Something Thoughful

   Nicholas Reid reflects in essay form on general matters and ideas related to literature, history, popular culture and the arts, or just life in general. You are free to agree or disagree with him.   

                                                           VERBAL NAUSEA

I do not know what part of New Zealand you come from, but I know that we have just gone through a very cold spot. In the South Island there was not only snow but freezing ice on windows and cars. Roads became impassable, cars skidded and ran into one-another, some were injured and of course it became difficult to go to work and take the children to school. On the south part of the North Island, things very cold too with some snow and frost and even in Hamilton things were very cold. We Aucklanders were warned that things would be very cold… but as it happened the sky was blue for most days up here, though when it came to night we too turned on our heat-pumps in the evening and later cuddled up in bed with extra blankets. So that is winter.

I am writing about this because for once our woefully bad TV six o’clock news got it right. For once we were given full information about the situation, the weather, the roads that could not be used, what was coming etc. I write this because too much of the so-called  six o’clock news is not real news at all. We are told that we are getting an hour of news, but in fact much of it is filled with trivia. Too often we are given tripe about some pop or rock musicians who are visiting New Zealand  - which means merely advertising – and fillers about nice people who are doing nice thing in small towns. Surely this should be put in the seven o’clock show that follows the news. Then there is the fact that the last 25 minutes of the so-called  news is taken up with sports; and recently I have noticed the way that the same images and stories from Sunday are used again on Monday, presumably because there are not enough reporters working on the job. What is really missing? It is detailed information about what is happening in the wide world – what is happening overseas – perhaps because footage is not available or perhaps our “news” cannot pay. And then there is the very limited information about New Zealand politics, sometimes given in the form of pointless “vox pop”. And did I notice the number of advertisments that butt in?

So why do I bother watching the six o’clock news? I watch it so that I can legitimately swear loudly in the living room about the inane reportage that we are given -  before I eat my dinner.