I was delighted because everyone likes to feel important. I was peturbed because no-one seems to be talking about Rawnsley anymore. Even TV3 have gone quiet on the story, after twenty-four hours of making hay. Incidentally, we (royal 'we', as used by Benson-Pope) have fallen out of the top ten, but only because the original story is being rehased on other news sites. Nothing new is being brought to light, no fulminations in the opinion columns.
I can't help wondering - is the story being killed? If Tarquin at TVNZ mentioned to Miranda at TV3 that this story didn't need to be followed up too vigorously, and also dropped a line to Peirs at the Dom Post, that would have the desired effect.
This is a bad thing. In part it is an inevitable a consequence in part of being a small nation, with so many of the same names and faces being involved in so many differnet aspects of the media (oh, I mean like Matthew Rea-Rankin being a former HR manager for TVNZ) (2), because everyone knows everyone and everyone wants to avoid treading n toes because they might need a favour or a job from someone further down the line ("Piers, could you NOT run that story about me, the cocaine and the lesbian romp with three prostitutes? Tad embarrassing now that I'm on the list for National!! Cheers, Angelika"). The other problem is the super-concentration of media ownership in New Zealand. There isn't much left that isn't owned by Can West or Fairfax, and that doesn't encourage diverse or indenpendent opinions.
1 - "Headstone of Leonard Louis RAWNSLEY," a website operated by the State Library of Tasmania. (http://eheritage.statelibrary.tas.gov.au/resources/detail.aspx?LOCATION=Tasmanian+Family+History+Society+Inc.+Launceston+Branch&page=1214&ID=LFH_10576)
2 - As per the Rankin Group Ltd website, as of the 9th of August 2007. (http://www.rankingroup.co.nz/aboutus.html)
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