In this episode of Daybreak – doctors paid more to euthanise v palliative care; Stuff romanticises COVID lockdowns; inquiry into social media harm is released – some good, some bad; TVNZ refuses to release details of its ‘bias’ review; Te Pati Maori continue to implode; the global Anglican church splits; Maltese ex-gay prosecuted for ‘conversion therapy’ is acquitted; the Democrats in the US are “crazy” – here’s some proof; and Patrick Gower issues a stunning mea culpa over COVID coverage – but what is more significant is the admissions he makes about how the media acted and their mindset during that time.
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A “New Zealand Doctor” item: a GP wrote to David Seymour alleging doctors can receive six times more funding by opting a patient into euthanasia than by providing palliative care, and Bob argues palliative care should be funded at comparable levels and notes hospices rely on fundraising.
The second COVID report is due next Tuesday and Stuff is “romanticizing” lockdowns with a story about someone wishing for an annual lockdown and with Helen Clark’s reflections on quiet streets and less pollution, while Bob counters that people couldn’t bury loved ones, access medical appointments, or keep jobs; he also lists a lineup of lockdown-era experts he expects in related coverage and says it’s publicly funded via NZ On Air.
Inquiry on social media/online harm for young people lists recommendations. Bob notes “legislative gaps/overlaps,” supports stronger liability for online harm, rejects an independent national online safety regulator (citing Australia’s), is cautious about age restrictions/social media bans and says to watch Australia’s experience, supports banning “notify apps” and deepfake sexual imagery, supports regulating deepfake tech, opposes regulating algorithmic recommendations and mandating algorithm transparency as state control of feeds, supports restricting online ads for alcohol/tobacco/gambling, praises education/empowerment of parents and youth, accepts NZ-based research, and flags issues like VPNs and age-verification risks; he adds they ignored app-store accountability and argues parental permission at download is the leverage point.
TVNZ is refusing to release a detailed internal review on news bias; Bob says the ombudsman defended TVNZ despite the NZ Herald seeking release with redactions, and he notes the review covered only one week and was commissioned, summarized, and praised by One News, mentioning it identified a few stories needing more diverse views, deeper coverage, and clearer fact/opinion separation. Bob then revisits a One News crime segment he calls “one of the worst” examples of manipulation, alleging a chart changed time intervals (from consistent October-to-October under Labour to irregular months under National) to make an increase look worse, and he points viewers to his updated blog post.
Te Pāti Māori is “imploding” – a protest leader has cut ties and fears for his safety, and suggests this could affect Māori seats and election outcomes.
An impending Anglican Communion split, attributed to the Church of England appointing the Bishop of London, Sarah Mullally, as the next archbishop (installed March 25) and tensions over liberal views on same-sex marriage/blessings, while alternative Anglican groupings meet internationally.
Malta’s conversion-therapy law (which influenced New Zealand’s), resulted in ex-gay activist Matthew Grech being sued over a podcast and then acquitted; Bob quotes Grech celebrating free speech and religion and calling for Malta’s law to be revoked, and Bob argues New Zealand’s law should be changed because counseling children to accept their biological sex can be criminalized while “conversion” toward LGBT identities is not, adding ACT and most National supported the law.
Are the Democrats “barking mad,” focusing on Texas nominee James Talarico: Bob highlights Talarico claiming God is “non-binary” based on Hebrew terms, suggesting God is “pro-choice” because Mary was asked for consent, describing Jesus as a feminist, citing the Gospel of Thomas, claiming there are six biological sexes, and stating trans people need abortion care; Bob uses these clips to argue why Trump calls Democrats crazy.
Finally, Bob shows excerpts of a Patrick Gower podcast where Gower says he remains pro-vaccine but became too entrenched, crossed journalistic lines “for the greater good,” regrets aspects of the “Vaxathon,” is reminded daily by public backlash, acknowledges the sting on a doctor issuing exemptions fueled hatred, wishes he had sought her perspective, admits media and society treated vaccine-skeptical people harshly, and says journalists sometimes ignored or pushed down on vaccine-injury stories; Bob reads live viewer comments ranging from “too little too late” to praise for honesty, notes some object to Gower saying he’d do it again, and concludes Gower seems troubled and that admitting wrongdoing is the start of national “closure” on COVID.
