KEY POINTS:
I really enjoyed the positive and effective action the "truckies" took on Friday. It's a pity trucks couldn't have been used in some way during other protests, such as the anti-smacking bill, where they had the support of the people, but not the physical means to make the Government listen.
And like most people without even knowing, or understanding, the real issues involved, I probably just enjoyed seeing the Government being dealt a reality check, and sent a message that even in an MMP style "democracy" they can't always get their own way.
What was perhaps not quite so enjoyable was Breakfast's relentless coverage of this historic traffic jam. I think breakfast shows need to learn that just because an event is "live" and you have some air points with a helicopter company, it doesn't necessarily make it exciting.
In this instance, it was far from it, and made for some extremely laboured TV.
Call me old-fashioned but I have always believed you are either in the traffic jam or you are not.
If you are in it there's a good chance you are not watching TV, so it's also unlikely you will see yourself in the coverage or contribute to the ratings. But if, like me, you weren't in it, watching other people on TV in a traffic jam is only interesting to a point. If this wasn't the case you would see people two or three deep standing on all the motorway overpasses watching the traffic pass by slowly underneath, "live" for themselves on a daily basis.
They don't, suggesting that's because it's not that interesting.
I suppose the broadcasters could argue that people at home need to assess how bad the traffic is before they jump in their cars and try to get into the city, but I think it is unlikely that people with car keys in hand are waiting to see coverage of "their" local on-ramp to see if there is a gap they could squeeze into if they were to time it right.
You are either in the jam or you aren't. The calm before the storm was interesting and newsworthy, and a chance to learn a little about what the protest was about, and an update here and there was also worthy, as we saw the traffic slowing, with hundreds of trucks flexing their muscles.
But once the traffic stopped moving it was the same footage, so it was not really necessary to keep checking on the traffic jams' progress every 45 seconds as if it were coverage of the twin towers collapsing.
More interviews and discussion with the key players in the dispute might have helped the story but unfortunately Breakfast relied on the images alone, and let's face it, they are nothing new. They have a riveting traffic segment every morning.
Apparently, like most people, I wasn't watching Sunrise, but TVNZ spared no expense with its coverage of the traffic jams, darting around the country showing us different traffic jams in the different centres and, not surprisingly, they all looked fairly similar. It was like a Telethon where you had the technology in place enabling you to link all the different regions but the celebrities had a huge night out the night before, and nobody showed up.
Breakfast's wise-cracking reporter Jack Tame in Christchurch, summed it up when, just as the first of the trucks were about to pass by during his live link to the studio, he said "Timing is everything in TV".
This may be true but I'm not sure whether he was suggesting his link was well-timed, or whether there should have been somebody back at TVNZ with a stop-watch "timing" how much broadcast time was dedicated to tedious traffic-jam footage.
Even live coverage of 9/11 and Princess Diana's slow funeral procession became tedious eventually, so what makes Breakfast think that a familiar-looking traffic jam will be any different?
But, inspired by the recent rises in fuel costs and the success of the truckies' protest, I suggest instigating affirmative action on behalf of the everyday motorist.
On the morning of Monday, July 14, I propose all car owners get on the motorway simultaneously and make the slow pilgrimage into the city at the same time. That will show them, and it will be interesting to see if Breakfast even picks up on it.
