Latest news with #Fitz
The Age
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Age
Bridget has Down Syndrome and is non-verbal, but still expresses herself Vividly
The work of artist Bridget Kelly, who has Down Syndrome and is mostly non-verbal, received a strong response at the Vivid Festival this year. Bridget communicates by expression, limited words and writing. I interviewed her by text with the help of her sister, Morag. Fitz: Bridget, congratulations on your art. When did you take it up? BK: I have been drawing since I was little but I started using Posca Pens in Year 12 at St Scholastica's College, Glebe, which I attended with my two sisters. That was when I got really excited about my art. Fitz: When did you realise you were not just good at it, but seriously talented? BK: When I finished high school, I kept doing my art because it made me happy. When I was 21, I won the Inner West Blooming Arts prize. I won a mentorship to University of Sydney College of the Arts. I felt happy because people started to call me an artist. Loading Fitz: Who are your greatest artistic influences? BK: I get ideas from the world around me. I like colours and shapes and showing people how I see things. Fitz: What did your parents and sisters say when you told them your work was to be displayed at Vivid?
Sydney Morning Herald
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
Bridget has Down Syndrome and is non-verbal, but still expresses herself Vividly
The work of artist Bridget Kelly, who has Down Syndrome and is mostly non-verbal, received a strong response at the Vivid Festival this year. Bridget communicates by expression, limited words and writing. I interviewed her by text with the help of her sister, Morag. Fitz: Bridget, congratulations on your art. When did you take it up? BK: I have been drawing since I was little but I started using Posca Pens in Year 12 at St Scholastica's College, Glebe, which I attended with my two sisters. That was when I got really excited about my art. Fitz: When did you realise you were not just good at it, but seriously talented? BK: When I finished high school, I kept doing my art because it made me happy. When I was 21, I won the Inner West Blooming Arts prize. I won a mentorship to University of Sydney College of the Arts. I felt happy because people started to call me an artist. Loading Fitz: Who are your greatest artistic influences? BK: I get ideas from the world around me. I like colours and shapes and showing people how I see things. Fitz: What did your parents and sisters say when you told them your work was to be displayed at Vivid?
Sydney Morning Herald
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
Is this the end of free-to-air TV? A veteran weighs in
Fitz: I can't believe he said that! Meakin: He did say that, and when Kerry Packer saw it, he was outraged, and we were promptly summoned into his offices in Park Street, and bawled out for discussing virginity in prime time. We defended it, and the argument turned on him not wanting eight minutes of that rubbish on his channel. I said, 'It wasn't eight minutes, Mr Packer'. He said, 'Well, how much was it?' I said, 'It was five minutes, 29 seconds'. He insisted it was eight and took a bet that he was right, and when an executive emerged from the next office with a stopwatch, and it was 5 minutes and 29 seconds, I won. So Kerry gave me a $10 note because I'd won the bet, and we were given a lift back to Channel Nine in his chauffeur-driven Mercedes. And that was Packer; he used to sound off on a number of occasions, and ring up to object to a story, but if you held your ground he'd generally back you, and mutter 'over-ruled again'. Fitz: At Mike Willesee 's funeral you told a great story of the A Current Affair host standing his ground against Packer? Meakin: Yes, we ran a promo for a story which covered the infamous 'Goanna' allegations about Packer being involved in organised crime – for which he was subsequently completely exonerated – but straight after the promo went to air, we got a furious phone call from his legal adviser – one Malcolm Turnbull – threatening to sack everyone if the story went ahead. So I advised Mr Willesee that we'd had this call, and what Kerry and Malcolm were threatening. And Willesee said, 'Tell Kerry, if he doesn't like the story, he can sue himself'. We ran the story. Fitz: All right, well back to the present day, and this week has seen major news shows The Project, which you were heavily involved with, and the ABC's Q&A bite the dust. As a serious question, and you're better qualified than anybody to answer, what is going on? Loading Meakin: No show – or very few shows – last forever. I mean, Four Corners and 60 Minutes have been around forever, and probably will be around forever, but everything else seems to have a shelf life, and that's been the case since, since [Christ] played fullback for Jerusalem. Television programs are like restaurants. For a long while, you can't get in because there's such a waiting list, and then all of a sudden people are over it, and no one comes there any more. So you can't necessarily read too much into it. Fitz: Sure. But as one who loved Q&A, and whose wife was on The Project, I've followed it closely. We can all see that the ratings of these shows have fallen off a cliff in the last few years. Why? Meakin: Because audiences for most TV shows have fallen off a cliff. People aren't into free-to-air television the way they used to be. Fitz: This is my point. You and I have children who have certainly heard of free-to-air television but never liked the sound of it, and there's now whole swaths of the population that simply don't watch