- HOLY SHIT THIS NEWS IS BREAKING -
by Ben Thomson | 1:06 am, 19/07/2010
The biggest story at the beginning of last week was, of course, the shooting of police officers and a dog in Christchurch. It led every newspaper in the country on Wednesday. Every newspaper… except the ODT.
by Ben Thomson | 10:24 pm, 11/07/2010
Channel 9 is a local television station owned by Allied Press, whose other esteemed media offerings are the ODT and the Star.
by Ben Thomson | 8:25 pm, 11/07/2010
The Star. A few weeks ago. We’ve been meaning to get to it sooner but the ODT has just been so darn funny. The Star is the ODT’s sister publication, which comes out once a week and focuses on community issues.
by Ben Thomson | 4:19 pm, 11/07/2010
So what has dear John Lewis been up to since he spilled the beans in Critic about how much sway Vice Chancellor Sir Professor David Skegg really holds at Allied Press HQ?
by Ben Thomson | 1:26 pm, 11/07/2010
ODT! What the fuck is going on!? Let’s start at the beginning.
by Ben Thomson | 1:26 pm 11/07/2010
ODT! What the fuck is going on!? Let’s start at the beginning.
On Saturday, the ODT ran a story about how the Design Department’s days are numbered.
The story is based on reporter John Lewis getting a “leaked document,” and it totally showed that Vice Chancellor Sir Professor David Skegg is going to close the Department at Wednesday’s Senate meeting! Also: all the existing Design students are to be shipped off to the Polytech. ZOMG!
Then they put it on the website.
Critic linked to it from Facebook. So did numerous other groups that have been set up on the internet in an effort to save the Department.
On Tuesday, things got weird. The story is still on the ODT website, but it clearly should not be. “REMOVED AT MURRAY’S REQUEST; POSS ISSUES WITHH STORY” (sic) is the new headline, and a red box up the top says: “This post has been submitted for moderation and will not be submitted until it has been approved.” Whoops.
Murray, in case you are wondering, is Editor Murray Kirkness.
So, why is Murray grumpy? Well, as it turned out, parts of the story are not actually, er, based on fact. Which is bad because that’s, like, what newspapers trade in.
It appears the “leaked document” passed through a few hands along the road to the ODT. And they didn't get the whole thing. Either that, or they didn't read the whole thing. Or maybe they did get the whole thing and they just don't know how to read.
This appears in the ODT on Saturday and online towards the end of the article: “Sir David’s recommendations document also suggests smoothing the closure of the Design Studies Department by sending present students to Otago Polytechnic to finish their degrees.”
Scoop to John Lewis! Well done. So, what was that based on? The document, of course, which reads, “the effects of disestablishing the Department of Design Studies can be ameliorated by a transition period involving support from the Otago Polytechnic …” Oh, no, wait. That’s not exactly the same thing, is it?
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