Supreme irony

I’ve learned something from Whaleoil; he often describes the MSM as “repeaters”. It’s a nice term. It has a touch of the William Gibson and Neale Stephenson cyberpunk about it.

Today we had a good example of repeat-a-news with the awful, fawning coverage of the royal visit to Wellington.

We heard in driveling detail, about the prince’s dinner plans, his tussle with an iconic endangered species and saw far too many cougars and simpletons dribbling over the limp royal wrist.

The republicans and the Ministry of Justice proteters were the (repeat) sideshow.

Justice workers stage pay rally during Supreme Court opening

The protesting workers belong to the Public Service Association. They’ve been taking industrial action to support their claim for fair pay and a fair pay system since October 14 last year.

“This was a peaceful protest to let the public know that the workers who run our justice system are being underpaid,” says PSA national secretary Richard Wagstaff.

“The government has spent $80 million on the new Supreme Court while the workers who run our courts are paid 6.3% less than the rest of the public service,” says Richard Wagstaff.

NZPA covered this, so it’s now on repeat, but it should have had more play in the TV news, rather than meaningless grabs with Prince-groupies; “It is understood” (repeat).

The Republican Movement was also there, but complaining that TV(repeat after me)3 got it wrong:

Supreme Court Opening: Its Time For A Republic

“Prince William might be a nice guy, but it should be a New Zealander, chosen by New Zealanders, opening our highest court of appeal”  said Lewis Holden, chair of the Republican Movement.

“It has cost New Zealand taxpayers $200,000 to bring Prince William out to New Zealand. Monarchist claims that this figure has been paid off with free advertising are nonsense.”

Sign me up!

And get me one of these.