She has already conveyed her disappointment to the show's producers. "My concern was about the balance - in this case there wasn't any."
Re-elected Whanganui MP Chester Borrows didn't mince words, calling it "a disgustingly skewed piece of broadcasting" and asking for the city to have a right of reply.
"It was an emotively based programme that didn't look for any evidence at all," Mr Borrows said.
He has contacted the show's producers asking what right of reply the city has. "They need to come back here and we can strut our stuff.
"There is so much evidence which would make a complete lie of the claims that programme made."
He said there were plenty of businesses succeeding on a world stage that could be held up as typical examples of what's happening in Wanganui.
"Take Tasman Tanning - it's a world leader, supplying leather for international airlines and carmakers like Audi. They do it better than anyone else in the world.
"And Axiam Industries is providing housings for Fisher and Paykel equipment which is going around the world. We've got glass artists whose work has been bought by the Clintons and Elton John."
Ms Main said she was heartened by the response from locals and spent much of yesterday answering messages from people angered by the show.
The Chronicle has also fielded a deluge of calls, emails and messages.
"You could say it has definitely galvanised the community," the mayor said. She was disappointed the producers had manipulated shots and images that showed the city as a backwater.
She has also asked the producers for their reasons for speaking to former mayor Michael Laws because "I simply couldn't see the relevance of that at all".
"I'd been told the programme would be fair and balanced, but none of the positive comments I know they received were captured by Sunday at all."
However, she said the positive had to be the outpouring of community anger at the programme. "If we can transfer that into Wanganui - people talking positively about the community they live in, then that's the way to change the perception others around the country may have of Wanganui."
She said Mr Eaqub understood what was happening in Wanganui. "His company has been selected to drive the government's regional growth strategy [of which Wanganui is a part] so he's well aware of what we're doing and supports what we're doing."
