Cracker: Policy State
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I had an "only in NZ" moment the other day - it was my daughter's first soccer game of the year, the parents were hanging around while the girls warmed up and we started to introduce each other - on of the parents said "Hi I'm X" one of the other parents said something like "you look familiar, have we met before" and he responded "I'd be your minister of Y" (names and portfolios changed ...) so we watched the game, talked about the same things parents talk about in such situations, went home ....
The fact that we have representatives that genuinely live amongst us is pretty special
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You wouldn’t get that from Mugabe.
Lol.
If, as the polls presently indicate, Helen Clark won't be Prime Minister by the end of the year, I'm looking forward to her post-Prime Ministerial (or even post-political) interviews.
As you point out Damian, she has put up walls and followed strategies to avoid inconveniences like the Goff flap, and this has made her a rather dull interview -- except when she's overseas and not fighting fires at home. I interviewed her for our little street mag back in the early 90s, and she was great value.
Anyway, prediction: if Labour loses, she'll not only vacate the leadership an an orderly fashion, but also step down as MP for Mt Albert, and Phil Twyford will win the subsequent by-election.
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I do think it’s a bit ridiculous our politicians are supposed to be so hamstrung, so tow-the-line, so blinkered from what everyone else in the world can see, that Phil Goff is not allowed to say “yes, we’re up against it, and maybe one day Helen might decide it’s time to stand down” without everyone checking their backs for knives.
Shouldn't need to say this, but I really don't think Phil Goff giving a rather indiscreet interview to a (mercifully clothed) Oliver Driver is really front page lead material. But, to play devil's advocate for a moment, I wonder if it's the side effect of being part of a government that, whatever else you say about it, used to be ferociously disciplined and 'on message' to a fault?
It's also worth remembering that Clark's "accessibility" didn't just happen. She worked damn hard at it, and to a large extent had to overcome her dislike of the media (and a dislike, may I say, that is to large extent justified and mutual) from the day she became Labour leader. She deliberately 'softened' her image and media persona, worked on mitigating her obvious unease in front of cameras and live microphones, and put a lot of time and effort in building relationships with journalists well outside her instinctive comfort zone. And it paid off for her. Some politicians are charismatic and media-savvy; some have it thrust upon them; and others just fake it until they make it. I'd put Clark in the third group, and don't mean it as a snide back-hander.
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If, as the polls presently indicate, Helen Clark won't be Prime Minister by the end of the year, I'm looking forward to her post-Prime Ministerial (or even post-political) interviews.
Is Finlay McDonald still a commissioning editor for Penguin NZ? Politician's memoirs are usually tedious, self-justifying tripe but the entertaining ones are gossipy, indiscreet and vengeful to an extent seldom seen outside classical Greek lit.
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Some politicians are charismatic and media-savvy; some have it thrust upon them; and others just fake it until they make it. I'd put Clark in the third group, and don't mean it as a snide back-hander.
I'd qualify that. She needed no encouragement to pitch in to a frank and interesting discussion of political philosophy back then, but she was coming to terms with other elements of the political makeover.
When it came time to take her photograph, she sighed and got out the makeup kit. She was quite blunt about the fact that putting on makeup was daft, but something that was a necessary fact of her political role.
Mind you, she has probably come to terms with elements of image now. I can't see her ever going back to the old haircut ...
I suppose you could draw a comparison between the scruffy guy from Planet magazine and an interview on Alt. The other Labour MPs I interviewed for the magazine were quite different: Philip Taito Field struck me as an arrogant bastard even then; Pete Hodgson was quite dismissive; and Mike Moore (as leader of the Opposition) was charismatic and engagingly bonkers.
Speaking of which, brace yourselves for the inevitable (and inevitably bonkers) Mike Moore column this week. The only question is really which one of the two big papers will run it.
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Some politicians are charismatic and media-savvy; some have it thrust upon them; and others just fake it until they make it. I'd put Clark in the third group, and don't mean it as a snide back-hander.
I don't know. Part of me realises that Helen Clark wouldn't talk to bFM et al every single week (and she's been doing it since she was in opposition) if she didn't have something to gain from it, but at the same time, in the wider scheme of things, she really doesn't have to do it. She has chosen to be an accessible Prime Minister, whether she enjoys providing that access or not. And that's what I appreciate.
I probably wouldn't love our media either, if I was in her position...
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I probably wouldn't love our media either, if I was in her position...
I definitely wouldn't love the media if I was in the position of any politician. How many times can you be within arms length of Paul Henry first thing in the morning without handing down some GBH? You may call beating him to death first degree murder; I call it practical social Darwinianism.
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...so tow-the-line...
...hamstrung, blinkered and line-towing...
Bloody hell, Christie. It's __toe__ the line.
Think soldiers lining up in a straight line, obeying orders, not, uh, a tow-truck driver...
(And I won't get into the TV political reporter who mentioned politicians "towing the party line". WTF?!)
</subeditor>
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Anyway, prediction: if Labour loses, she'll not only vacate the leadership an an orderly fashion, but also step down as MP for Mt Albert, and Phil Twyford will win the subsequent by-election.
