Piha mysteries gripping TV
But should the police have fronted up on more than just one of the cases highlighted in the series? Most definitely.
The ingredients make for compelling television. The disappearance, without trace, of six young people — four women and two men — in and around Piha over almost 30 years.
The backdrop: The small, isolated community in one of New Zealand’s most rugged and beautiful locations. And an undertone — a sinister element lurking. Unidentified individuals with past histories of danger and drugs.
Black Coast Vanishings — Three’s four-part docu-series focusing on the mystery disappearances of Eloi Rolland, Iraena Asher, Kim Bambus, Laurence Wu, Cherie Vousden and Quentin Godwin — has smashed streaming records this week, and attracted more than half a million viewers from Sunday to Wednesday.
“Four days in, Black Coast Vanishings has already broken records on ThreeNow, becoming our biggest local platform debut ever and a key driver of new registrations,” says Warner Bros. Discovery senior director commissioning Vicki Keogh.
“The four-part true crime mystery series has captured the nation and the bravery of those families and women who have shared their stories so openly has generated important conversations. More than half a million viewers tuned in on Three for the multi-night viewing event.”
But along with new revelations — mainly cases of women who have had harrowing close calls with erratic, strange men — there are lingering, unanswered questions.
Are any of the disappearances linked? Unlikely.
Is there a serial killer on the loose? Most unlikely.
Do some of the cases warrant more investigation? Definitely.
Should police have fronted up on more than just one of the cases? Most definitely.
Detective Inspector Callum McNeill comes across brilliantly on
Black Coast Vanishings.
He talks on camera and at length about the disappearance of French student Eloi Rolland, the sixth and most recent case. Viewers get to ride along with him in a patrol car; he speaks eloquently and articulately.
Co-director Candida Beveridge can’t speak highly enough of McNeill — she says he chased every possible thread on Eloi. Anything she gave him would be investigated immediately. “I couldn’t have had a better example of a policeman doing good police work,” she says.
But there’s a very telling footnote at the end of each of the four episodes:
Beveridge says of the five other cases: “It would have been better in a PR sense if they had fronted up.”
It’s a critical point. The lack of police comment on the other cases does indeed leave a vacuum of speculation.
Waitemata¯ District Commander Superintendent Naila Hassan told Media Insider: “Police staff regularly make themselves available for interviews with a variety of media outlets and production companies on active or historical investigations.
“The Police Media Team has had extensive dealings with the production company since 2021.
“In consultation with the investigation staff involved in these cases, the decision was made to decline interviews for the five cases as coronial findings had been issued.
“It was deemed inappropriate for police to engage in speculation on those cases given findings had been issued.”
But there is nothing to stop police from commenting on historic cases or their approach to investigations. And there are plenty of questions about those.
They famously came in for criticism for their handling of Iraena Asher’s disappearance in 2004, and one can’t help but wonder if this made them gun shy about discussing that particular case.
In another of the cases, they sent the file to the coroner after only 24 hours.
There are also legitimate publicinterest questions about that.
And what about the new cases uncovered by the documentary, of women being chased into the bushes?
“We weren’t directly approached around matters involving women who have been interviewed as part of this series,” says a spokesman. “So I’m afraid I can’t immediately add any comments around any specific incidents.”
Hassan says police are not aware of any new reports or leads prompted by the series “at this point”.
“However, the best advice for anyone with any new information is to contact police.”
The spokesman said any reports made to police would be reviewed.
“It’s too early to add any commentary around any follow-up action that may or may not be taken. If any reports are made to police as a result of the programme, or in the coming days/weeks, these will need to be reviewed first.”
Judging by social media comments, the series has irked a number of Piha residents, while others have taken more affirmative action, setting up support networks — including walking groups.
Beveridge is thankful that such an intense subject matter has resonated so strongly with the public. She says the response has been “amazing”.
“From that point of view, it’s really good — a lot more stories of predatory behaviour have come out from it.
“And I think that people had no idea — I just didn’t think they really understood.
“I’ve been thinking about it today, and I thought, it can’t just be Piha. This must be a bit like #MeToo — you give women permission to come out and say, ‘Actually, I was stalked’. There’s a story on one of the pages about a woman who was chased by a red ute in Huia, terrified.”
She is also urging people to go to police with any information.
“The documentary was really a place to air concerns that people have had. It’s created a momentum to look at predatory behaviour in a small town.
“And if that starts a bigger movement throughout New Zealand and other small towns and that helps women to be brave and stand up and say enough, then that that’s what I would be happy with.”
The new but delayed life of Ryan
Ryan Bridge’s new 7pm show on Three still appears to be weeks away from its debut.
Media Insider understands it might not appear until at least March.
With Seven Sharp back this week and Shortland Street next week, that gives TVNZ a big head start in the 7pm slot this year.
“It’s a brand new show, brand new format, with a brand new set. It was never going to be on air now,” says a Warner Bros. Discovery spokeswoman.
“At the moment we have no fixed date for it airing.”
I asked whether the sinking lid policy at Three was having an impact.
