Freaky Friday: An unexpected visitor in Karori
It could be unexplained apparitions, a freaky coincidence, or just something weird you can't explain.
We've also mysterious religious experiences, healing hands, and a woman who found her recently deceased daughters name written on a rock.
If you've got a story to share please get in touch. 2101 on the text or afternoons@rnz.co.nz via email.
Photo:
VNP/Louis Collins
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The Spinoff
2 hours ago
- The Spinoff
Is it OK for RNZ National to target less than 25% of the population?
A recent review by its former news boss says yes, RNZ National must focus on a target audience of listeners between the ages of 50 and 69. Richard Sutherland's review of RNZ National landed in the public domain last Friday. Described as ' scathing ' by the Herald's Shayne Currie, it lays out an urgent turnaround plan for the station to stem a significant decline in audience. In 2019, RNZ National had a cumulative weekly audience of 616,000. This year, to date, it's 470,000. Around 23% of RNZ's regular listeners in 2019 have scarpered. Based on how much media folk like to yap about young people and the evils of brain rot on TikTok, you might assume the decline stems from irreversible changes in media consumption behaviour among younger demographics, but RNZ's own research shows the steepest decline is in listeners aged 60 and older. If the rate of decline continues, as Sutherland notes, the weekly cumulative audience for RNZ National will drop below 340,000 by 2030. For a public broadcaster, that is disastrous. Some of Sutherland's recommendations feel big but can objectively be read as statements of the obvious. He suggests moving the Morning Report team to Auckland and treating Auckland as the station's 'strategic centre of gravity'. He supports these points with complicated statistics, such as '33% of New Zealand's population lives in Auckland'. His smaller recommendations – industry-standard operating instructions for live radio – also read like statements of the obvious: 'Hit the bottom of the hour at the actual bottom of the hour' is just one such perfect example. Perhaps we're a little too used to waffle and complexity from those being asked to solve problems in this country, but I wouldn't describe the review as scathing. Rather, it's plainly spoken with a real sense of urgency and a range of very practical solutions. Although this won't be the case for everyone reading his blunt prose, the effect of this borders on comedic at times. Reflecting on RNZ's charter requirement to 'inform, entertain and enlighten', Sutherland observes that means that 'entertainment is not optional.' 'For clarity', he writes, 'this means presenting information in an entertaining way – it does not mean telling jokes or giving personal opinions on stories. It means presenting it in a way that isn't boring, and that keeps the listener actively engaged.' One of the biggest themes to emerge from Sutherland's more than 50 conversations with RNZ staff is how few could identify who RNZ National's audience is. The recommendation most likely to ruffle feathers is that the station focus on a target audience of 50- to 69-year-olds. I briefly entered a state of mourning on Friday after reading that Sutherland would have me wait another four years before being pursued by the national broadcaster. There will be no ID checks, so all are still welcome; nonetheless, the boldness of Sutherland's suggestion raises a few interesting questions. Based on perceptions people have about RNZ being for older people, it could sound like the quiet part, said out loud. It conjures images of an audience that is closer to the grave than the cradle, who may take the station to the grave with them. Surely the survival of media like RNZ National is contingent on chasing young people round and round with a 'relevant content' stick until they eventually submit or age into the behaviours of generations past? It also raises the issue of public media mandate. If the cohort Sutherland is recommending as the station's target audience represents less than a quarter of the country's current population, is it not a retreat from a public media ethos of being 'all things to all people'? For RNZ, this obligation is enshrined in its charter, but Sutherland points to other parts of RNZ as being able to carry water here. 'RNZ National should no longer be considered the only outlet for the wider organisation to meet its charter obligations. There are other platforms available to meet the needs of audiences outside the suggested target demographic,' he writes. Sutherland doesn't reference NZ On Air audience reporting or the fact that the population of this country is ageing. I can only speculate about his decades of experience in the industry and the base level of knowledge he's operating with. Last year's NZ On Air 'Where Are The Audiences?' report found that for broadcast radio, 50+ year-olds, empty nesters and older singles, and retirees are more likely to be listeners. It might seem blindingly obvious, but age, the report says, remains a strong differentiator in determining what media people engage with. Those aged 15-39 are most engaged with global video sharing platforms and streaming subscription platforms. Those over 60 years are most engaged with TV and radio. In a world seemingly obsessed with youth, and an industry that is constantly looking under rocks for the most mythical of creatures, a young person, it's bold to just fang the 50+ demographic out there and propose that the station should actually cater to them. In a massively fragmented media environment, choosing a narrower lane full of people who are already predisposed towards you might be the smart call. Interestingly, Sutherland doesn't mention trust much either. He simply states that RNZ is a trusted brand. He doesn't propose yet another round of research trying to get to the bottom of the much-discussed decline in trust in the media, as if there is some magical equivalency between that metric and the size of the audience. It's refreshing to see someone not getting hung up on it and instead simply proposing an audience-first outlook. Sometimes the industry seems determinedly eager to keep beating itself up with a rod that is so often speciously weaponised against it. It might be simplistic, but if you define who your audience is and put them first, trust is probably baked in. There's little point in RNZ National trying to pursue everyone's trust, just as there's little point in Newstalk ZB doing the same. Sutherland himself writes that setting a target audience of listeners aged 50-69 is a blunt instrument, and there will be criticism that it lacks nuance. 'Given the urgency, a blunt instrument is needed. Nuance can wait,' he says. The first step in being audience-first, and really putting the audience at the heart of what you do, is to define that audience. Sutherland has done that. I'm not sure much more nuance is required at this point.
