Old and new media romps in…

"Look at your man, now back to me. Now back at your man, now back to me. ... Sadly, he isn't me ..."

Discount slightly the gushing, dewy-eyed hype about Facebook and Twitter and this is STILL a real advertising campaign success story. My goodness yes. AND it uses social media in a clever, very deliberate and savvy, self-aware way. Watch this:

Old Spice Social Case Study from Digital Buzz on Vimeo.

The excellent writing (“Look at your man, now back to me. Now back at your man, now back to me. … Sadly, he isn’t me, but if he used Old Spice body wash he could smell like he’s me …”) … wow, clever … and the dreamboat ‘beefcake’ model, the location filming of the commercial and the special effects all work together really well. But cheap, it ain’t. Look at all the extra filming and huge effort that went into the feedback part of the ‘response campaign’.

Just the confident attitude of the television campaign makes it a winner, in my book — and the smart idea of targetting women (who BUY the product, doh!)

Well done, Old Spice. Funky.

(Thanks to reader Matt Stenning for the tip.)

‘Vendetta’ and ‘hate campaign’?

Interesting to see Brian Edwards recently accused of these ‘failings’ with respect to Paul Henry by anonymous commenters on his blog. (Unless ‘Dwossie Bleu-Bleu’ is a name?)

My own views of Paul Henry and his (un)suitability for TV are summed up in Say goodbye to Paul Henry the abusive try-hard. But I’m not running a ‘hate’ campaign either.

In my observation, allegations of ‘vendetta’ are swiftly hurled at any critic with an attention span. – P

Transparency journalism

Using new and old tools to tell the truth.
image: Azerbaijan Media Center (click)

I hadn’t heard this term:

The insider described transparency journalism – a phrase not used by the [WikiLeaks] organisation until today – as ”journalism that tells a true story and then backs it up by publishing source documents that also provide the truth.’

I like it.

Source: WikiLeaks founder to stay – insiderSydney Morning Herald 8 Sept 2010 (last paragraph).

As part of my formal journalism training, then as a professional reporter covering some pretty contentious news rounds … and then as a political reporter at Parliament, I’ve learned to routinely archive information to back up my stories and claims — and to justify my commentary and opinions. I’ve done it for years.

You never know when your ‘recollections’ will be challenged, or you’ll be asked to explain your basis for a conclusion. Our lawyers at Radio NZ News were pretty robust in their encouragement for us to slay dragons — but stressed we should have the facts to back up assertions: from the headline to the smallest details of a news story. It’s a reassuring feeling.

It was SOP for cabinet ministers’ Press Secretaries to record my interviews with their minister — a good practice for keeping both sides honest, frankly.

Some habits die hard and carrying a spiral bound notebook to jot salient facts into is one I still practise. It’s useful to be able to dive back and refresh one’s memory about some matter or the other — if someone used a particular turn of phrase, or details of claims or promises made, relationships, features of past interactions. It’s a good way to do things.

Let’s face it, e-mail has made the whole ‘I said, he said, you said’ game so much easier, and I’ve mentioned before my delight with how valuable the artificial intelligence of DEVONthink makes my collection of data and web archives. Awesomely powerful.

Of course, those (few) who criticise me and accuse me of ‘smear campaigns’ and ‘spreading lies’ etc also sometimes complain that they (really) don’t like how I ‘cross-thread’ and ‘link to old information’ … but I do that — almost as a reflex — quoting sources to prove I’m not making it up. (I couldn’t make up some of the stuff I quote. It’s just too whacky, the marketing claims simply too hyperbolic, or gauche some of it. I don’t have the imagination.)

Well, now, thanks to WikiLeaks, I have a new term for what I’ve aimed to do:

Transparency journalism

(And here I thought I was just blogging… sniff.)

– P

Making things happen

from Liberty - published by Ubuntu (click to enlarge)

I’m reading a book of John F. Kennedy quotes with a foreword by Desmond Tutu and good biographical introduction which touches on Kennedy’s life.

It highlights how his struggles with health and his father’s ambition were part of what led to his aspirational speeches and his call to work for ‘peace’ with ‘courage’ — real encouragement. It’s very good.
This page (right) popped out, last night.

Other big hits for me were:

Too often… we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought

.

We must never forget that art is not a form of propaganda;
it is a form of truth.

Look, even if these were penned by bright speechmakers, it’s brilliant that he spoke them out.