I wonder what she'll do 'afterwards'. She hasn't ever struck me as wanting to be an international figure, despite being relatively successful overseas, a la Don McKinnon/Mike Moore. Yet I think she might find she's 'too big' for New Zealand if that makes sense. Chancellor of a university, ambassador at a major embassy would seem like too big a step down.
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I probably wouldn't love our media either, if I was in her position...
Ray Miller used to have Helen speak to his Intro to NZ politics class, I don't know if he still does. When I saw her in 1996 (prior to the election that year) she gave a brilliant talk about her values and challenges as a politician and opened the floor to questions afterwards (not pre-selected either). There was an inevitable question about being a woman in politics and the focus on appearance, to which she made a passing reference to Bill Birch's big nose - that was the only bit they bothered to screen on the news that night.
As for HC post-politics, she might just choose to retire to the feminist lesbian wicca orgy that Wishart fantasises about when he jacks off every night. And who'd blame her for that?
(Here's hoping she doesn't do what retiring cricketers do and pick up the microphone after retiring from the game.)
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As for HC post-politics, she might just choose to retire to the feminist lesbian wicca orgy that Wishart fantasises about when he jacks off every night.
You just made me think a bad thing about possum fat. Eeew.
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You wouldn’t get that from Mugabe
I think Mugabe would have the entire staff of Air NZ impaled on stakes if he had to suffer the "revamp" that's going on in the Wellington Koru lounge at the moment.
But then, he wouldn't be able to fly anywhere. Come to think of it, he probably *has* had the entire staff of Air Zim impaled on stakes, and consequently can't fly anywhere.
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I like her. I like her accessibility, I like her policies, mostly. I've voted Labour for the last 26 years, and I always will. If National gets in at this election, I will be very, very sad.
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As for HC post-politics, she might just choose to retire to the feminist lesbian wicca orgy that Wishart fantasises about when he jacks off every night.
You just made me think a bad thing about possum fat. Eeew.
Oh, my poor brain.
There's a nice coven in the Wairarapa. I can see her as a Greytown Wiccan.
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If National gets in at this election, I will be very, very sad.
Just don't threaten to leave the country, otherwise I'll be around to drive you to the airport. Seriously, anyone who threatens to emigrate if an election doesn't come out to their liking... Well, don't let me keep you, because any reduction in the Gross Domestic Crazy is fine with me. :)
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Great post Damian but lets juxtapose two of your comments.
... so Phil Goff should've known full well how his comments would be interpreted by the ravenous pack of the Press Gallery.
You're criticising one politician for not playing the political game as expected (and other mediatypes have used this to infer Goff knew and wanted to set off this little bomb); but then you criticise another politician __for __playing the political game as expected:
So excuse me for wanting a little detail. I understand it makes sense strategically to hold off as long as you can, to provide the detail and swing the voters at the last possible minute, making it harder for them to become un-swung.
But it just pisses me off.
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You're criticising one politician for not playing the political game as expected but then you criticise another politician for playing the political game as expected
Yes, I'm just a sorry mess of contradictions, me. :)
Umm... wasn't the entire point of my post (well, it was from my POV anyway) about how I have some admiration for politicians who speak plainly and don't hide behind tired conventions?
Personally, I'd prefer Phil Goff to make such statements, and make them knowing the consequences (because in time, if everyone did it, there wouldn't be such consequences).
And personally, I'd prefer National to get its arse and announce some bloody policy, rather than playing this stupid game.
So I don't think these two comments are really at odds. Perhaps if I put it this way: I'm disappointed but not surprised National are playing the Waiting for Policy game; I'm surprised but not disappointed Phil Goff made the statement he did...
How does that work, in the big Venn Diagram of life?
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Also, one I should mention via the Inbox, from Alt TV, pointing out that after last week's post saying Oliver Driver should stop telling everyone Alt's going to stick it to all the other media, I should be eating my hat this week, what with all the media heaping praise on Alt TV.
And yes, brilliant timing - I could say 'glad to know they were reading the blog, and decided to up their game ;) - but that's really not what's happened.
As Russell points out, the Alt TV press release showed quite clearly they didn't know they were on to the Story of the Week (apparently they were far more excited about what Goff said on prisons), and it took the NBR's Ben Thomas to point this out. None of the media has said "wow, brilliant interview, cutting questions, you really squeezed him into an admission, Driver is the new Paxman"...
I only hope that the Goff affair, which is without question great publicity for Alt, doesn't stop politicians coming on to the show and 'getting frank'.
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Driver is the new Paxman
How is that a good thing, because on a bad day the Old Paxman is Bad Sean Plunkett with Pictures. I guess its a whole new argument, but is the cult of the celebrity journo really a good thing?
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Right.
I held my tongue when you bollocked the quality of our broadcast in your last blog - but receiving an email with:
"P.S. Do something about the audio in those interviews. Seriously. It can't be that hard."
...as a post script - it made both myself, and our Head of Camera/Lighting AND Sound (that's right - they're ONE person) see a special shade of crimson.
It can't be that hard?
Let me tell you something, Damian.
Alt IS hard.