FTA television at all. Is that what we are witnessing? Are these major programs being axed the death-throes of free-to-air television? Meakin: That's overstating it. But you know, times are certainly very tough, and really tough for the people who've lost their jobs. And I particularly feel for those I worked with at The Project because they're friends, and in some cases they're finer professionals than many I've worked with at some of the most high-flying programs in Australian TV history. Fitz: Hopefully, most of them will find their way to the new investigative show Ten has announced, 10 News +. Do you have confidence that it will work? Meakin: Well, I applaud them for trying. I think whether it works or not is going to depend on the level it's resourced and, as you know, Channel 10 does not have the reputation of throwing money around. They're not in a position to throw money around. But if it's well resourced, fine. As for the investigative angle, that can be very costly ... Fitz: [ Wryly. ] I've heard it said. Meakin: But it can be very powerful. I know that some people have been arguing that The Project 's reputation was damaged by the Brittany Higgins interview. Well, I reckon if they – and we – had done more investigative news stories like that, the program would still be there. Against that, while I love investigative journalism, it's hard to raise a business argument for it when it can cost so much money to pursue – and then defend. Fitz: Way back when I got to know you in the early '90s at the Nine Network, the dictum for news was, 'If it bleeds, it leads'. These days, particularly with radio and TV, it seems to me to be, 'If it hates, it rates'. Meakin: I don't know about that. That's not a saying I've ever espoused. Fitz: I know you never did! I just invented it, to summate a lot of what seems to rate well in this age of social media, and for stuff to go viral, which seems to be the constant end game. Meakin: Oh well, they used to say 'Divide the nation and multiply the ratings', so there's nothing new under the sun, and yes, there are certainly a lot of people here generating conflict, but that's not just in the radio studio or on television. I mean, a lot of it is coming from places like the White House, where from Trump and Musk just about everything that comes out of their mouth is mendacious. And instead of some of the media doing its job to call out the lies, they put them to air unchallenged, which sees a lot of people believing them. And then when the media does tell the truth, Trump calls them all 'fake news', whereupon his followers then hate the media – and instead go to the sources which can reinforce their prejudice. Fitz: That is indeed the age we're in. What can the serious media do about it? Meakin: At the risk of sounding like an old fart, we of the media have got to keep jealously guarding what little reputation we have left, and deliver the news straight, unbiased and as honestly as we possibly can – and hope that the people will come back, as that is precisely what is needed now, and everyone is starting to recognise it. Fitz: Which brings us to the demise of Q&A, which seemed to me to be a textbook example of how you take a seriously successful show and drive it into the ground, changing formats, changing timeslots, changing hosts every year or two – or even less – and playing it safe with too-often dull guests. Do you agree? Loading Meakin: I found it 'worthy'. And when you call a program worthy, it's both a compliment and an insult – but the bottom line is that not enough people found it worthy in a good way. But the first thing to say is the show's been around for 18 years and has had a bloody good innings. But a lot of questions, in my view, sounded very stilted and rehearsed. When it truly worked, there were people in authority answering tough questions. That's not happening any more. And I note here, the ABC's explanation for it being cancelled: 'It's time to rethink how audiences want to interact and to evolve how we can engage with the public, to include as many Australians as possible in national conversations.' Well, there's a bureaucratic gob-full if ever I heard one! Fitz: What would Kerry Packer do, if he had control of programs like The Project and Q&A in this situation? Meakin: Kerry, God bless him, wasn't blessed with patience. And he didn't like being beaten. So I suspect he would have sacked an executive producer or two and demanded changes to the format before pulling the pin. Fixing a failing program isn't easy. The causes are inevitably a matter of debate. The solutions can be cruel and may not work. So it's often easier to wield the axe. Fitz: When Q&A debuted in 2008 it was one of the first to harness Twitter, so the audience could make commentary on it in real time, building a live buzz and with it an audience that would start to tune in. These days, social media seems to be having the opposite effect? Meakin: Well, I think social media has made it very hard for people to be opinionated on television. And what's the point of making a stand or expressing an opinion honestly held when, within seconds, half the population is going to want to decapitate you? Fitz: You do what I do. You don't read 99.9 per cent of it, and you pity the poor bastards with such tiny lives that they have nothing better to do with their time than emit anonymous toxic farts in the Twitter wind. Meakin: That's what Waleed did – declined to read any social media at all – and right now, he doesn't seem to have a gig. But he is too good not to have one soon. It will go on. There will always be a need for media people like him. They just need the right format and platform.