Scoop
3 hours ago
- Scoop
Vape Messaging Targets Young People Via Social Media
A leading e-cigarette brand's global Instagram account is promoting vapes to vast audiences, including in New Zealand, where regulations prohibit vape marketing to young people. Partnership deals with Formula One racing, and glamorous young influencers are promoting vapes to vast global audiences. Many countries, including the UK and New Zealand, have brought in regulations to prevent marketing vapes to young people. Social media platforms also have policies for this purpose. A new study published in Health Promotion International has found Vuse, the world's leading e-cigarette brand, is using a global social account to enter into paid partnerships, including a Formula One racing team, to promote vapes to massive audiences. 'Collaborations with music festivals and inuencers show that the company is targeting young people and may be using social media's global reach to bypass local bans,' says Dr Lucy Hardie, a population health researcher at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland, who led the international study. 'Fast cars and beautiful women are a tried-and-true marketing strategy used by the tobacco industry,' Hardie says. The study reviewed more than 400 Instagram posts associated with the internationally leading e-cigarette brand, Vuse, owned by British American Tobacco, between August 2023 to July 2024. Hashtags like #VuseInsider were used to promote brand ambassadors and festival experiences. Vuse has partnerships with social media influencers who produce stylised 'Get Ready with Me' videos linked to music festivals. 'You see a beautiful young influencer choosing fashion and makeup set to cool music, a type of clip popular with young women. It finishes with her popping a vape into her handbag as she heads out the door to attend a music festival,' Hardie says. Vuse also sponsors Formula One race team McLaren, meaning the company's branding and logos are used in posts that are promoted to its nearly 14 million followers. Despite the platform's policy, these are seldom disclosed as paid partnerships, the study finds. The researchers warn that Vuse's global Instagram marketing strategy allows it to bypass national advertising bans, such as those in New Zealand and in the UK, effectively exploiting legal gaps and weak platform enforcement. 'Social media is borderless and so is this type of marketing,' Hardie says. 'We urgently need global agreements restricting e-cigarette marketing on social media, and platforms need to enforce breaches of platform policy. 'There needs to be greater scrutiny and accountability for brand partnerships that target vulnerable audiences with highly addictive substances.' The long-term health effects of youth vaping are not yet known, but associations are emerging in research that link vapes to heart and lung conditions, as well as well-established issues related to nicotine addiction. Another related study just published in Tobacco Control reveals how one New Zealand-based vape company uses environmental schemes to maintain a presence at youth-oriented music festivals in New Zealand, despite a strict sponsorship ban since 2020. The study, also led by Hardie with colleagues from the University of Otago and the University of Sydney, revealed that leading vape company VAPO has established a recycling initiative, VapeCycle, that can sponsor major festivals like Rhythm and Vines attended by more than 20,000 young people. The company's branding still features at the festivals on recycling bins. Hardie says the studies point to a need for stronger regulations and enforcement to better protect young people.
NZ Herald
14 hours ago
- NZ Herald
What New Zealanders need to know about travelling to the US
Amid tightened security and travel rules in the United States, reggae artist General Fiyah is reportedly the latest Kiwi to be detained at the US border and deported. The New Zealand-born musician was set to perform at cultural festival Polyfest in Washington over the weekend, but
