Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: A cog in the Mediaworks machine

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  • Ian Dalziel,

    I hope the Scout headline ran:
    'Life sucks when you are Mike Hosking...'

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report

  • Kumara Republic, in reply to Russell Brown,

    The Hosking story is Glucina’s and almost beyond parody:

    A dream scenario would be if Mike Hosking and Rachel Glucina sue the bejesus out of each other. Something that would make Hosking vs Jonathan Marshall look like a picnic.

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

  • Kumara Republic, in reply to Rich of Observationz,

    Plus a bit of help from mummy and daddy, you’d think?

    Or anyone else with the best possible connections.

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

  • James Francis,

    I've just noticed on PA System that the post underneath this was titled, 'Swamp Monsters'. It seemed apt.

    St John's, Newfoundland • Since Nov 2006 • 121 posts Report

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Rich of Observationz,

    Same way everyone does - use the flexi mortgage to meet the payments on the fixed mortgage and recapitalize often? Plus a bit of help from mummy and daddy, you'd think? Who are mummy and daddy in this case?

    Update: the house is owned by Pink PR, as is another property in Newmarket. So yeah, effectively she's bought a house with her mum.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Adam Gifford, in reply to Rich Lock,

    Sorry, that's the unpaid intern's job.

    Auckland • Since May 2011 • 7 posts Report

  • Rob Stowell, in reply to Russell Brown,

    Pink PR

    The company with no clients she doesn't run? Love to see the accounts ...

    Whakaraupo • Since Nov 2006 • 2120 posts Report

  • Stephen Judd, in reply to Joanna,

    everyone here should watch Anne Helen Peterson's excellent Webstock talk What we talk about when we talk about Brangelina

    Seconded. So-called gossip has an important social function. Also, how is it worse or different to sports news (or many other kinds of "news" that are coded masculine)?

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 3122 posts Report

  • Robyn Gallagher, in reply to Rich of Observationz,

    Plus a bit of help from mummy and daddy, you’d think? Who are mummy and daddy in this case?

    Seriously? You're mocking someone for potentially having their parents help them buy a house? Do you have any idea how hard it is for young adults to buy a house these days without having parents help out? Of all my 30-something friends who own houses, I don't think any have done it without "mummy and daddy" (or "mum and dad" as most adults call their parents) helping out.

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report

  • Robyn Gallagher, in reply to Stephen Judd,

    Also, how is it worse or different to sports news (or many other kinds of “news” that are coded masculine)?

    I've always thought that a lot of sports news is really no different to showbiz news. Footage of a rugby team training the day before a big game? Footage of an actor at the premiere of their big movie? Same difference.

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report

  • Sue, in reply to Russell Brown,

    why do we care about her house and who she owns it with?
    do you not go to her level when you delve into personal lives?

    uncool

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 527 posts Report

  • Sue,

    Just took a look at their fashion content and it's amatuer hour
    missing is the basic online fashion info of the outfits designer, where it was worn, and a runway comparison.
    Also missing is wit, it's very easy to roll out snark when celebrities are playing red carpet. Snark is a fun game to play with friends on twitter, but from a site with content i expect knowledge & comedy.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 527 posts Report

  • Rob Stowell, in reply to Sue,

    why do we care about her house and who she owns it with?

    I'm interested that it's the property of Pink PR. Because this is the company that Ms Glucina and The Herald claimed was "inactive" and had no clients, while she was writing for them.
    Her personal finances are her own business (provided they are legal.) But her company deserves scrutiny. Currently the ombuds(wo)man is investigating Ms Glucina's correspondence with Rt Hon Key around ponytailgate.
    It will be astonishing if the investigation actually outs all correspondence between the two. But I think there's legitimate public interest.

    Whakaraupo • Since Nov 2006 • 2120 posts Report

  • Kumara Republic, in reply to Russell Brown,

    Update: the house is owned by Pink PR, as is another property in Newmarket. So yeah, effectively she’s bought a house with her mum.

    That definitely counts as 'connections'.

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

  • Danielle,

    You guys know that "mildly objecting to a rhetorical approach that may be unthinkingly gendered" is not actually "outrage", right?

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Sue,

    why do we care about her house and who she owns it with?
    do you not go to her level when you delve into personal lives?

    uncool

    I honestly just thought it was odd that Simon didn't ask her how she'd done it, after including that information in the story (presumably because she'd volunteered it). Although the Pink PR bit is interesting, for the reasons Rob notes.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Berinthia Binnie,

    So you don't have to, I have perused the Scout Headlines.
    Before you dismiss it out of hand, there is a scoop on Sooty and Sweep, who looks silly now ay?
    We need this.

    Since Sep 2015 • 23 posts Report

  • Alfie, in reply to Russell Brown,

    As you say Russell, the fact that Glucina mentioned the "large house" in the interview makes discussion of the subject relevant.

