Labour cultural affairs spokesperson Judith Tizard has welcomed the comparative study on local content released by New Zealand on Air saying it backed up the need for Labour's policy of local content quotas.

"Every developed country with a strong national identity recognises that local content on television and radio is a crucial part of their economic and social well-being," Judith Tizard said

"The NZ on Air study "Local Content and Diversity:Television in Ten Countries" shows that New Zealand is dragging behind the rest of the world in delivery of local content to their citizens.

"Every country except the United States has more Government support and regulation than New Zealand and the United States has more than enough local content."

Judith Tizard said Labour was prepared to act quickly to deal with the issues of how we get greater quantity and quality New Zealand programmes, music and stories on our television and radios.

"National and its cronies have failed New Zealanders with their market style approach to local programming. Labour will require radio and free to air television stations to play a proportion of New Zealand music and programmes as a way of ensuring New Zealand's unique cultural identity was preserved and celebrated," Judith Tizard said.

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Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>