RexWiderstrom.com

Sorry, the previous reference to Dad's Army made the post title sort of inevitable. The gentleman referred to is of course TV3's CEO, Mark Weldon. But over the past few weeks, sitting by the deathbed of Campbell Live until it breathed its final, triumphant breath on Friday I have heard the mantra that it just isn't profitable for commercial television (or radio, or newspapers) to invest in quality, long-form current affairs. Ironically, I've even heard that advanced by those

Tell a broadcaster today that they ought to be guided by standards first created in 1922 by John Reith - and in the context of the stuffy old "Aunty" BBC, what's more - and they'll likely scoff in derision. Yet engage them on the state of broadcast journalism today and you'll probably hear a lament of shrinking newsrooms, increasing centralisation of news gathering (and a consequent loss of the ability to focus on the myriad of local issues which are important to people), an