Off-Topic: Some bad news and then some really bad reporting

Over the weekend – we suffered a tragic and unexpected loss of a close family member.

I won’t go into any exact details about what happened - and words could not describe the grief being felt by those close to me – (and this is not an appropriate place for this).

And just to make things worse – the media got involved… and it’s this I want to blog about.

As it happens, an ‘incident’ directly related to this loss was immediately seen by some opportunistic union/political members as a great way to publicize their cause – so they called the media in. They of course didn’t stop for one moment to think about how those being effected would not welcome having the media camped outside their house – or accosting anyone who stepped outside.

They (both the media and those other beneficiaries) – also didn’t seem to mind that the story being peddled (or the part that made it newsworthy) was actually untrue. In fact – they had ALL (commercial TV Stations) been told the real facts by authorities – and also several stations taped an interview with a family member outside the house well before the story was aired. Apparently those stations present at this interview also tried to encourage him to ‘lie’ about the facts – so they could peddle the wrong version of events.

Out of all the news networks (well at least paytv, fta tv, newspaper) – only Channel 7 reported the full and correct facts and set the record straight. (kudos to them for at least getting it right in the end).

The others very deliberately concealed/muddied the facts (and implied the wrong story)- simply for the sake of ’not letting the truth get in the way of a good story’.. A few newspapers even provided completely untrue statements/quotes just to support their stories. Most of them also ran continuous news promo’s all evening again ‘miss-stating’ the facts and showing pictures etc.

Anyhow – to say that I have ZERO respect – or trust for the Australian news media at the moment would be a complete understatement (I can only begin to imagine how untrue everything else they publish/air is based on this).. 

If it wasn’t so personal and close to home – I would probably be providing MediaWatch with some details.

Yours Truely on the ‘The Media Center Show #126′

Ian Dixon interviewed me a little while ago for the Media Center show podcast – and if you want to check it out - have a listen to the latest edition of the show (The Media Center Show #126 – Niall Ginsbourg). It’s my 3rd appearance – and (as before) had an enjoyable chat with Ian about what I’m up to.

It was pretty weird (once again) to hear my voice recorded – and you might need an umm-skipper  (just like a recorded tv "ad-skipper" – but for everytime I say ummmm – which is quite a bit unfortunately ..). But in amongst the umming and ahh’ing – I rattle on a little about media center development, where I’m at with the Big Screen Products and the crappy UK weather.

Show Index (and download) quoted below (taken from Ian’s Digital Lifestyle blog)…

Quote

The Media Center Show #126 – Niall Ginsbourg

By Ian Dixon (26mb 1 hour 15mins 53sec) 
Vote for the show on Podcast Alley

Direct Download Link – Subscribe via iTunes – Subscribe via RSS

This week Niall Ginsbourg Media Center developer returns to the show to talk about his Vista Media Center applications, the process he follows when developing Media Center applications and how he is getting businesses looking at Media Center development . I also have email, news items and the final chance to win a copy of One Voices’ Media Center Communicator and LTB’s L-Beam Wireless Microphone System.

Welcome to the new show sponsor Tech.co.uk

Show Times:
00:50 Welcome to the show
01:38 Email – Voice control video
02:48 Email – Do Extenders need the host PC turned on?
05:10 V2 Zunes with Media Center Support
06:23 I got a Zune!, Zune forums
07:32 Niveus Media Center Companion Software – My review
09:42 PowerPlay List on Codeplex
10:50 Get nominating for The Media Center Show Awards – see this forum thread
11:47 Last chance to Win Media Center Communicator and the L-Beam Wireless Microphone System (link to video)
12:39 A message from One Voice
13:20 Welcome to Niall
14:30 Balancing  Media Center work
15:34 Getting business to look at Media Center as a platform
21:00 The design process
24:54 Development tools
27:00 Reusing code
30:00 User feedback
32:00 Tools
34:00 Wix installer
36:30 64bit
37:35 Big Screen Photos 2
45:20 Big Screen Headlines
53:44 Big Screen Contacts
54:10 Big Screen Weather
56:17 Big Screen TV
59:30 Touch screen application
01:08:00 http://mobilewares.net/ and http://mobilewares.spaces.live.com/
01:12:00 Thanks to Niall

Music by Ian Dixon

Technorati tags: Windows Media Center, podcasts