The Wednesday Wire with Paul Deady

95bFM: The Wednesday Wire with Paul Deady

The bFM WIRE Today: 12 - 2pm weekdays

For links toWindows Media Player & 128kbps Streams Go To:
http://www.95bfm.com/default,live.sm

1210 - NZOA Reviews Its Domestic Music Strategy

At the top of the show today, around 12.10, we’ll hear from Brendan Smythe, The Music Manager at New Zealand On Air. They’re doing what they call a “full-on” review of their domestic music work. It’s so full on, you, yes YOU, will even get the chance to have your say! The general purpose of the Review is to evaluate the effectiveness of their music funding policies and promotional strategies. They want to see what modifications if any could be made to policy and practice to increase effectiveness and respond to changes in the radio and music environment.

1225 - Bridget Vercoe

At 12.25 we head to Morocco, where 88 countries are meeting for a crucial session at the International Whaling Committee. At stake? The future of a 24 year moratorium on whaling, as well as the future of the commission itself. There’s been some drama there overnight as 17 mostly pro-whaling nations lost their voting rights, mainly because they didn’t pay their fees. Not that it matters - any proposal would need consensus agreement. Our foreign minister Murray McCully who’s there isn’t particularly optimistic about a breakthrough on a compromise that would allow the resumption of commercial whaling, in exchange for a reduced catch. Also pessimistic was Bridget Vercoe, from the World Society for the Protection of Animals. She’s there, but for the last 2 days, her organisation, other NGOs and the world’s media have been locked out. The meeting ends on Friday - the clock is ticking. We’ll hear from Bridget at 12.25.

1235 - Counterclockwise

Scoop’s Selwyn Manning stops running around with no shirt on, and steps in for counterclockwise at 12.35 today. An interesting one from Selwyn too - he’ll be looking at moves by Vanuatu to support West Papuan independence. Vanuatu is the host of the Pacific Islands Forum this year too - so has some clout. Vanuatu’s move will apply pressure on Papua New Guinea to voice whether or not it will help support West Papuans who seek independence from Indonesian control.

1245 - Jeffrey Wigand

And then at 12.45, this morning I was lucky enough to speak to Jeffrey Wigand. If you don’t know the name, you probably at least know WHO he is. Jeffrey is the whistleblower - a tobacco industry insider who, in 1996, lifted the lid on his employer. They were, he said, intentionally manipulating the tobacco blend to increase the amount of nicotine in cigarette smoke, thereby increasing the 'impact' to the smoker. This lead to death threats for both him and his family, and Jeffrey was famously portrayed by Russell Crowe in the film The Insider. These days, he tours the world, advising governments on anti-smoking legislation. He’s in New Zealand, as a guest of anti-smoke group ASH, and will appear before the Maori Affairs Select Committee inquiry into the tobacco industry today. He told me he’s going to blow the thing wide open with evidence that shows big tobacco have lied in their submissions.

© Scoop Media