The Age
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Age
Is this the end of free-to-air TV? A veteran weighs in
Fitz: I can't believe he said that! Meakin: He did say that, and when Kerry Packer saw it, he was outraged, and we were promptly summoned into his offices in Park Street, and bawled out for discussing virginity in prime time. We defended it, and the argument turned on him not wanting eight minutes of that rubbish on his channel. I said, 'It wasn't eight minutes, Mr Packer'. He said, 'Well, how much was it?' I said, 'It was five minutes, 29 seconds'. He insisted it was eight and took a bet that he was right, and when an executive emerged from the next office with a stopwatch, and it was 5 minutes and 29 seconds, I won. So Kerry gave me a $10 note because I'd won the bet, and we were given a lift back to Channel Nine in his chauffeur-driven Mercedes. And that was Packer; he used to sound off on a number of occasions, and ring up to object to a story, but if you held your ground he'd generally back you, and mutter 'over-ruled again'. Fitz: At Mike Willesee 's funeral you told a great story of the A Current Affair host standing his ground against Packer? Meakin: Yes, we ran a promo for a story which covered the infamous 'Goanna' allegations about Packer being involved in organised crime – for which he was subsequently completely exonerated – but straight after the promo went to air, we got a furious phone call from his legal adviser – one Malcolm Turnbull – threatening to sack everyone if the story went ahead. So I advised Mr Willesee that we'd had this call, and what Kerry and Malcolm were threatening. And Willesee said, 'Tell Kerry, if he doesn't like the story, he can sue himself'. We ran the story. Fitz: All right, well back to the present day, and this week has seen major news shows The Project, which you were heavily involved with, and the ABC's Q&A bite the dust. As a serious question, and you're better qualified than anybody to answer, what is going on? Loading Meakin: No show – or very few shows – last forever. I mean, Four Corners and 60 Minutes have been around forever, and probably will be around forever, but everything else seems to have a shelf life, and that's been the case since, since [Christ] played fullback for Jerusalem. Television programs are like restaurants. For a long while, you can't get in because there's such a waiting list, and then all of a sudden people are over it, and no one comes there any more. So you can't necessarily read too much into it. Fitz: Sure. But as one who loved Q&A, and whose wife was on The Project, I've followed it closely. We can all see that the ratings of these shows have fallen off a cliff in the last few years. Why? Meakin: Because audiences for most TV shows have fallen off a cliff. People aren't into free-to-air television the way they used to be. Fitz: This is my point. You and I have children who have certainly heard of free-to-air television but never liked the sound of it, and there's now whole swaths of the population that simply don't watch FTA television at all. Is that what we are witnessing? Are these major programs being axed the death-throes of free-to-air television? Meakin: That's overstating it. But you know, times are certainly very tough, and really tough for the people who've lost their jobs. And I particularly feel for those I worked with at The Project because they're friends, and in some cases they're finer professionals than many I've worked with at some of the most high-flying programs in Australian TV history. Fitz: Hopefully, most of them will find their way to the new investigative show Ten has announced, 10 News +. Do you have confidence that it will work? Meakin: Well, I applaud them for trying. I think whether it works or not is going to depend on the level it's resourced and, as you know, Channel 10 does not have the reputation of throwing money around. They're not in a position to throw money around. But if it's well resourced, fine. As for the investigative angle, that can be very costly ... Fitz: [ Wryly. ] I've heard it said. Meakin: But it can be very powerful. I know that some people have been arguing that The Project 's reputation was damaged by the Brittany Higgins interview. Well, I reckon if they – and we – had done more investigative news stories like that, the program would still be there. Against that, while I love investigative journalism, it's hard to raise a business argument for it when it can cost so much money to pursue – and then defend. Fitz: Way back when I got to know you in the early '90s at the Nine Network, the dictum for news was, 'If it bleeds, it leads'. These days, particularly with radio and TV, it seems to me to be, 'If it hates, it rates'. Meakin: I don't know about that. That's not a saying I've ever espoused. Fitz: I know you never did! I just invented it, to summate a lot of what seems to rate well in this age of social media, and for stuff to go viral, which seems to be the constant end game. Meakin: Oh well, they used to say 'Divide the nation and multiply the ratings', so there's nothing new under the sun, and yes, there are certainly a lot of people here generating conflict, but that's not just in the radio studio or on television. I