Tuesday, 09 May 2023 12:55

Bought off?

Written by The Hound

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OPINION: There has been a lot of public scepticism and controversy about the Government's $55 million-odd Public Interest Journalism Fund (PIJF), which has seen various media outlets take this funding on certain conditions about how they report or not report on issues.

The final tranche of the PIJF was recently announced and this old mutt was surprised to find that a certain weakly (sic) farming publication has stuck its nose into the taxpayer trough and secured $90,000 in Government funding.

It's a fair bet this publication's on-going pro-Government stance on things like on-farm emissions taxes paid off in it gaining this handout.

However, your canine crusader reckons it would be advisable for readers to take what this publication reports in regard to Government policies - especially with an election approaching - with a large grain of salt!

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True Reflection?

A fair question has been raised about how member-funded organisations should conduct themselves when taking a public position on any given issue.

Stuffed!

The canine crusader always has his nose in the air for more media maleficence, so was pointing as soon as he saw the Stuff headline: ‘Wellington residents respond to PM saying he doesn’t need his job!’.

Civil Circus!

OPINION: It really is getting harder to lampoon government bureaucrats when they do such a good job of it themselves.

Anyone in the primary sector will know about the clowns covering the countryside in the red tape we all have to wade through.

Spare a thought then for media outfit Stuff who were threatened with fines up to $200,000 by a snivelling civil servant from the MoH for illustrating a quiz question with a photo of part of the cover of a 45-year-old copy Playboy.

As Stuff notes, “It wasn’t the Playboy cover which caused offence. No, it was the back page which… featured an advert for a cigarette brand”.

As Regulations Minister David Seymour notes, “The real scandal here is, well, no wonder we’ve got problems in healthcare when they’re doing the Stuff quiz during work time.”

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OPINION: After all the criticism that Winston Peters leveled at the India/NZ FTA, it seemed just a trifle ironic to the Hound that the first NZ politician to visit India after Prime Minister Modi's visit was a member of the Ewe Zealand First party.

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OPINION: Your old mate reckons townie Brooke van Velden, the Minister of Workplace (or is it Woke Place) Relations is now showing how underemployed she is as a minister by initiating an investigation into whether young children should be banned from collecting eggs on farms and feeding animals.

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