Also of note is that, in his own terms, he didn’t go into ‘politics’ he pursued ‘public service’ — often siding with the underprivileged in his society. I don’t care about the Kennedy bashers, I’m still inspired by him.

His Master’s Voice?

Gromit has a sense of history. Click for a laugh (image: BBC)

Cameron Brewer — a fresh face

Not your average aspiring local body politician.

I had the pleasure of Cameron Brewer‘s company at a looong lunch at the Auckland Club a while back — a gaggle organised by David McEwen. (Thanks again, David.)

He’s an ebullient, engaging guy — and pretty clean-cut, it seemed to me. Just like his well-designed billboards, one of which I spotted yesterday.

I may or may not share his politics (I don’t know). But if local body politics is what he wants, good luck to him, I say. We could do a lot worse.

Blimey! Lucky.

University of Canterbury, Christchurch — earthquake damage. Just two of the shots …

Imagine if it had struck at 4.35 PM instead of 4.35 AM. Imagine if that was your workstation. So lucky.

Photos: University of Canterbury, via NZ Herald (click for more).

Take 4 minutes …

This is so good…

Rhian Sheehan - Standing in Silence - Part 3 (Niva's Tune) {click to watch video}

… just take the 4 minutes and 8 seconds to watch and listen to this. What a great use of bandwidth.
Thank you Rhian Sheehan. Thank you for giving your gift.

Watch the video below the foldContinue reading →

New blossom springs from old tree

New blossom from an old tree (click to enlarge)

I just wanted to share this pic from a walk yesterday.

The sight of new blossoms springing from an old, severely-pruned (hacked?) tree near Macleans Reserve spoke to me.

Not in a melancholy way — although it was my second Father’s Day without one, which I felt — but in an encouraging way.

That gnarled old tree, moss-covered and chopped back so heavily (but with good roots) was doing its bit for Spring. Putting it out there. Great.

Now that I write this, it reminds of the line the BMX kid tells Frosty Man

You’re never too old, bro.
You’re never too old.

– P

A gift

To quote Robbie Burns:

Scotland's favourite son, poet Robbie Burns, 1759–1796 (image: guardian.co.uk)

Oh wad some power the giftie gie us
To see oursel’s as others see us!
It wad frae monie a blunder free us,
And foolish notion.

With appreciation to Steve Goodey for offering me a gift this week. I mean it. Thanks for the feedback.

Steve still hasn’t published my 31 August comment in reply to his ‘smear smite and bash’ post about thePaepae.com … a full five days later, it’s probably a lost cause.

So I guess in Steve Goodey-speak “I’d really like to hear your opinion” … translates as “I’d really like to hear your opinion unless you’re Peter Aranyi (or you disagree with me)”?

That’s a pity — and contrasts with the approach I try to take with critics (even ‘Anonymous 3.27am‘ and ‘Slapper’) — which has no doubt been influenced by my background and experience. Refer to my former ‘Morning Report’ colleague Kim Hill’s comments about public disagreements quoted in this post. – P

The truth can be harsh

Respected business journalist/commentator Rod Oram’s assessment of the collapse of the HUGE South Canterbury Finance and supremo Allan Hubbard’s role in the demise is less confrontational than Bernard Hickey’s Please say sorry and thanks ‘open letter’ piece — but in its way, just as scathing.

Ask Allan Hubbard if he thinks 'ALL publicity is good publicity'. It's not really true, is it?

Failing to respond to criticism has become one of the themes of this blog, and Allan Hubbard’s story could serve as a salutary lesson (yes, I know that’s a ciché) to those whose response to awkward questions is to pull up the drawbridge.

As I said earlier, I don’t know enough to make a judgement about Allan Hubbard — and anyone who has been in a financially tight situation, with cash flows turning against you and pressure building MUST sympathise with the circumstances he found himself in and the heavy personal cost. I certainly wish him no ill.

Hubbard was chairman of South Canterbury Finance until earlier this year; his board was small and made up of local business partners and friends; a high proportion of its lending was to related parties; its auditor was a tiny Timaru accounting firm and its trustee was Hubbard’s second employer as a young man.

Hubbard’s fierce loyalists say that’s how business is done locally. Sadly, that’s true. That might be OK for a small business owner when he’s on personal terms with all his lenders and borrowers.

