Media Matters: A batty bonanza of Bachelor coverage
Bachelor clicks beat competitive conflicts, Twitter turns 10 & NZME's TV news. With special feature audio.
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The new season of TV3’s The Bachelor is well under way and, while there’s nothing new to report in terms of its offering, there are interesting changes in MediaWorks competitors’ coverage of the show.
Each Monday to Wednesday, media platforms across New Zealand are blanketed with Bachelor-related fodder. MediaWorks radio stations interview eliminated contestants, and the NZ Herald and Stuff repurpose the interviews for gossip and scandal pieces.
But why would a media organisation want to promote another media organisation’s content? The incessant coverage is a clear example of the desire for clicks trumping cut-throat competition.
With half the contestants’ day jobs being marketing managers, models, actresses and account managers, the publicity is likely welcomed.
It’s hard to escape the conclusion the opportunity to build a personal brand on national television is a more pressing priority for many of those competing for a rose than finding true love within the confines of a ‘reality’ show format.
Twitter's ech chamber
This week marked the 10th anniversary of the advent of Twitter, prompting much pondering about the platform’s future.
That aside, the way the social media site has evolved should serve as a warning for traditional media outlets.
Twitter is increasingly criticised for acting as an echo chamber that reinforces the prejudices of its users; the way in which modern media enables and even encourages users to avoid any content that doesn’t involve their already established interests surely carries a similar risk of narrowing consumers’ knowledge and engagement.
And in other media news, the NZ Herald has announced it will launch a thrice-daily news video show fronted by Tristram Clayton, Laura McGoldrick and Tony Veitch. Details about the show are scarce but it is assumed it will use the presenters to recap the headlines of the previous few hours.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about the announcement is the presence of Mr Clayton, an ex-Campbell Live journalist whose hire was not promoted separately by NZME.
This continues a trend of television journalists being picked up by rival newsrooms, after the announcement of Fairfax taking on Paula Penfold, Eugene Bingham and Toby Longbottom last month.
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NBR Radio
Thu, 24 Mar 2016
Thu, 24 Mar 2016
© All content copyright NBR. Do not reproduce in any form without permission, even if you have a paid subscription.
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Media Matters: A batty bonanza of Bachelor coverage
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