MANGAWHAI'S NO.1 NEWSPAPER
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Ed Said - Accentuate the positives, eliminate the negativesIt may seem a little odd to criticise the media being in the business ourselves but there is a gulf of difference between a little hyper-local paper and ‘news of the day’ delivered by media moguls.
NZ Herald is my computer home page, for no special reason, and as it pops up I scan the headlines, briefly, read the odd opening paragraph of anything that catches my attention then, probably within 15 minutes, my appetite for world events is completely satisfied. Though a long-time subscriber to the Northern Advocate I can usually read anything of interest to me in the time it takes the jug to boil for my early morning cuppa. Best not to be too critical as owners of both publications, NZME, print The Focus at their Ellerslie plant. Recently I received a phone call offering me the Herald for three weeks entirely free of charge. I usually consider that if anything is offered free, then that’s about all it’s worth – and so it proved. The first delivery was a Saturday morning. I was exhausted extricating it from my letterbox and was on the point of calling 111 for assistance when it finally succumbed to extreme dentistry. I now understand the uproar about felling forestry as I had several hectares of first grade, exportable trees jammed into my letterbox. It’s not just the fact that the Saturday paper is a broadsheet, it also includes a 92- page real estate supplement, a 40-page auto section, similar size for food, then one for fashion, one for entertainment and another tempting you to invest in world travel. All in all about three kilograms, most of which remained unopened, except for the entertainment section wherin lay the cryptic crossword. Not even one day’s respite and the Sunday Herald arrived next morning, then the next morning and the next, ad infinitum. Finally, today, the last of my ‘free’ papers has arrived so, showing incredible control and determination, I resolve to be more objective and go through it page by page. The outside is covered with 355 shotgun cartridges, depicting the number of mass killings in the USA this year. Following headlines refer to ‘Quake City’, death probe, CYF failed youths, cyber bullying, stabbing, El Nino threatens dry summer, massacre, TV addicts risk brain damage… and that’s not halfway through. The result was little short of nausea. Is this really what constitutes news? Is there nothing positive in the world or is good news not exciting? I think I’ll just stick to local in future. Even that has some negatives but at least with a large helping of goodwill, caring communities can solve most problems without their becoming all-consuming on a worldwide basis. One big positive regarding my free Herald was that the 25kg of paper amassed was taken to our local school recycling bin earning my 9-year-old granddaughter the conservation award certificate for the month. Lesson learnt – beware of free offers and Focus on the positive. - Rob |