JESUS WEPT - SCALES , WHALES AND A DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE

Well the  Public Relations Instititute of NZ  Fellows - have a job ahead of them this year.

The nominations for  2010 Communicator of the Year are
Judge Andrew Becroft
Glynn Cardy  - Mr Jesus Billboards
Dr Lockwood Smith - the wise and benevolent standard setter for parliamentary behaviour
and Whaling issues supremo  Glenn Inwood.


We think if its down to who has changed public opinions the most  - its Glenn. Simply because a few years ago Everyone loved the anti whaling lobby and no-one loved the Japanese but  public opinion has shifted and more and more people see the anti whalers as grandstanding  wankers who are only concerned about getting the public to fund their boys own piratical fantasies.

And a few years ago we didnt think that this was possible so strong was the anti whaling sentiment - however as a  poll in The Australian showed - more people think the protesters were at fault re the Ady Gil incident.

Results: Whaling showdown

Who do you think is to blame for the collision between a Japanese whaling ship and Sea Shepherd protest boat?

• Whalers 47.06% (1327 votes)
• Protesters 52.94% (1493 votes)

Total votes: 2820

 And there are other opinion polls that have shown a considerable shift of support for the Japanese. 

So we dont think that the " PRINZ  Fellows" will have the balls to vote Glen as the communicator of the year but as far as  a long running PR campaign that has successfully shifted an enormous weight of public opinion -  Glenn wins hands down. 

However we do  think that all nominees are worthy recipients. 

Cardy for poking sacred cows.

Becroft for shedding  light on a dark world
And Lockwood for showing us all that MP's when treated like naughty school children can play nicely in the political sandpit if they are guided the right way.

( Note  BB is a member of Prinz but  did not nominate anyone)

WISH WE HAD SAID THAT

We cant claim to watch breakfast TV. Occasionally we will take a peek at the news at the top of the hour on TV1 but Oliver Driver was always too smarmy for us. 

Paul Henry's irreverence fits us well. 

So we did not even blink when TV3 Sunrise programme got the chop today. TV3 is in the business to make a profit - not to aid our early morning digestion. 

And then we flick over to the Eye to the Long Run Blog  by economist and irreverent cynic Brent Wheeler. 

He says what we wanted to only better. 

Now “Sunrise” – apparently a commercial disaster – falls. But we have a Canterbury University media academic commentator saying…. well with the “owner” being Iron bridge (a private equity group) as owners, we cannot expect a decent owners interest in news…. these guys are only after profits.

So what do you want in a business????? Profit is utterly neutral. It has no interest in left, right or centre…. it ought to be the ultimate owner.

Bad case of be careful what you wish for.

The rest of his pithy blog is here 

VROOM VROOM

Many in the Terrace public servant community have been all a twitter in the last week or so - It seems that Mrs Barry Soper, the lovely Heather du Plessis Allan has been driving a very nice big and very new silver BMW everywhere. So people were asking  - had Barry or his effervescent missus won Lotto. Had Barry bought his missus the car? 

We put that question to Barry today and he  informed  Roarprawn that  he's a Jag man thru and thru  (he has a spanky new S type one)  and the Beemer is a loan car.

Apparently Mrs Soper has her oldish VW Golf on Trademe. And by Mr Sopers reckoning it might fetch as much as a set of tires on the Jag. 

The rumours were much more interesting than the facts.

For the record  - we here at  Roaprawn  - like Mercedes and Volvos. 

SELLING PLUNKET

RNZ is following the Ali Mau school of using your employers money for self promotion. RNZ staff and board are bleating because they cant face change. Government departments have begun the painful but necessary exercise of cutting the cloth to fit reducing budgets. RNZ, which is just a noisy government department, is choosing to indulge in both overt and covert campaigns to garner public support to continue in their present stodgy fashion.

The story of the " crisis" they are facing is running hot on their own news broadcasts and a Facebook has started and already has 3000 members which isn't bad going and it will include a fair share of luminaries.




Some media wags are looking at cake stalls and the like to prop up the books on Facebook .

Noelle McCarthy Fundraising lunch in the tearoom at Hobson St. so that RNZ reporters can enter the Radio Awards. Would the Minister like us to save him a sausage???

Today at 12:43pm · Comment · · View Feedback (32)Hide Feedback (32)

Bill Ralston, David Farrar, David Cohen and 11 others like this.

9 hours ago

Sarah McCarthy

Have anyone a fiver???

Now we like RNZ - we want it to survive but are convinced that some of the staff and a better more commercially focused board could change the way it operates without fundamentally changing the way it presents its programmes.


The thing is there is plenty they can sell, plenty that is commercial. The RNZ brand Sean Plunket is the obvious choice. Not only could he be sponsored on air - he could be sold off after hours with him reaping some of the benefit and RNZ taking a management fee. He's got to be good for $300 k a year if managed right. And it would sort out the argy bargy he has with them over not being able to do stuff after hours.
Who incidentally has 1.2 million links on Google.


As for sponsors? Hmm Stihl chainsaws? Kenworth Trucks? Jeep Cheerokee? Champix maybe?

And same with Kim Hill, actually no on reflection we can't think of a single sponsor for vinegar tits.

And they should bring back Noelle McCarthy - in an afternoon slot. She is good.

She would definitely be a good earner.

RADIO GAGA

It seems RNZ is in for a bit of scrutiny... So what. We know that the state Radio does not celebrate success, it does no support excellence or individual achievement. So it deserves every ounce of scrutiny it gets. We are pretty relaxed about the possible end of RNZ. Will our lives be the lesser for its demise? Probably not.

The broadcasters who we think are leaders in their field will find a home elsewhere and we will follow them. The millions of dollars that go into RNZ could be better spent developing an online presence for a new generation. A new place that is a trusted source of information, news and analysis. A place that meets the need of a digital age.
A place where all New Zealanders feel at home, a place that doesnt just appeal to intellectual masturbaters and onanists but to anyone in search of integrity and truth.