Thursday, November 24, 2011

Reality TV

In Wellington there is a saying, ‘When they come, they will come from the North.' Never has this been so true than in the campaign to take Te Papa to Auckland, the ongoing push to share the loot of the National Collections. The media is all over it - more coverage than Venice already by our reckoning - and the tenacious TV3 is right up there on the front line probing and expounding. 

For instance a few days ago when TV3 “wanted to show [viewers] through Te Papa's storerooms to see what treasures could possibly be lent to an Auckland exhibition building", you can imagine their dismay when “Te Papa refused.” But hang on, Te Papa is always difficult about allowing film crews inside their building or allowing anyone to film ‘their’ treasures. TV3 was just getting a taste of that most puzzling of all experiences for media people, being treated like everyone else.
Images: Top to bottom, John Campbell is stunned, the reporter is horrified and Te Papa is unmoved.