A STUFF STUFF-UP

A new name to me on Stuff’s website, Conor Knell, opened his reporting career this week with a spectacular blunder, so;

“When Ricky Mitrov and his wife moved from Hawkes Bay to Dannevirke…”

Conor you goose; Dannevirke is in Hawkes Bay. Indeed I recollect once being the guest speaker for the Hawkes Bay Sportsman of the Year awards, held that year in Dannevirke.

This was a good story ruined reflecting the collapse in print media standards of recent years. That same day’s web-site carried an item from Auckland by Stuff’s Todd Niall and asked in its heading (which Niall was not responsible for) “Who will Wayne Brown turn out to be?”

It’s a bloody tough one to be sure but after considered weighing of this poser my pick is Brown will shock the nation and turn out to be Wayne Brown.

The subdued gloating in a NZ Herald story this week about Stuff undergoing a ”restructuring,” this a euphemism for staff lay-offs, came as no surprise.

4 Comments

Reminds me of a couple of years ago when my 96 year old uncle was being assessed for moving to a rest home in Hastings. Assessor asked him to repeat the following (or similar).

`Fred Jones lives at 25 Smith Street, Woodville, Hawkes Bay’.

Uncle said it perfectly but stopped at Woodville so Assessor asked him to say it again – with the same result so assessor said you keep forgetting Hawkes Bay.

Uncles reply – `Woodville is not in Hawkes Bay.

Once Jacinda goes and the Journalism fund dries up Stuff will be a gonner.

Andrea Vance will have to look for another job

Not to defend in any way the egregious standard of reporting by Stuff staff, but like our venerable sponsor I too used to believe that Dannevirke was in Hawkes Bay. In fact when I lived in Waipukurau (Central Hawkes Bay) some 45 years ago, Dannevirke was part of Southern Hawkes Bay.

Alas it is no longer the case, and Dannevirke is the major town in the Tararua administrative district, which is part of the Manawatu-Whanganui region of New Zealand. A good way to check is to see where Dannevirke plays its rugby – in Manawatu.

My understanding is that this boundary change happened more than 20 years ago.

Retailers in Dannevirke have market day on Hawkes Bay Anniversary day.

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