The following quotation is taken from Jim Mora’s four o’clock panel discussion on Radio New Zealand, 9 May, this year: “Fukushima is threatening life on this planet …. Worst case scenario (Jim did ask!) … we all die!”. The speaker was Peter Elliot, who was described in his panel introduction as an ‘entertainment professional’, but whether he intended his comments as ‘entertainment’, or whether they were recognised as such by Radio New Zealand listeners, may be doubted.
What also should come up for discussion is the place of this sort of infantile observation on what is claimed to be public-service radio, and the obligation that broadcasters, like Jim Mora, have to ensure some standards, with regard to the quality of the information put out and, of course, some balance, in the public debate on important and contentious issues.