“As you alluded to, there is a recruitment slowdown in WBD ANZ affecting some of the roles on the show, but we’re not worried because with any new programme the actual start date is not as important as getting it right from the start.
“Ryan is a superstar, it’s why he’s fronting the new show and we know that Kiwis will come check him and the new show out when it does air, and find that they love it, giving them a new 7pm home.”
Bridge’s show, which is expected to have a harder news edge than Seven Sharp — and the show it replaced, The Project — may not start until at least March.
One NZ and DDB part ways
A big parting of ways in the New Zealand advertising world — a conscious uncoupling as Gwyneth Paltrow might say.
One NZ and DDB Aotearoa have parted ways after five years, apparently by mutual agreement.
One independent advertising industry observer describes it as a big blow but DDB is putting on a brave face and is bracing for what it calls an exciting 2024.
One NZ spokesman Conor Roberts said: “At the end of 2023 we mutually agreed with DDB to conclude our contract. Over five years of the relationship, through pandemics and rebrands, we developed several popular campaigns together and we’re extremely proud of that work. We’ve been engaged with a roster of agencies for a few years now, including The Tuesday Club, which has been great for delivering new ideas and collaboration between the teams.
“We’re coming up on the first birthday of our rebrand from Vodafone to One NZ.
“We’re looking forward to building on the success of the change as well as some great initiatives with likes of the One NZ Warriors and our collaboration with SpaceX to bring satellite-to-cell coverage across New Zealand.”
DDB Aotearoa group chief executive Priya Patel said: “Obviously it’s always a shame to part ways with a client. But, as you are no doubt aware, there is a lot of change happening at One NZ and we both agreed that it made sense to end our partnership on a high at the end of 2023.”
She said DDB wished One NZ well. “We’ve done some cool stuff with them over the last five years but Matty [Burton, chief creative officer] and I were really only here for the last two — when we did the One NZ work.
“We think the SpaceX launch and Mobile work were really strong — it gave them a good, modern tonality and obviously introduced some of their newer product initiatives to the market.”
She said DDB partnered up with “many other brilliant New Zealand businesses and brands” including McDonald’s, Samsung, New World, Tourism NZ, AAI, Sky, AND The Warehouse and those partnerships — along with new business — meant there was no impact to any roles at DDB Group.
Four days in, Black Coast Vanishings has already broken records on ThreeNow, becoming our biggest local platform debut ever. Vicki Keogh, Warner Bros
Regional journalism shake-up
Big moves are unfolding in regional New Zealand journalism with one established operator expanding its empire, while a newcomer is set to build a big digital network, possibly with taxpayer support.
Otago Daily Times publisher Allied Press is buying the Blenheim Sun
newspaper, further strengthening its South Island newspaper footprint.
A sale is expected to be confirmed in the coming days.
The purchase, for an as-yetundisclosed sum, means Allied now has titles across the South Island — including its flagship ODT daily masthead in Dunedin and a portfolio of community newspapers including The Star in Christchurch; Mountain Scene in Queenstown, the Timaru Courier and the Greymouth Star.
Marlborough — and Blenheim in particular — is well served by community titles with the weekly Sun
newspaper and website; Stuff ’s
Marlborough Express and another independently owned title, the
Marlborough Weekly, whose content also appears on the Marlborough App.
Sun owner Les Whiteside did not wish to comment yesterday and Allied chief executive Grant McKenzie did not respond to emailed questions.
The sale drew a somewhat snarky response from the competing
Marlborough Weekly.
Under the headline “Sun sells to out of region buyer”, the Weekly
reported that the sale of the Sun meant the Weekly was the only locally owned newspaper.
“We’re really proud that the
Marlborough Weekly is the region’s only locally owned newspaper and supports the community that we are glad to be a part of,” owner Summa Donald was reported as saying. Meanwhile, plans for a digitalfocused regional news operation in New Zealand are moving ahead and may receive taxpayer support.
Media Insider understands from public sector sources that the Government is looking favourably at financial support for the Regional News Network — possibly through MBIE’s regional economic development fund rather than NZ on Air’s traditional media funding structure.
RNN plans to operate station journalists and salespeople in about 17 regions, but starting out in eight areas initially.
It is understood those regions are likely to be Northland, Waikato, Gisborne, Taranaki, Manawatu¯, Canterbury, Queenstown and Otago. RNN is being born out of Crux, the news website run by Peter Newport out of Queenstown for the past five years.
Media Insider revealed details of RNN’s plans in May last year. Its leaders said they needed about $5 million to start and keep the operation running “through 36 months and to a stage where it’s sustainable and profitable”.
Under the model there would be three key people in each designated region (though not necessarily in the same town) — a senior journalist, a junior journalist and a sales rep.
Through a spokesman, Media and Communications Minister Melissa Lee, who is also Minister for Economic Development, said: “I have asked officials for advice on regional media. No decisions on commitments have been made.”
I suspect any possible government funding may be looked at very carefully by existing media who invest heavily in the regions.