PA Mediapoint – July 23, 2007:
New Zealand’s Parliament has voted itself far-reaching powers to control satire and ridicule of MPs in Parliament, attracting a storm of media and academic criticism.
The new standing orders, voted in last month, concern the use of images of Parliamentary debates, and make it a contempt of Parliament for broadcasters or anyone else to use footage of the chamber for “satire, ridicule or denigration”.
The rules apply any to broadcasts or rebroadcasts in any medium.
The new rules have been widely panned in the media. Vernon Small, chair of the Parliamentary Press Gallery, pointed out that MPs ridicule each other as often as the media join in, and said the rules seemed to be aimed at trying to protect MPs from themselves.
“If MPs want to improve the reputation of the institution, and of themselves, the answer is surely in their own hands, through improved behaviour,” he wrote in the Dominion Post.
“It is not in restricting the media and giving themselves protections they do not need or that are unworkable – and therefore bring the institution into further disrepute.”
On the face of it, this sure looks silly.
I wonder what else they are doing that hasn’t made the news yet?
Time for those of us outside NZ to start ridiculing their parlament then. What a load of crap.
NZ outlaws free speech.
I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords.
Oh, great. Seems like the seed of freedom implanted in venezuela are being spread all over the world.
#2 Do me a favor, while you’re at it, do the same for the venezuelan government.
#3 not the first one doing that. They just did it after it was done somewhere else and saw that venezuela got away with it. No American Organizations (where there are supposed to be special democratic & free speech provisions), no UN to even wrist slap them. If things keep going the way they are, you can start watching how free speech will die everywhere.
NZ imitating Venezuela? WTF?
I blame this on Dvorak saying that he likes Macs…
#5 yeah, he said that. Worse, he said he would leave some basic computer chore to experts. Hell froze! The end is near.
hahahahahahaha here in America, the consevatives want to control the media to protect against the boogeyman, er i mean terrorists, and the liberals want to control the media to protect against the boogeyman, er i mean sex and violence in video games or whatever…
american government looks at red china with envy and will use any pretext it can to get that kind of control over the communications and media infrastructure
and unfortunately the american people are going to wake up one day and realize that they sold their soul
In perspective, in NZ our politicians are invariably people who have utterly failed in some prior profession or trade, who choose politics as a means to a comfortable and respectable retirement. It has become too easy to laugh at them, so with that strange logic which is common to the buffoon they have unanimously decided to make it illegal to laugh at them. Or at least, at their photographs while seated, drunk or asleep in parliament.
#8 what a coincidence! Is exactly the same in venezuela. A bunch of freeloaders that are there just to say “Yes, mi comandante!”
Not long ago, the venezuelan foreign minister (yes, the one that had the incident in JFK a year ago) was a bus driver with a big police sheet for assault and things like that. He was instrumental in the robbery of his workplace. He was the inside man.
How long until the US catches on?
#9
They already did, just remember how “spectacular” Michael Brown’s performance was during Hurrican Katrina.
#8 writes: “In perspective, in NZ our politicians are invariably people who have utterly failed in some prior profession or trade, who choose politics as a means to a comfortable and respectable retirement.”
Strange – it’s the same here in the US.
OK,
NEW target for all Newspaper Satirists….(Wow I spelled that right the first time)
NZ….
Get-em boys…