Midweek Mediawatch

In this episode of Midweek Mediawatch, host Emilie Tait is joined by RNZ senior podcast producer Phil Vine as a stand-in for absent co-host Colin Peacock, who is grieving a family bereavement. The discussion opens with a landmark decision by New Zealand’s Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA) confirming its jurisdiction over online content hosted by broadcaster Sean Plunkett, sparking fierce backlash from figures like Winston Peters and Laura McClure, who labeled the move fascist and called for the BSA’s abolition. The episode then shifts to two major US court rulings against Meta and Google, where juries found the tech giants liable for harm to children, drawing comparisons to the tobacco litigation of the 1990s. Experts like Tristan Harris and Asa Raskin highlight the 'attention economy' and propose 'latency' as a legal tool to disrupt addictive design. Coverage in New Zealand media is noted as intense, with editorial commentary framing big tech’s downfall as long overdue. The spotlight turns to Lebanon, where Israel’s strikes have killed over 1,100 people and claimed the lives of three journalists, raising urgent questions about journalistic protection under international law. The episode closes with a look at Tova O'Brien’s debut on TVNZ’s Breakfast Show, where her quirky use of terms like 'iterative' and 'pistor' drew both praise and amusement, with comparisons to Kim Hill. The tone is analytical, critical, and occasionally humorous, reflecting on media power, legal precedent, and the evolving role of journalism in conflict and digital culture.