News judgment, pressure-tested.
Mediawatch examines the machinery behind headlines, from political polling and war coverage to petrol panic, defamation fights, and digital broadcasting rules. It suits listeners who want media criticism with local texture, dry humour, and close attention to who benefits when a story takes off.
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Mediawatch is a media-criticism program for listeners who want to understand the forces behind the bulletin. It is less interested in reacting to headlines than in tracing how they were produced, framed, funded, and repeated. Recent episodes treat war coverage, political speculation, fuel anxiety, online broadcasting rules, and local-government scandals as case studies in news judgment. The show asks practical questions. Can reporters cover the risk of petrol shortages without helping create panic? How should journalists handle Trump’s erratic and often unreliable statements without turning every outburst into free strategy? When political polls are paid for or sponsored by outside interests, who is really shaping the questions? Those are not abstract media-school puzzles here. They are tied to named outlets, public officials, regulators, editors, and the daily pressure of filling news space. Mediawatch also spends time on access and power, including police dealings with a documentary crew in the Tom Phillips story and the awkward relationship between local media needs and overseas streaming production. The midweek episodes loosen the collar. Banter about peas, feijoas, German words, or a bakery rave can sit beside discussion of Iran coverage, defamation, the BBC, TVNZ, or the Broadcasting Standards Authority. That mix gives the show a recognisable rhythm: dry, conversational, then suddenly very precise. Colin Peacock is the recurring voice in the supplied excerpts, with Phil Vine appearing in one midweek episode while Colin is away. The program’s New Zealand focus is clear, but its field of view is wider than domestic media gossip. It links local editorial choices to online platforms, advertising money, political messaging, and public trust. It is especially good at spotting where a familiar story has hidden machinery underneath: a poll sponsor, a regulatory definition, a private post turned public, a council story without a local watchdog, or an old television institution surviving another budget squeeze. The result is media criticism with receipts, humour, and a strong instinct for public-interest tests.
Made for: For listeners who follow news closely and want sharper context on how media decisions are made. It especially suits people interested in New Zealand journalism, politics, regulation, and newsroom incentives.
What sets it apart: Mediawatch pairs granular media analysis with a conversational RNZ rhythm, moving easily from regulator rulings and poll sponsorship to dry midweek banter. Its edge comes from testing public-interest claims against real editorial choices.
There's never a shortage of opinions on the media but Mediawatch looks at it all in detail for those keen to know more about the news - as well as those who work in media.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Colin Peacock makes newsroom power legible by testing coverage decisions, political pressure and institutional claims against the available evidence.
Mediawatch follows the decisions behind the news, with Colin Peacock tracing how headlines and editorial judgements shape public understanding.
A political poll arrives with a sponsor; Colin Peacock helps you read the receipt.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
Media Watch takes on Trump's statements, motoring coverage amid high fuel prices, and access in the Tom Phillips case.
Media Watch considers how reporters should handle Trump's outrageous, often unreliable statements. It also checks in on petrol and diesel prices, the adjustments local motoring media are making, and whether this is a good or bad moment for a publication called Petrolhead.
Colin Peacock questions a prediction about Chris Hipkins's leadership and praises televised sport production.
Mediawatch opens with a spirited exchange about feijoas before Colin Peacock turns to a harder question: how should allegations involving Chris Hipkins be covered while the evidence remains unclear?
A poor poll for Christopher Luxon leads Mediawatch to examine who pays for news polls and who shapes their questions.
A poor poll for Christopher Luxon gives Colin Peacock a way into the pressure polling can put on political leaders. He revisits the speculation about Luxon's leadership and asks whether the media went too far.
Mediawatch examines TVNZ's political contacts, the strain of war coverage and speculation about the Prime Minister's future.
Mediawatch moves between the strain of covering war in the Middle East and questions about political contact with TVNZ. Colin Peacock looks at what newsrooms can report when leaders offer little clarity, then turns to TVNZ's coverage of the National Gang List.
A disputed BBC edit raises questions about corrections, impartiality and who oversees the broadcaster.
Two senior BBC leaders have resigned amid accusations that a Panorama edit of Donald Trump's speech misled viewers. Colin Peacock begins with a question about corrections: when a news organisation gets something wrong, how quickly should it say so?
History, power, and memory under close examination.
Political power, tested under scrutiny.
One question, one expert, explained at 101 level.
Patient interviews for the deeply curious.
Evidence for the next newsroom.
Media Watch discusses how motoring media adapt to fuel price fears and the challenge of reporting Trump's outrageous statements.
Colin Peacock discusses recent media stories including Trump's outbursts, an Australian soldier's scandal, and revelations from a Phillips documentary.
This episode of Midweek Media Watch discusses the Broadcasting Standards Authority's jurisdiction over online broadcaster Sean Plunkett, a bad week for Big Tech, breakfast with Tova, and an Easter chocolate ban.
Media Watch examines the media's portrayal of the Iran conflict, the shift of advertising money to online platforms, and the Chatham Islands council spending scandal.
The Midweek Media Watch panel discusses media coverage of Pete Hegseth, a TVNZ defamation win, and SNL's transatlantic influence, with a humorous detour about frozen peas.
Media Watch examines media coverage of a controversial social media post about the Labour Party leader and the potential for petrol panic following oil attacks in the Middle East.
Colin Peacock argues media are "obsessed" with Christopher Luxon and other political leaders' "relatability".
Christopher Luxon’s 28.4% Taxpayers’ Union-Curia result triggered repeated questioning on RNZ, Newstalk ZB, and TVNZ about whether he would step down as National Party leader.
Mediawatch opens with the war in the Middle East, where Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, and confused messaging from US officials made reporting difficult for TVNZ, RNZ, and other outlets.
The BBC faces internal and external pressure after top executives resign over a misleadingly edited Panorama report on Donald Trump.
Media Watch critiques media coverage of the economy and explores how to discuss taboo topics without grievance.
Colin Peacock discusses media reactions to Trump vs comedy and free speech, trust in TVNZ and RNZ, and blowback against the Black Ferns.
This episode of Media Watch discusses the media coverage of the Tom Phillips fugitive story, Te Pāti Māori's stance on non-Māori media, and the potential of AI to save newsrooms.