Posted by Bel. The time is 2.55pm here in Wellington NZ

Journalists love to think of themselves as always pointing the finger and blowing the whistle. Stuff pass themselves off as a crack team of deadline chasing newshounds, with a promotional campaign touting "If our team don't break stories first, there are consequences."

But more often than not, the press dish up a disappointing array of shallow stories, leading with whatever is most salacious, rather than most informative.

The impetus is more and more on the media participant (and yes, I carefully use that word instead of audience!) to ensure that they are consuming from a variety of sources and not just accepting "news" at face value.

UK based geek comedian Tom Scott is kicking back with his series of "journalism warning stickers".

You can read more about his project here, including downloading the template (link is at the bottom of the page) and printing off your own!

Posted by Bel. The time is 1.30pm here in Wellington, NZ.

From the lead story on the front page of today's paper:

Orr, who appeared thin and pale, told The Dominion Post: "What? Do I look like a vampire?" when asked for comment on the case.

Posted by Bel. The time is 11:12pm here in Wellington, NZ.

The adage 'Don't always believe what you read in the papers' is becoming more true, and more adaptable, as time goes on and media develops.

The article "Sorting inbox fact from fiction" has a great slideshow with it, where the captions reveal which pictures are genuine and which are internet hoaxes, forwarded by overexcited office workers on boring Friday afternoons. A couple of the photos declared to be 'false' are works by artists (such as Li Wei's gravity-defying self portraits and Ron Mueck's hyperreal disproportionate sculptures).

In the art world, we can appreciate the craft that goes into creating something that deceives the eye. But what about when this done solely from a commercial perspective?

Check out this interview with someone you never would have heard of. But chances are you have seen his work somewhere. In last year's March issue of Vogue, Pascal Dangin tweaked 144 images: 107 ads (Estée Lauder, Gucci, Dior, etc.), 36 fashion pictures, and the cover, featuring Drew Barrymore. Because, you know, she needs work.

Dangin is the man who turned Annie Leibovitz's series of portraits of "The Sopranos" cast into this tableaux:

You mean they didn't all get up at dawn for a moody photoshoot on the Jersey Shore, schlumping around in the mud? Dang indeed.

This video from the NY Times "Sex, Lies and Photoshop" suggests that magazines credit the retouchers, as well as photographers, in order to draw attention to the extent of manipulation of images.

Speaking with those in the industry, it shows how four different images were used to create a composite for an advertisment photo. The photoshopper himself muses on the impact this might have on a model's self esteem - let alone the rest of us, in a world where we are bombarded by these falsely constructed images of perfection.

Jezebel's Photoshop of Horrors has done a wonderful job of drawing attention to the butchering of the human form which takes place, generally in print advertising. It is usually up to alternative media to be the watchdogs, as everyone else is dependent on the revenue brought in by these warped images. If you want a quick scroll through of just what other bullshit is attempted to be passed off as acceptable for general consumption, pay a visit to the blog Photoshop Disaster for some LOLs/heartache.

[Click on the image for large version and play spot the difference! 3 different eye colours! Nose shapes! Chins! She's an Oscar-winning Mr Potato Head!]

As rampant and blatant use of retouching becomes so commonplace (whether it be a fantastical glossy fashion mag, or a supposedly reputable news source), the impetus falls upon the reader. It is up to us to treat these images as fiction and not as representations of real life or of achieveable ideals. And to question if a cat could if really get to that size.

Posted by Bel. The time is 6:37pm here in Wellington, NZ.

Conversations in workplaces and homes, and not to mention media coverage, have been dominated since the weekend with the imminent threat of infectious swine flu – despite the fact that nobody in New Zealand has actually been confirmed as having the disease.


Stay away! Danger!

Sales in the over-the-counter anti-viral drug Tamiflu have already gone up in New Zealand (it costs $75 for a 5 day hit, by the way) and you know who thinks that’s nothing to sniff at... Big Pharma. As the already wobbly stockmarkets around the world take another hit in the face of the global panic, both Roche and GlaxoSmithKline (multinational drug manufacturers, for those of you not as familiar with your local pharmacy products as me...) have seen as their stocks go up over the last few days.


There is an excellent article here on Mother Jones, a follow up on the journalist’s piece for the Village Voice in 2005 on avian flu.
It’s worth a read, if not solely for the reminder that we have been here before – and some people made a lot of money from it.

And, let me repeat, no one in New Zealand has even been diagnosed with confirmed swine flu yet. In this Dominion Post article, they are saying that the kids from Rangitoto College are supposedly on their way to recovery... What kind of pandemic is that?!

Here’s my transcript of TV3’s John Campbell’s insightful and incisive journalism last night, as he interviewed Dr Mark Jacobs, the NZ Director of Public Heath:

John Campbell: ZOMG SWINE FLU!!!!1

Dr Mark Jacobs: We are moderately concerned.

John Campbell: SWINEFLUSWINEFLUSWINEFLU

Dr Mark Jacobs: We are less concerned than we were about avian flu. And look how that turned out here.

John Campbell: EEEK EEEEK EEEEEKKK SWINE FLU ZOMG!!!!

Is there a chance that John Campbell has CJD? Because he is acting WHACK. You can watch the clip here and see him stirring shit up for yourself.

A note: please don't take my cynicism and flippancy as disregard for the deaths that have occurred in other countries. I just think that we need to be careful about how the situation is handled here - hopefully without unnecessary scaremongering and playing into the hands of big business instead of looking after the little people.

Posted by Bel. The time is 4.02pm here in Wellington, NZ.

Scarlett Johansson blogged on Huffington Post about trash talk in the tabloids that she's been crash dieting for her role in Iron Man 2.

"If I were to lose 14 pounds, I'd have to part with both arms. And a foot... I'm frustrated with the irresponsibility of tabloid media who sell the public ideas about what we should look like and how we should get there." Gawd, aren't we all, Scarlett, aren't we ALL.

Did you know she is 5 foot 3? I did not. That is WEE.

Read the whole thing here. It is refreshing and level-headed and she gives props to some interesting organisations, in the way that only well-meaning and slightly grating celebrities can.