went undetected…

As the lockdown in Auckland lengthened, the exposure of one couple’s rule-breaking prompted a predictably intense pile-on. Ironically, that actually helped to keep their names out of the headlines -…

Few journalists on the planet have more experience of reporting terrorism than the BBC’s Peter Taylor. He has spent half a century covering Northern Ireland’s ‘Troubles - a consequence of the…

Twenty years after the 9/11 attacks prompted the US to invade Afghanistan, the Taliban announced they’ve taken the whole country again this week. Journalists who remain there are at risk in spite of…

Mediawatch looks at how our media covered the struggle to contain the Delta variant -- and how media reports of Covid clusters in Auckland this week sparked racist responses and claims that the…

Unknown cyber-criminals sent stolen information to the media to pile on pressure to pay a ransom. RNZ subsequently aired a scoop sourced from it before a court ordered all media to dump the dodgy…

Mediawatch’s weekly catch-up with Lately. Colin Peacock talks to Karyn Hay about what the media made of an Olympics that turned out better than many expected in Tokyo - or did it? National Party…

The recent Groundswell protest put farmers’ grievances about the government’s environmental policies front and centre. Good timing for a new six-part documentary series exploring the dairy industry,…

A year ago, a trial of armed police teams was scrapped with opponents adopting the slogan ‘Arms Down.’ One year on, some in the media are now amplifying calls for arming all officers after the death…

At the biggest national protest for years last week, farmers made it clear they're unhappy with the government and they feel unloved by the country - and the media. The media coverage also revealed a…

Mediawatch’s weekly catch-up with Lately. Colin Peacock talks to Karyn Hay about controversial sportscaster Martin Devlin reportedly returning to the radio; the Forever War in Afghanistan; football…

Twenty years after the US invaded Afghanistan in pursuit of Al Qaeda, it suddenly pulled its troops out this week.  It’s the end of the longest war in modern history in which 3500 New Zealanders also…

A discussion document on proposed hate speech laws generated plenty of discussion in the media - and spurious claims that merely insulting people could be criminalised. Some senior journalists seized…

A new national radio network dedicated to sport will go live on air on Monday 19 July - just in time for the Tokyo Olympics. Australian-owned SENZ will fill a void left by the closure of NZME's Radio…

A counter-terrorism hui intended to help heal the wounds inflicted in Christchurch two years ago sparked a walk-out which hit the headlines. 

While record-breaking floods threatened to sweep away bridges in Canterbury, the inundation of the Auckland Harbour Bridge by cyclists  made headlines too - and sparked a big backlash on talk radio.…

More than a year after Radio Sport shut down, an Australian outfit wants to set up a new national network here - and it's hired some big names to get it off the ground. But who is driving this across…

A new analysis finds media coverage is more important than ever after Covid in shaping our perception of leaders’ success, trustworthiness  and transparency (or a perceived lack of them). But - as we…

Newstalk ZB sports host Martin Devlin was back on air this weekend, after he apologised for lashing out at one junior colleague - and sending inappropriate messages and unwanted invitations to women…

Mediawatch's weekly catch-up with Lately. This week Colin Peacock talks to Karyn Hay about the media targeted in Gaza live on TV - and the Gaza crisis spilling over into sport on screen. Also - an…

China used to deny or ignore media queries about the human rights of the ethnic Uighur minority. But before our government debated its response in Parliament this week, China’s embassy held an…

To sell or not to sell a slice of the commercial rights to New Zealand rugby was the squabble that pre-occupied the sports media this week. But the media couldn’t agree on who has the power over the…