mean, a lot of it is coming from places like the White House, where from Trump and Musk just about everything that comes out of their mouth is mendacious. And instead of some of the media doing its job to call out the lies, they put them to air unchallenged, which sees a lot of people believing them. And then when the media does tell the truth, Trump calls them all 'fake news', whereupon his followers then hate the media – and instead go to the sources which can reinforce their prejudice. Fitz: That is indeed the age we're in. What can the serious media do about it? Meakin: At the risk of sounding like an old fart, we of the media have got to keep jealously guarding what little reputation we have left, and deliver the news straight, unbiased and as honestly as we possibly can – and hope that the people will come back, as that is precisely what is needed now, and everyone is starting to recognise it. Fitz: Which brings us to the demise of Q&A, which seemed to me to be a textbook example of how you take a seriously successful show and drive it into the ground, changing formats, changing timeslots, changing hosts every year or two – or even less – and playing it safe with too-often dull guests. Do you agree? Loading Meakin: I found it 'worthy'. And when you call a program worthy, it's both a compliment and an insult – but the bottom line is that not enough people found it worthy in a good way. But the first thing to say is the show's been around for 18 years and has had a bloody good innings. But a lot of questions, in my view, sounded very stilted and rehearsed. When it truly worked, there were people in authority answering tough questions. That's not happening any more. And I note here, the ABC's explanation for it being cancelled: 'It's time to rethink how audiences want to interact and to evolve how we can engage with the public, to include as many Australians as possible in national conversations.' Well, there's a bureaucratic gob-full if ever I heard one! Fitz: What would Kerry Packer do, if he had control of programs like The Project and Q&A in this situation? Meakin: Kerry, God bless him, wasn't blessed with patience. And he didn't like being beaten. So I suspect he would have sacked an executive producer or two and demanded changes to the format before pulling the pin. Fixing a failing program isn't easy. The causes are inevitably a matter of debate. The solutions can be cruel and may not work. So it's often easier to wield the axe. Fitz: When Q&A debuted in 2008 it was one of the first to harness Twitter, so the audience could make commentary on it in real time, building a live buzz and with it an audience that would start to tune in. These days, social media seems to be having the opposite effect? Meakin: Well, I think social media has made it very hard for people to be opinionated on television. And what's the point of making a stand or expressing an opinion honestly held when, within seconds, half the population is going to want to decapitate you? Fitz: You do what I do. You don't read 99.9 per cent of it, and you pity the poor bastards with such tiny lives that they have nothing better to do with their time than emit anonymous toxic farts in the Twitter wind. Meakin: That's what Waleed did – declined to read any social media at all – and right now, he doesn't seem to have a gig. But he is too good not to have one soon. It will go on. There will always be a need for media people like him. They just need the right format and platform.
The Spinoff
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Spinoff
The Unity Books bestseller chart for the week ending June 13
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books' stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington. AUCKLAND 1 A Different kind Of Power by Jacinda Ardern (Penguin Random House, $60) The former prime minister's reign continues! Do make sure you're buying the legit copy and not any of these AI fakes… 2 Delirious by Damien Wilkins (Te Herenga Waka University Press, $38) The moving, immersive novel about an ageing couple navigating how to be in the last segments of their lives. 3 The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong (Penguin Random House, $38) The second novel from celebrated writer Ocean Vuong. Here's the publisher's blurb: 'One late summer evening in the post-industrial town of East Gladness, Connecticut, nineteen-year-old Hai stands on the edge of a bridge in pelting rain, ready to jump, when he hears someone shout across the river. The voice belongs to Grazina, an elderly widow succumbing to dementia, who convinces him to take another path. Bereft and out of options, he quickly becomes her caretaker. Over the course of the year, the unlikely pair develops a life-altering bond, one built on empathy, spiritual reckoning, and heartbreak, with the power to alter Hai's relationship to himself, his family, and a community at the brink.' 4 Butter by Asako Yuzuki (Fourth Estate, $35) Did you know that former prime minister of Australia, Julia Gillard, has a podcast called A Pod of One's Own? Well now you do. And season seven, episode four is all about Butter. 