OnPoint by Keith Ng

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OnPoint: Pants != Journalism

43 Responses

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  • Geoff Lealand,

    ...and such an important news story?

    Screen & Media Studies, U… • Since Oct 2007 • 2562 posts Report Reply

  • Paul Brislen,

    You internet people are all the same anyway. It must be true, I read it on the web.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 200 posts Report Reply

  • Graeme Edgeler,

    she was asked to leave the press bench by a registrar

    Do we know that the registrar wasn't acting at the judge's request?

    Are *you* sure it wasn't a deputy registrar?

    Wellington, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 3215 posts Report Reply

  • Keith Ng, in reply to Graeme Edgeler,

    Is a deputy registrar not a registrar?

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 543 posts Report Reply

  • Phil Lyth,

    Only a fool argues data with @keith_ng
    Only a fool (like me) argues any area of law with @GraemeEdgeler

    Wellington • Since Apr 2009 • 458 posts Report Reply

  • Phil Lyth,

    Meanwhile McQuillan traps the unwary w/ her latest tweet. Be warned.

    Wellington • Since Apr 2009 • 458 posts Report Reply

  • Graeme Edgeler, in reply to Keith Ng,

    Is a deputy registrar not a registrar?

    Is the Deputy Prime Minister a Prime Minister?

    Wellington, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 3215 posts Report Reply

  • DexterX,

    I think the photos is bad - can't really see the discos pants or the choice of footwear - platforms perhaps.

    Laura McQuillan's was asked to leave - it would have been interesting to see what would have transpired if she had stayed. Perhyaps the family asked as they may have felt it affronting.

    Courtrooms during serious criminal cases (murder trails, serious assaults, rape) are by nature of their function a particularly solemn and serious place, a place where it is not suitable to wear clothes that are visually distracting, dazzling or garish.

    The Judge if, he directed the registrar or deputy registrar to ask McQuillan to leave was likely seeking to preserve a sense of solemnity having regard to the dignity owed to the family of the murder victim and murder accused during proceedings.

    Perhaps for the next serious criminal proceedings McQuillan covers she can go as Smurfette, a Mermaid, A Valley Girl or wear fairy wings and in this way McQuillan can blaze a new trail in ummmmm whatever..........

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1224 posts Report Reply

  • Joanna,

    If I was in court at the trial of someone who allegedly murdered a member of my family, you know what I would be focused on? The verdict. Not what anyone was wearing.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 746 posts Report Reply

  • Martin Roberts,

    I do not own, nor have I ever owned, sequin pants.

    You have my sympathies.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 93 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to DexterX,

    Laura McQuillan was asked to leave

    She moved into the public gallery.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Goodness.

    The Herald has covered the all-important McQuillan story for a fourth time.

    This time it’s an editorial.

    Which claims:

    Her movement to and from the press bench was calculated to draw attention.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    The irony here is that when it hasn’t been lecturing about the solemnity of the process, the Herald has been hanging its trial coverage on the glamour of Anna Macdonald and Kylee Guy. There’s yet another large page 3 pic of Macdonald arriving at court in today’s paper.

    Perhaps that’s inevitable -- and the Herald is hardly alone in doing that -- but it makes all the finger-wagging seem a bit rich.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Wylie, in reply to Russell Brown,

    This time it’s an editorial

    Have they got Caroline Meng-Yee writing editorials now?

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • Scott Chris, in reply to Graeme Edgeler,

    Is a deputy registrar not a registrar?

    Is the Deputy Prime Minister a Prime Minister?

    Might be a fairer question to ask: Is not the Deputy Prime Minister a Minister?

    Regarding the disco pants – well, she got the attention she wanted. What are the odds that we’ll see The Crown Goes Wild’s James McOnie sporting disco pants in the very near future?

    Auckland • Since Feb 2012 • 167 posts Report Reply

  • Yamis,

    The Crown Goes Wild? Does that mean the judge will be wearing pink bell bottoms and a tank top? :)

    Since Nov 2006 • 903 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to Yamis,

    The Crown Goes Wild?

    Dotcom case. Just mentioning that for Gio's benefit. :)

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia, in reply to DexterX,

    Courtrooms during serious criminal cases (murder trails, serious assaults, rape) are by nature of their function a particularly solemn and serious place,

    Well, yes they are. I don’t find much gravitas in a court officer getting in touch with their inner Heidi Klum but there you go. And here we are.

    What I find rather ironic is that a plain text reading of the Courts Department’s own media guidelines, and ample precedent, would suggest that there would have been no issue if McQuillan was wearing jeans. Not my idea of workplace-appropriate couture unless you’re a farm-hand but that’s a personal preference NOT a law of nature.

    But, hell, wasn’t it all so much simpler when a vagina-person’s place in the media was social gossip and scone recipes on the “women’s pages”, and the only women who’d wear trousers in public were butch lesbians and beatniks.

    The Crown Goes Wild? Does that mean the judge will be wearing pink bell bottoms and a tank top? :)

    Well, Yamis, you may snark... but I suspect quite a few lawyers and judges welcomed the "simplification" of court dress rules in 1996. The wigs may be adorable, but I know one who found it so uncomfortable he was discretely asked in the middle of a long trial in a blazing hot courtroom whether he needed his wig fumigated.)

    Would you question the "professionalism" of Sian Elias because (as far as I'm aware) judges of the Supreme Court, don't wear formal robes and court wigs, except on very formal - and rare - occasions?

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Curtis,

    Its the 'disco' part of the story that has me more worried. Much more worried than the hierarchy of court officials.

    Have invitations gone out all ready for the trial 'wrap party' ?

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 314 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia, in reply to Scott Chris,

    Regarding the disco pants – well, she got the attention she wanted.

    Really? I’m casual acquaintances with Laura and I take her word for it that she most definitely didn’t want her name attached to a story riddled with basic fact-fail. And I have no reason to doubt Laura's word that nobody from The Herald has even bothered to call her.

    Funny how the wannabe Anna Wintours of the Herald editorial board forgot to mention that, ay? As Russell says: Sledging the opposition is nothing new, but this is getting as rich as a length of gold thread brocade.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Keir Leslie,

    Of course our apex court has never worn robes, so it is actually more traditional not to be robed.

    Since Jul 2008 • 1452 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia, in reply to Keir Leslie,

    Of course our apex court has never worn robes, so it is actually more traditional not to be robed.

    I stand corrected, but think my broader point is intact. I’m a bit of a fashion fogey (a Barkers hodi-gan and some gaudy striped socks is about as out there as my wardrobe gets), but if a pair of full-length gold trousers is as destructive of judicial gravitas as The Herald would like us to believe one has to question whether it had much in the first place,

    FFS, Laura was hardly getting in touch with her Inner Kylie.

    I think we can all agree very few people can work clit-strangler hot pants. Ever.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Grant Buist,

    I wish the Herald had the ability to stand back and see just how petty and sanctimonious these articles make them look. The Establishment must be respected! Young women must know their place! Don't forget... a man died! No wonder the Daily Mail jumped on this story - it's pitched right at their level.

    Wellington, NZ • Since May 2012 • 6 posts Report Reply

  • Hilary Stace,

    That court room is full of large portraits of the luminaries of the judiciary wearing all sorts of fancy gowns and wigs - yet they make a fuss about a journalist wearing colourful trousers!

    Wgtn • Since Jun 2008 • 3229 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic,

    Are the broadsheets seriously trying to ape the Woman's Weeklies? That's all I have to say at this stage.

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report Reply

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