http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/matt-de-neef/ Matt de Neef recently completed a graduate diploma of journalism at La Trobe University having previously received a communications degree from Monash University. As a journalism student Matt has been the editor of online student publication upstart and has been published in The Age’s technology section, Livewire. In his final semester at La Trobe Matt spent three weeks as an intern (read coffee-fetcher) at Crikey. In that time he had thirteen items published, including an exposé on job cuts in SBS TV’s sub-titling unit, a piece about ABC TV taking their impartiality mandate too far and an article about the confusion between competing classification systems in Australia. Matt also blogs at A Cursory Glance… and runs The Climbing Cyclist, a website for Victorian cyclists who enjoy hill climbing. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-amazing-race-to-find-the-right-talent-for-reality-tv/ If you are a fan of reality TV then there’s every chance you’ve imagined yourself as contestant on one of the genre’s many shows. Maybe you’ve thought your singing ability could make you the next Australian Idol, perhaps your love of the outdoors made you feel like you could be the next Survivor or maybe you thought a childhood spent playing with table-tennis balls was worth $500,000. If The Amazing Race is your reality show of choice, your dreams of becoming a D-list celebrity could well be on their way to fulfilment. Channel Seven recently announced that it will be producing an Australian version of the popular US reality series, giving a handful of Australians the chance to race around the world for a “massive cash prize”. The show has been running in the US for nine years in which time CBS has managed to pump out an impressive sixteen seasons, with a 17th due for broadcast later this year. For those that haven’t seen the show, take the biggest scavenger hunt you’ve ever seen, add pairs of clueless tourists, some Big Brother-style 24/7 surveillance and the most stressful elements of travelling, mix them together and you get something that vaguely resembles The Amazing Race. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Matt de Neef) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-amazing-race-to-find-the-right-talent-for-reality-tv/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-amazing-race-to-find-the-right-talent-for-reality-tv/#item3814 Tue, 17 Aug 2010 19:35:45 +0000 Matt de Neef | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/may-i-have-your-attention-please/ If you are reading this then my job is half done; you’ve started reading this article. Maybe the headline piqued your interest; perhaps the accompanying image caught your eye; or maybe you are just procrastinating at work. Either way, it’s an honour and a privilege to have your attention for this fleeting moment. You see, your attention is becoming an increasingly valuable thing. At any moment of the day there are a multitude of entities vying for your interest; some will be trying to sell you a product or service, others will be trying to educate or inform you and some provide little more than a distraction. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Matt de Neef) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/may-i-have-your-attention-please/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/may-i-have-your-attention-please/#item3629 Sun, 25 Jul 2010 19:45:23 +0000 Matt de Neef | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/tweeting-the-election-and-the-peoples-hashtag-is-/ With the federal election less than five weeks away, the Australian media is set to go into political overdrive. News bulletins will dedicate additional time to the exploits of Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott and in the brief period since the election announcement, we’ve already seen both leaders swoon in the presence of some opportunely-located children. Newspapers will dedicate additional pages to the dissection of election campaigns, talkback radio will be dominated by sceptical treatment of election promises and “the worm” is likely to resurface in televised debates between the two leaders. In great news for the legions of Chaser fans, the boys will return to the ABC in the coming weeks to preview the election in their trademark style. The folks behind The Gruen Transfer will also roll out a handful of special episodes looking at the abundance of party advertising that is sure to flood our daily loves in the lead up to the election. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Matt de Neef) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/tweeting-the-election-and-the-peoples-hashtag-is-/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/tweeting-the-election-and-the-peoples-hashtag-is-/#item3576 Mon, 19 Jul 2010 19:40:05 +0000 Matt de Neef | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/when-you-watch-rbt-you-better-be-drunk/ Around a third of Australian road fatalities are the direct result of drink-driving. Add to that the millions of random breath tests that occur across the country every year and you’re looking at some fairly good reasons not to drink-drive. Not that you’d know that from the statistics; the percentage of alcohol-fuelled road fatalities has remained constant in the past two decades. In fact, our collective apathy toward the separation of alcohol consumption and motor vehicle control is so great as to warrant its own show on the Nine Network. Premiering last Sunday, RBT is Nine’s attempt at discouraging drink-driving or, depending on your point of view, an attempt to capitalise on the inability of Australian drivers to understand that driving home after six beers is probably a bad idea. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Matt de Neef) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/when-you-watch-rbt-you-better-be-drunk/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/when-you-watch-rbt-you-better-be-drunk/#item3438 Tue, 29 Jun 2010 19:40:23 +0000 Matt de Neef | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/bawdy-tv-jumps-the-shark-with-sevens-latest-hung/ US cable network HBO has never been one to shy away from the profane; dramas like Rome and True Blood have featured almost-weekly screenings of sex and nudity throughout their respective seasons; but with Hung, HBO might well have jumped the shark. Sex and nudity on TV is all well and good but do we really need a show that revolves around the size of a character’s member? The premise behind Showtime’s Californication is flimsy enough – a sex addict has sex with lots of women – but Hung takes lowbrow television to an all-time low. What I wouldn’t give to have been a fly on the wall when Hung’s creators, Dmitry Lipkin and Colette Burson, met with HBO to pitch the show; feedback@thepunch.com.au (Matt de Neef) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/bawdy-tv-jumps-the-shark-with-sevens-latest-hung/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/bawdy-tv-jumps-the-shark-with-sevens-latest-hung/#item3339 Thu, 17 Jun 2010 20:00:15 +0000 Matt de Neef | Author bios | The Punch