Pundit

Bryce Edwards teaches over at the Politics Department here at Otago. It would be fair to say that he's been somewhat active in commentating on this election campaign. And during it he set up a very good initiative in the form of his "Vote Chat" interviews with various candidates, conducted in the University of Otago's broadcast studio and livestreamed over the interweb by way of the magic pixies who carry pictures through tubes to our computers. (You can go and see the whole set of those interviews here).

However, not content with dominating to a quite unhealthy extent the discourse leading up to election day, Bryce now has decided to expand his burgeoning media empire by challenging the dinosaur lamestream TV channels' coverage of the election results through a "University of Otago-New Zealand Herald online Election Night Special". And because I like to grab hold of the coat tails of those successful, headed-straight-for-the-top characters I come into contact with, I'm clambering on board as a co-presenter of this extravaganza.

Here's what the official announcement of our little experiment says:

Dr Edwards and Professor Geddis will host an “alternative” election night special – providing substantial but different coverage of the election results.

The University of Otago will be making use of academic and student expertise to analyse the election results as they come in. Lecturers and students from a number of different departments will contribute their analysis not only of the final results but also of broader issues from the election campaign.

The election special is being filmed in the Media Production Studios at the University, and live-streamed on the New Zealand Herald website. The coverage will make use of a variety of new technologies, including video, Twitter and other social media, to bring a comprehensive and alternative coverage of the election night news. There will be no commercial breaks, celebrities, or distracting graphics and gimmicks.

I wanted to add a few more details of the evening's fare to what I thought was a fairly bland description, but was shot down by the powers that be. However, they can't control the whole world wide internet, so here's the extra goodies that we'll be smuggling into our show on Saturday night:

(1) We will be playing, in full, the "Tea Tape" - without bleeping out any of the numerous curse words that it contains;

(2) We will be unmasking the identities of all those who leaked the emails that enabled Nicky Hager to write The Hollow Men;

(3) We will be revealing what John Key's position really was on the Springbok Tour (as well as photos of him in motorcycle helmet and brandishing a plywood shield emblazoned with "Avenge Steve Biko!");

(4) We will screen live footage of David Cunliffe sharpening his knife to an ever keener edge as the evening progresses;

(5) We will be reenacting the premise of Saw, with Michael Laws and Paul Henry in the protagonists' roles (if you've seen the movie, you'll know what I mean ... if you haven't, then it is not for you.)

So ... why not go to the New Zealand Herald's webpage (nzherald.co.nz) and drop in on us at some point during Saturday night between 7-11? I know you're all multi-media savvy types, not content with getting you information from just one source. Plus, there's always the ad breaks in the TV coverage ... .