Paul Little: Moral fibre far from firm

Locals in Rotorua stood by and watched an attack on a woman. Photo / APN

It looks like NZ on Air has declared this the Year of Unintentional Comedy with its suggestion that it be allowed to tell broadcasters when they can air the shows it funds.

Blame Bryan Bruce. You can only imagine what thunderbolts of fury flew around Wellington before finally singeing the heads of NZ on Air's board members when his inflammatory documentary Inside Child Poverty went to air a few days before the November election. But you know it must have been bad for the organisation to open itself to the public ridicule of this week.

That documentary reflected badly on the country and its failure to deal with child poverty. It named few names, but the National Government had to take it personally. Given the timing, you can't blame them, but you have to wonder whether the show had touched a sore spot.

So NZ on Air did what Wellington movers and shakers always do. It went to its lawyers to see if they could insist networks did not "screen programmes discussing topics likely to be an election issue" so close to the poll.

One might have thought the broadcasting funder, of all people, would be more media savvy than this. First of all, determining what is "likely to be an election issue" demands clairvoyance. Secondly, there are already BSA provisions to cover this issue. Finally, this is old-media thinking. It doesn't take into account the diffuse chorus of voices the internet has brought us. How quaint.

When board chairman Neil Walter said, "We are very careful not to interfere in the editorial content of programmes. Our legislation bars us from doing that", he inadvertently sounded as though he was frustrated by that legislation.

Also on this board that decides which programmes are made, and therefore shown, is the Prime Minister's electorate chairman, Stephen McElrea.

What is someone as compromised as that doing near any sort of quango, let alone such a powerful media organisation? I'm not saying he would interfere. He doesn't need to say: "Don't fund this programme." He just needs to sit there with that neon sign flashing above his head saying: "One degree of separation from the PM."

NZ on Air's move isn't about deciding when documentaries will air. It's about sending a message to documentary-makers - what few are left and those a timid bunch compared with the Merata Mitas and Barry Barclays of yore. The message is that they should not submit any but the most insipid, controversy-free proposals if they want to be allowed to work in this country.

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When one woman punched, kicked and generally laid into another at a Rotorua dairy, more people stood around and watched than attended the last Big Day Out. Many people were thus introduced to the concept of bystander apathy. This is a nasty little corner of human nature which means that if we see something bad happening but there are lots of people around, we feel absolved of responsibility and wait for the other people to do something about it. Of course, they're thinking exactly the same, so nothing happens.

I once asked a Wise Old Cop (ret'd) whether it was advisable to get involved in such incidents. He was emphatic that, on balance, the more people get involved, the less common such behaviour will be.

What was left out of coverage of the Rotorua incident is the cheering news that since bystander apathy was identified, there has been a lot of research into ways to counteract it.

The methods also reveal a lot about human nature and, should you ever find yourself on the receiving end of a berserk citizen while an audience forms, there are some things you can do to persuade witnesses to help.

The first is to make sure they know something serious is happening. Yell, and loud. Then single someone out to help: "Hey, you in the yellow shirt. Help me." This removes Yellow Shirt's anonymity and makes him or her feel responsible.

People also need to know they can have an effect, so "You can stop him if you help me" is useful, too.

People are naturally reluctant to get involved in a public dispute because they fear they could end up dead. Unfortunately, we don't know how many people have died over the years simply because no one got involved.

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Apparently the new marijuana is four times stronger than the old stuff. That's for the best. I've long thought we weren't stupid enough already.

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The Wikipedia blackout could have been much worse. If it had happened during the school term, a lot of really bad homework would have been handed in.