    It would be interesting to know if this is an LAQC (Loss Adjusted Qualifying Company) -- they're incorporated and approved by the IRD to record losses.

    The house is owned by a company, we're told that the company has no clients so we assume that implies no income. Therefore the "residents" pay rent to the company, but not enough to cover the outgoings. So the company makes losses every year which transfer to the company directors to offset tax. When the losses are large enough, the directors legally pay no tax at all.

    If this is the case, and I'm not saying it is, it's not an unusual setup and LAQCs are a known vehicle allowing wealthy people to minimise tax.

    Of course the downside comes if and when the property is sold and any profits become taxable.

    Dunedin • Since May 2014 • 1440 posts Report

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Stephen Judd,

    everyone here should watch Anne Helen Peterson's excellent Webstock talk What we talk about when we talk about Brangelina

    Seconded. So-called gossip has an important social function. Also, how is it worse or different to sports news (or many other kinds of "news" that are coded masculine)?

    Sports gossip is a thing now, sometimes maliciously so – as when Glucina splashed a personal picture of All Black Aaron Smith all over her column. We had no right to see that and there's no rationalisation that would make it so. Ditto what happened to Teuila Blakely.

    Our interest in the lives of people we don't know isn't new – how many pictures of the royal family has the Woman's Weekly published over the decades? But let's not ignore the realities of modern gossip media. Did you see Amy? Its depiction of the way, no matter how sick she was, Amy Winehouse had to step out into a blaze of flashbulbs and men shouting at her was horrifying. TMZ and other basically get their pictures from men who are freelance predators.

    I was genuinely surprised by how many people were happy to declare that Lorde had bought into it when she, as a 16 and 17 year-old, was stalked by Simon Runting. It's an insult to what she achieved creatively to just say she had it coming because she was successful. But it keeps happening because there's a market for it. I've had friends in music who've been dragged into the "gossip" sections in more minor ways and hated it. They're not our bloody property.

    The other side of celebrity gossip – and it's the more common one in New Zealand – is the people who work to be its subject. What did Aja Rock do to be "famous"? Scout's ludicrous "25 Most Influential New Zealanders under 25" – the list where Max Key is ranked above Lorde – is an attempt to engineer same. It's really about trying to establish the celebrity of people to whom Glucina already has a line.

    So yeah, I would confidently submit that gossip is a lot more morally perilous than sports reporting.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Dave Dobbyn, in reply to Russell Brown,

    They should rename the show 'Snout' .

    New Zealand • Since Jul 2014 • 6 posts Report

  • B Jones,

    I think there's a legitimate question over the concentration of a kind of exclusive social and political connection being deployed here, and you can't unpick that without resorting to "gossip". That story about the Ya Ya Club for example - gossipy but genuine reporting as well. It's not trivial to wonder how the spaces in front of a tv camera may be increasingly getting filled up by a particular clique, and one of that clique's features seems to be spending a lot more money than the amount of useful work they do would normally generate. I wonder if we had a brief visit from that dimension here over the last few days, in the refugee comments.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 976 posts Report

  • Rich of Observationz,

    I think there's difference between borrowing a few grand to pay for the deposit (like I did many years ago) and getting help to buy a million-plus "big house" in Ponsonby.

    And the whole narrative of the Nats is about "hard working keewees pulling themselves up by their own bootstraps", so it's useful to point out that it's really all about having the good sense to be born to rich parents

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report

  • Rich of Observationz,

    friends in music who’ve been dragged into the “gossip” sections in more minor ways and hated it

    It's avoidable though, I think. Dave Stewart has always managed it, despite being a hugely successful recording artist. Then you've got (presumably) 20 or 30 cabinet ministers kids you've never heard of on one hand, and Max Key on the other.

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report

  • Russell Brown,

    Perhaps a good time to link to Josh Drummond's account of Glucina's turn at Wintec Press Club:

    Braunias prompted her into an anecdote about her story on Mick Jagger, which was genuinely interesting because it snapped her out of the self-absorbed mode, and had her discussing the way she went about pursuing the story. Then he asked about the ethics of outing Alison Mau and her same-sex relationship. Well, that was fine, Glucina opined, because everyone knew about it anyway. Everyone? Well, yes, and besides, Mau had sold stories to women’s magazines in the past so she was fair game.

    The things that came to mind at this point were: no, the public didn’t know, and what right did she have to out someone? Surely it’s a personal decision to publicly reveal your sexuality? Braunias asked something similar. No, that didn’t matter, because Mau was in the public eye and had sold stories, and blah fucking blah.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Rob Stowell,

    There’s a problem not owning ALL the media. Competitors will run stories that don’t fit yr framing :)
    ETA: Does owning a PR company and running 'Snout' constitute a conflict of interest? What about, e.g. - running a story about a mate's having written a book? Given her history, and that Glucina wants to be called a journalist, this is going to be closely scrutinised for a long time.

    Whakaraupo • Since Nov 2006 • 2120 posts Report

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