But it was no way to run South Canterbury Finance, even back in 2000 when it had only $400m of assets. And once it began soon after to aggressively drum up deposits [Comment: SPRUIKING, in other words?] and seek ever-riskier investments, it started down the slippery slope to failure. Continue reading →

Te Radar’s Eating the Dog — well done

Last night I was packed into a school hall with a bunch of my neighbours — not because we’d been evacuated from earthquake-damaged homes like the afflicted of Canterbury, although they were on our minds — as part of the audience of a very clever, well-written and well-delivered ‘romp through the pages of our history’.

Very funny, and I learned something. A night well spent. (click)

Te Radar’s Eating the Dog show was a delight. Packed with wit and banter, oozing with quirky facts and wry observations, this show really did have something for everyone. Raconteur and satirist Te Radar was wearing his full ‘likeable twit’ persona (and historical costume complete with #1 Shoe Warehouse women’s boots [$49.95] he revealed), skilfully navigating a multi-media show that was funny, informative and thought-provoking … and good history.

Being a sickly white liberal myself (to reclaim Winston Peters’ term as a badge of honour), I enjoyed his obvious respect for the Maori dimension of this country’s short recorded history. He weaved an honourable, fair-to-all-sides picture of some the events he discussed in his exploration of ‘the bumblers and the near-do-wells [sic], who personify the archetypal “she’ll be right” spirit that epitomises this country’.

Good on him. Get along to a show if you can. You’ll enjoy it. He’s currently on tour as a fund-raiser for Scouts, which is what last night’s gig in Howick was. There’s a Tour Schedule on his website cunningly disguised as www.radarswebsite.com

Nice job.

Celebrating quirkiness

I’ve just set up an album on The Paepae’s Facebook page to collect and display those quirky error messages etc.

Collecting -- click to visit the album at Facebook

Feel free to contribute any more!

The worst stuff isn’t even in there?

Wow, I thought the ‘It came from Wasilia’ profile on Sarah Palin by Todd Purdue was eye-opening. She also came off pretty badly in that book I hoovered up over a wet weekend Race of a Lifetime … but read this piece from the current Vanity Fair – ‘Sarah Palin: the Sound and the Fury’.

Carried forward on a tide of deceit? (image: Vanity Fair - click)

The writer has already come in for attack for his account (what’s new?) and said, that as a Christian who really tried to keep an open mind about Pailn, figuring she’d had a bum ride with the media, he was shocked at the repeated and confirming testimony from people/witnesses who described how she has operated.

Michael Joseph Gross said on “Morning Joe” Thursday. “I couldn’t believe these stories either when I first heard them, and I started this story with a prejudice in her favor.

I have a lot in common with this woman. I’m a small-town person, I’m a Christian, I think that a lot of her criticisms of the media actually have something to them. And I think she got a bum ride, but everybody close to her tells the same story.”

In the profile, Gross paints Palin as an abusive, retaliatory figure with an extreme ability to lie. “This is a person for whom there is no topic too small to lie about,” he said. “She lies about everything.” — Huffington Post

Other quotes from the profile:

There’s a long and detailed version of what they had to say, but there’s also a short and simple one: anywhere you peel back the skin of Sarah Palin’s life, a sad and moldering strangeness lies beneath.

Interesting comment about her ‘team’ protecting her from criticism and questions on a ‘Conservatives4Pailn’ discussion forum: Continue reading →

A denial and a clarification … well, not really

Just as well some people have such a GREAT sense of humour!

It all relates to my ‘A little backlash?‘ post here on www.thePaepae.com … where I suggested a possible interpretation of some innuendo-laden bloggings by property spruiker Dean Letfus about holding back dirt on a ‘white knight’ was that they referred to me. [Or maybe it doesn’t.]

Yup, it’s not absolutely clear, but a statement today by Dean Letfus seems to indicate (maybe, if I read it right) that there’s another side to this whole thing.

Apparently I wasn’t even on Dean’s mind when he wrote that bizzo in his blog about ‘supposed white knights’ in ‘the industry’ ‘spreading lies’ about him and how he was holding back ‘information’ which had ‘come into my hands’ which he could ‘expose’ to ‘retaliate’ … nope. Not me.

Seems he was talking about a DIFFERENT white knight that he has ‘information’ on that he could expose to retaliate. (Well, if you recall, I did say I couldn’t think what possible ‘dirt’ he could have on boring ol’ me, didn’t I?) Continue reading →