5 The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey (Te Herenga Waka University Press, $38) The sinister and spectacular alternate history that raises a lot of philosophical questions … a gripping read perfect for these rainy, wintry days. Read a review of this brilliant novel right here on The Spinoff. 6 James by Percival Everett (Picador, $38) The widely celebrated retelling of Huckleberry Finn. 7 Air by John Boyne (Doubleday, $35) The conclusion to Boyne's elements trilogy. Read Chris Reed's review over on Booklovers NZ. 8 There Are Rivers In The Sky by Elif Shafak (Penguin Random House, $26) Turkish writer and activist Elif Shafak's latest, moving novel about the connections facilitated by bodies of water. 9 Eurotrash by Christian Kracht (Profile Books, $39) A terminally ill mother and her son road trip around Europe and reckon with themselves. 10 Assassin's Apprentice #1 Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb (HarperCollins, $23) One for the fantasy addicts. Here's the blurb: 'The kingdom of the Six Duchies is on the brink of civil war when news breaks that the crown prince has fathered a bastard son and is shamed into abdication. The child's name is Fitz, and he is despised. Raised in the castle stables, only the company of the king's fool, the ragged children of the lower city, and his unusual affinity with animals provide Fitz with any comfort. To be useful to the crown, Fitz is trained as an assassin; and to use the traditional magic of the Farseer family. But his tutor, allied to another political faction, is determined to discredit, even kill him. Fitz must survive: for he may be destined to save the kingdom.' WELLINGTON 1 A Different Kind Of Power by Jacinda Ardern (Penguin Random House, $60) 2 The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey (Te Herenga Waka University Press, $38) 3 Terrier, Worrier by Anna Jackson (Auckland University Press, $25) An absolutely stunning new book from poet Anna Jackson. A long-form poetic sort-of memoir it is gorgeous to read and a meditation on daily life as much as it is about the clouds of thought that follow us day in, day out. 4 A Beautiful Family by Jennifer Trevelyan (Allen and Unwin NZ, $37) A summer holiday you won't forget anytime soon. Here's a snippet from books editor Claire Mabey's review: 'Enter, the child. Trevelyan's narrator is 10 years old. She's unnamed until the very end of the book (I won't reveal it here: best to find out for yourself). It's this naive perspective that makes A Beautiful Family both easy to read and impossible to put down. The narrator's innocence is pitted against several disturbing factors, all orbiting her summer in various shapes and shades, and it's that persistent dance of disturbances that creates the sustained and unrelenting tension in the novel.' 5 What to Do When I'm Gone: A Mother's Wisdom to Her Daughter by Suzy Hopkins and Hallie Bateman (Bloomsbury, $27) Winter seems a good time to contemplate this kind of inevitability? IDK. But here's the blurb: 'One sleepless night while she was in her early twenties, illustrator/writer Hallie Bateman had a painful realization: Someday, her mother would be gone. The prospect was devastating, and also scary – how would she navigate the world without the person who gave her life? She thought about all the motherly advice she would miss–advice that could help her through a host of future challenges that might arise, including the ordeal of losing a parent. The next day, Hallie asked her mother, writer Suzy Hopkins, to record step-by-step instructions for her to follow in the event of her mom's death. The list began: 'Pour yourself a stiff glass of whiskey and make some fajitas' and continued from there, walking Hallie through the days, months, and years of life after loss, with motherly guidance and support, addressing issues great and small–from choosing a life partner to baking a quiche. The project became a way for mother and daughter to discuss the everyday realities of grief, and to do so honestly, with humor, openness, and gratitude. It led to a book they hope will help other families have similar conversations.' 6 Delirious by Damien Wilkins (Te Herenga Waka University Press, $38) 7 James by Percival Everett (Picador, $38) 8 Before the Winter Ends by Khadro Mohamed (Tender Press, $30) 'I pondered for a long time how I was going to write this review,' wrote Melissa Oliver in The Spinoff. 'I'd lost any sense of how to form a coherent thought or sentence. It is a book that completely took me away from my own life and my own ways of seeing the world. It's unlike anything I've read for a long time and will be a novel that a lot of people will not know they've been waiting for.' 9 Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic, $30) The latest instalment from one of the most successful young adult series ever. 10 M āori Rafter & Tāniko Design by J. W. Phillipps (Oratia Books, $40) This is a republication of a classic book from 1943: 'This complete redesign of W.J. Phillipps' classic work introduces key patterns in an accessible manner with rich illustrations. Beginning with the koru, the book develops from analysis of drawings to real examples, including important meeting house designs. The beautifully rendered patterns gain new life in a generous layout that will be of value to students and experts alike.'
