Stories by Colin Peacock

Farmers in drought-stricken regions are having a tough time right now, but do recent reports of environmentally-inspired hostility putting their mental health at risk really stack up? 

Mediawatch's weekly catch-up with Lately. This week Colin talks to Karyn Hay about a chilling picture of the White Island rescue risks, RNZ's ads riling the rest of the media, more on Critic's…

BusinessDesk was an independent agency supplying the media with news and commentary for more than a decade. Now it’s offering “world-class coverage of NZ business and how the world works” for $250 a…

The deaths of Hannah Clarke and her children at the hands of husband with a history of violence were so shocking that many reports warned people in advance the details were distressing. But breathless…

Mediawatch's weekly catch-up with Lately. This week Colin talks to Karyn Hay about tensions over 'those' photos of two journalists investigating NZ First, Breakfast burn-out, how a poke at the woke…

Kevin Kenrick leads the broadcaster that pulls in the biggest audiences in the country and the most money from advertising. But TVNZ - like state-owned RNZ - will be folded into a new public media…

RNZ Concert’s proposed relegation to the 'sub-optimal-for-symphonies' AM band was short-lived, but the government freeing up another FM frequency for RNZ raises more questions about what will be…

RNZ’s planning a new music brand based in Auckland to hook younger people. But RNZ Concert will make way for it on FM and be reduced to an automated service with no human hosts. That has sparked a…

The government's been criticised for making ts long-awaited plan for public broadcasting behind closed doors. This week the broadcasting minister Kris Faafoi lifted the lid a little, but the new…

Mediawatch's weekly catch-up with Lately. This week Colin Peacock talks to Bryan Crump about RNZ's big music shake-up. Also - the media memorialising Mike Moore, an ODT reporter's sudden departure -…

Cabinet has approved the idea of a new public service outfit to replace state-owned RNZ and TVNZ by 2023 - but they want more details from the broadcasting minister. So does the public and the rest of…

Organised broadcast radio is 100 years old this year - and it's not just alive, but still kicking pretty hard. Some say surviving and even outliving other media and technological changes make it the…

Gordon McLauchlan - who died this week - cast a critical eye on New Zealand’s life (“boring”) and people (“smiling zombies”). He also zeroed in on our media and PR industry with wisdom gained during a…

Super Rugby kicked off earlier than ever before last Friday under the slogan 'Rugby Recoded'. Last year Sky TV broke the bank to retain the live rights but critics claim the competition's profile has…

A deeply inappropriate cartoon in the Otago Daily Times sparked demonstrations at the paper's door this week as well as discontent among the paper's own people. It reminded editors potentially…

This month the government will decide how to fund public broadcasting in the future – and ponder replacing RNZ and TVNZ with a brand new organisation. This week Mediawatch looks at how Australia…

Former public broadcasting boss and Listener editor Ian Cross died earlier this month aged 93 leaving behind a lasting legacy in New Zealand journalism. He also presided over the creation of TVNZ and…

It's been almost impossible to avoid distressing details in the news this week from two big murder trials in which young women were the victims - but one detail withheld is the identity of one of the…

As Facebook faces legal pushback in the US for exploiting users’ data, three reporters here produced eye-opening cautionary tales of online intrusion into people’s most private stuff for commercial…

A fawning portrait of our PM has been condemned as creepy and sexist hours after it aired in Australia. But while that made headlines here, her part in a recent overseas broadcast marking a political…

Toni Street and Mike Hosking are quitting TVNZ’s Seven Sharp to spend more time with their families - and their respective radio networks. What next for a show that's often in the news because of its…

Virtual reality and 360 video are already part of the mix for big names in online news overseas. Now two new projects here have had a crack at it with funding from the public purse. Is “immersive…

TV reporter Thomas Mead was confronted with the worst consequences of ethnic extremism in his home town on March 15 2019 - and his reporting was seen around the world. Mediawatch asks how it has…

Analysis - Simon Tong's future as managing director of Fairfax Media was as uncertain as the future of the media company he led, writes Colin Peacock

The Fijian Prime Minister was "making up facts for a speech" when he criticised NZ media yesterday, says a journalist he has blacklisted.