Protest finale, Investigative journalism? RIP Shane Warne and more.

We have a bumper issue of the newsletter this week, with contributions from quite a few people. And what a week it's been! The main event of the week, here in our country, has been the end of the protest at Parliament in Wellington. It came to a fairly quick end once the police moved in. In a previous newsletter, I'd expressed concern at how much leeway the police were giving protestors. I think, with the actions of last week, it was becoming clear that the protestors needed to be moved on.

It's been interesting to monitor the social media accounts of those behind the protests and see how much they're rationalising things (at least in my opinion). They're clearly "smarting" from the perceived loss - especially in that they didn't achieve their goal of ending mandates and having the government meet with them directly.

Of course, the world is focused on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. I've nothing specific to say about that in this newsletter apart from acknowledging the situation. It's certainly likely that misinformation and propaganda will play a part, and has already done so with Putin's announcements.

There's plenty to talk about, so let's dig in.

Craig Shearer

Last Wednesday, the “anti-mandate” protest at the Parliament Grounds in Wellington, which had lasted for 23 days, came to an end. It was not an end that the protestors wanted, but was forced on them ... (879 words)

Category: News

Craig Shearer

Speaking of Voices for Freedom, last weekend investigative journalist Melanie Reid from Newsroom did a video piece on the protest - Visit to Freedom Village - which featured the Voices for Freedom ... (488 words)

Category: News

Craig Shearer

Just what are freedoms that the protest groups are saying are being trampled on and restricted? Two senior lecturers in Psychology at the University of Canterbury wrote a good piece on The ... (143 words)

Category: News

Craig Shearer

I've written about Liz Gunn before. She used to be a respected broadcaster on TVNZ's One News, but has now gone well down the rabbit hole. Last year she claimed that an earthquake was Mother Nature's ... (195 words)

Category: News

Craig Shearer

We don't often cover sports stories in our newsletter, and I'm certainly not one for writing them, but yesterday we heard the news of the untimely death of Shane Warne, the Australian Cricketer. ... (250 words)

Category: News

Colin Woodhouse

__ The population of New Zealand is changing – and not just because there are more of us, including many new immigrants, or because people are living longer. The other great change is that fewer ... (745 words)

Category: News