The Wire with Oto

“When Genocide Wasn’t News” is a recently released Canadian book that documents major Canadian news organisations' reporting on Gaza.

The book claims the media has “whitewashed Israeli violence, dehumanised Palestinians and smeared a growing protest movement.”

Gabriela Perdomo Páez, Assistant Professor of journalism at Mount Royal University, says journalists who support peace efforts can easily be accused of being “biased” in favour of those promoting peace. 

For International Desk, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Perdomo Páez about Canadian news coverage of Gaza.

As Israel’s war in Gaza nears its second full year since October 7th, 2023, multiple aid agencies and humanitarian groups have said that the prevalence of famine within the strip has gone beyond critical levels, with elderly Palestinians now succumbing to malnutrition-related deaths alongside the deaths amongst children that were reported earlier this year.

Israel, who have maintained a blockade on the Gaza strip since 2007, began significantly restricting the amount of aid entering the enclave following the beginning of the war. While spokespeople from the government have told the international community they were allowing adequate levels of aid to enter the strip during humanitarian pauses, humanitarian groups have said the volume of aid entering the strip was far below the level needed, and that reported attacks on both aid workers and Palestinians waiting for aid by IDF personnel weakened Israel’s claims of distributing aid effectively. 

Oto spoke to Dr Ritesh Shah, a Senior Lecturer Critical Studies in Education at the University of Auckland to discuss why Israel has been facing international condemnation for its handling of aid distribution in Gaza.

If you'd like to attend the seminar that Ritesh will be speaking at tomorrow, you can find the details for it here on eventbrite:

On Monday this week it was announced by the government that they are planning to drop NCEA from the national curriculum by 2030, as a part of a new education overhaul.

Although the full details of the new program haven’t been released, the government is planning to replace the NCEA qualification, which has been in place for more than 20 years, with a new national system weighted heavily towards exams. Associate Education Minister David Seymour described the change as more “challenging” for students, which from his perspective can “only be a positive thing”.

Following on from our previous conversation with the Green Party’s Ricardo Menendez-March, Producer Max spoke to Stuart McNaughton, a professor in the faculty of arts and education at the University of Auckland, to talk about the new education reforms.

They may be “green homes,” but there’s plenty of grey areas. Academics such as the University of Auckland’s Dr. Michael Rehm believe that the humidity standards on these eco-friendly houses need to be reassessed.

Producer Faith spoke to Michael about these standards, and whether they’re effective.