The Field family's funeral livestreamed, newspaper readership rebound, Press shines a light on who owns Christchurch, but Stuff slips up on the story of a jobless man. Also: why did the chickens cross the road in Tāmaki?

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EVs were booming, but incentives have been stripped back and recent reports of fires have fueled safety fears. Has media coverage amped up the danger? Also: a year ago a NZ Geographic revealed its own flaky finances to persuade supporters to step up. How did that work out?

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In this episode:

1:06 For a while the EV market boomed with incentives in place, though they came at a cost. Now the incentives have been dialled down - and so has demand. And a steady stream of stories about the fire hazards have spread like wildfire.

13:18: Dr Troy Bailsden on how to ‘pre-bunk’ alarmism about EV safety - and where to find facts on the real but remote risks of batteries.

19:51: Magazines devoted to longform journalism are struggling to stay in print. A year ago award-winning NZ Geographic urged subscribers to up their backing to keep it going. One year on publisher James Frankham on how that worked out - and what’s next.

Learn more: Mediawatch: Angst about EVs blows up in the headlines | RNZ News

Guests: Troy Baisden, James Frankham

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Trump vs BBC escalates, Irish and Scottish footballers - and Ronaldo - make epic media moments, Emile's Irish podcast slapdown. Also - Tararua tavern tension, Mercep rocks out at Metallica for 1News.

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One edit in one episode ended up at the epicentre of major crisis for the world’s biggest public broadcaster. Trump might take the BBC to the cleaners over it while media rivals crank up the damage to its reputation. But is the BBC’s real impartiality problem internal?

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In this episode:

0:45: How the media responded to the shock news that the BBC’s boss and head of news quit after revelations of editorial failures - and President Trump threatening to sue for $1bn.

17:20: Ex-BBC Panorama editor-turned-mediawatcher Roger Bolton on the BBC’s response to its problems, the media hostility BBC faces from rivals and claims of political influences at play within the BBC.

32:02: Other big news this week: the shocking IPCA report that kept newsrooms and their lawyers busy; and Te Pāti Māori’s meltdown in the media.

Learn more: Mediawatch: BBC under pressure from outside - and within amid edit scandal | RNZ News

Guests: Roger Bolton

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Two top BBC bosses quit in wake of Trump editing scandal, Police top brass blasted by damning IPCA report, Te Pāti Māori meltdown prompts more media criticism.

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Surveys say our trust in the news is slipping seriously, but the latest one asks Kiwis why and what might get it back, and an RNZ editor’s new book zeroes in on how to repair the relationship. Also: the downfall of the ‘Duke of Yuck’ yields unexpected local angle.

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Police back away from taking Stuff to court - but issue a warning. Also: Dame Noeline Taurua blows the Silver Ferns saga open again with a media blitz on Monday, and NBR goes legal on its own subscribers.

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Labour bit the bullet on capital gains tax this week, but the political point-scoring was a zero-sum game. Also: a big rejig of Māori news & current affairs funding - and while our leaders have been on the world stage, we’ve been accused of punching below our weight on global media freedom.

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In this episode:

00:45 The media have been telling us for years any political party offering a CGT is DOA at the polls. How did they react this week to Labour saying they’ll do that next year?

8:00: New Zealand’s leaders have been talking up our country in Asia and in northern Europe this week, but this week we were cellar dwellers in a new ranking of develeped nations supporting media freedom around the world. New Zealander Melanie Bunce, director of the Centre for Journalism and Democracy in London, explains why.

21:03 A big rejig of funding for Māori news and current affairs means less spent on the established TV news programmes and more on news from the regions and digital-first content, available via a new national news hub. Te Māngai Pāho’s The long-serving kaihautu Larry Parr explains the plan.

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