Every. Freaking. Day.Interesting Tid-bit #1: The camera you might take on a field report for TVNZ is worth more than the sum total of our entire sound/camera/lighting kit.
Interesting Tid-Bit #2: Alt, despite providing programming for a wide cross section of culture (only primetime Gay show, only primetime design and fashion show, only primetime arts and performance show, the list goes on...) we are still woefully ineligible for funding of any sort.
It is a small miracle EVERY day that we go to air on our pitiful, negatable budget.
The outlook isn't grim, we're optimistic and will improve things the moment we get the means to do so. But in the interim - would you perhaps suggest that we nix the programming that is pitching above our technological weight? That we scrap 'Let's Be Frank'? Cancel any shoots that aren't single camera and hand held mic?Well, that doesn't really fly with us here at Alt, Sugar-Tits.
We all keep this television station running because it gives us the opportunity to do things that others don't/won't.
- To play music that no-one else will play.
- To celebrate culture that no-one else will give the time of day to.
- And to listen to figures of import in a context that no one else will give them - namely, a full unedited half hour interview.Our sincerest apologies if our offerings don't cut the mustard to your audio-visual-realism concerned senses. We're trying our best.
But you were right about one thing...
Driver IS a clever guy.
For you to THEN suggest that he/we didn't know the context or the importance of what we had 'uncovered' from our interview with Phil Goff is insulting. We 'uncovered' a man being honest and rational about his party's chances and his place inside it. Why didn't we draw the knives, as you say? Because we don't do that here, Damian.While I can't speak for the rest of the station, I personally feel that the media's take on Goff's honest comments has been ridiculously blown out of proportion. The resulting circus gave:
Alt some publicity? Sure. Hip-hop hooray.
The public a fair portrayal of Goff's stance in that interview? I think not.
...Especially on TVNZ, where they didn't even mention the source of the quote - therefore not letting the viewer investigate further and make up their own minds.We'll keep on trucking over here, if you don't mind Damian. Even if the quality of our output doesn't match the crystalline brilliance some media lovers seek.
I foolishly thought that anyone who had previously been involved in student radio at bFM - who love to champion what others won't touch - would understand this ethos.
...My bad.All my love,
Sarah Thomson
Music Producer - AltTV -
um,,,
i really enjoyed watching ALT when it was being broadcast.....there were some real gems of shows on it, how does one watch it now? the website alttv.co.nz strangely doesnt seem to have any mention of where/how to watch.....
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Samuel.... funnily enough, I emailed Alt TV just yesterday to ask if they were still broadcasting.....
They decided not to continue due to the cost of the frequency.... so now its Sky Digital channel 65 or streaming over the web...
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They decided not to continue due to the cost of the frequency.... so now its Sky Digital channel 65 or streaming over the web...
Thanks fletcher. I bet that cost them a LOT of viewers. seems like a really strange decision in that the drop of numbers would result in a drop of advertising revenue.
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You know, I'm very fond of you Damian. But I think you just got served.
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Sarah,
Thanks for your comments. As you know, Alt has been going for a while now, and until last week I've never said a bad word against it. In fact, when I was a reporter at Close Up, I even did a story about Alt's search for a new presenter.
As far as alternative music television, I think Alt is great, and so no, I don't expect HD crystal clear THX sound and vision...
What I do object to, as part of the oft-vilified mainstream media, is Oliver Driver coming along and releasing quite frankly ridiculous statements on Alt TV letterhead, banging on about how TVNZ is failing the public, Alt TV is going to show the lazy old mainstream how to really make current affairs; naked news is going to prove some great ironic point about how all we do are stories about lost dogs etc.
I object to that quite a bit, because while TVNZ might have a bigger budget and flasher cameras, there are still a fuckload of dedicated people working really hard every day to produce the stories they do. Just because we're not suffering on a shoestring, it doesn't mean we're lolling about eating peeled grapes whilst being fanned with big palm fronds. People at TVNZ work hard, and give a shit about what they do.
The stories we produce might not all be Pulitzer-worthy works of brilliance, you might not agree with them all, sure. But every half-wit and his dog thinks she/he has the right to tell us what we're doing so very very wrong, and how it should be done.
My response regarding the Goff piece was not to say that Alt should have jumped up and down about the 'scoop', simply that in response to the "nyeh nyeh nyueh" email I received from someone at Alt (info@alttv.co.nz - but no name at the bottom), no, the media haven't been heaping praise on Alt TV over the last week. It's great publicity, but nothing more than that.
...Especially on TVNZ, where they didn't even mention the source of the quote - therefore not letting the viewer investigate further and make up their own minds.
And when I saw it on Midday news, Peter Williams most definitely did source it to Alt TV. He literally said, "on an interview on Alt TV with Oliver Driver" before playing the clip. I think that's pretty sourced. But feel free to have another crack at TVNZ if it makes you happier.
We'll keep on trucking over here, if you don't mind Damian. Even if the quality of our output doesn't match the crystalline brilliance some media lovers seek.
Please do. Just tell certain people you work with to stop banging on about how you're 'bringing it' to mainstream news and current affairs.
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