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point of view
with barbara sumner burstyn
Sumner Burstyn Wins At Qantas Media
Awards
Social Issues Columnist of the Year 2004
Winner: BARBARA SUMNER BURSTYN
The New Zealand Herald
Columnist of the Year 2004
Finalist: BARBARA SUMNER BURSTYN
The New Zealand Herald
A civilised society should care for
its weakest members
April 12 2004
- It's euthanasia time again. With the guilty verdict in the trial
of Lesley Martin, and Act MP Deborah Coddington's odd denial of
involvement in, but endorsement of, the death of tetraplegic lawyer
Michael Crew 16 years ago, euthanasia is back on the social agenda.
Profit comes before preserving the planet
April 5 2004
- One morning recently I woke up and read through my usual array
of international media. In the middle of the lead story from the
Washington Post about mercury levels in seafood, I began to feel
a deep wash of shame.
US laws unravelling reproductive rights
of women
March 15 2004
- I'm told the fastest way to ruin a columnist's career is to
write about abortion. Just the mention of it brings out the letter
writers and an entire column on the subject can overwhelm the
editor's desk with furious mail. So be it.
Here's why crony capitalism is such big
business
March 8 2004
- Letter to William Millman - United States Embassy
- Wellington:
Dear Mr Millman (Public Affairs Officer),
Thanks for your letter criticising a recent column on America.
It's not often I'm the recipient of an official response, straight
from the horse's mouth, as it were.
Injustice inevitable in a society blind
to colour
March 1 2004
- Last week's political poll showed large numbers of New Zealanders
had shifted their support to the National Party on the basis of
a single speech that seemed to jump right into the heart of the
country.
Outrage over Janet Jackson's breast just
one symptom
February 23 2004
- In my living room in Hawkes Bay, half-way through last week's
episode of the banal, overhyped The Osbournes, it dawned on me
what was so weird: you could hear every word. Watch the same show
in the US and you need to lip-read your way round the almost continuous
beeping-out of bad words.
Our male film reviewers are missing all
the points
February 16 2004
- What is it with film reviewers in this country?
Gaylene Preston's new film Perfect Strangers, a dark tale of
a woman kidnapped, the tables turning and then turning again,
has been heralded internationally as a major new work. But here,
on home turf, it has been panned by reviewers.
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