Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Criminalising Journalism

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  • Gary Hutchings,

    Sounds like Winston's just played the media big time...

    wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 108 posts Report Reply

  • Paul Williams, in reply to Gary Hutchings,

    Sounds like Winston's just played the media big time...

    I suspect both parties, the media and Winston, understand the mutual benefits they extract from their relations. Winston is good copy. The PM could, of course, end the matter by doing something, anything, decisive but he's either unwilling or unable to.

    Sydney • Since Nov 2006 • 2273 posts Report Reply

  • Maggie Purnell, in reply to merc,

    Can Key now withdraw the complaint...? Oh, no... he'd be gone by lunchtime!!

    Thames • Since Nov 2011 • 2 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to Paul Williams,

    The PM could, of course, end the matter by doing something, anything, decisive but he's either unwilling or unable to.

    His handlers are busy being shirty.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Maggie Purnell, in reply to Stephen Hill,

    Groundhog Day - or should that now be Bankskey Day.

    Thames • Since Nov 2011 • 2 posts Report Reply

  • Grassed Up,

    " Even if there is nothing of note in any material it holds – and, frankly, it’s not clear it even holds anything it hasn’t broadcast – to willingly hand it over is tantamount to giving up a source. "

    Ummm ... no it isn't. The police don't want copies of the tapes, they want any information about how the tapes were made that may have come from Bradley Ambrose.

    The interview with him was carried live-to-air, and even if RNZ didn't name him, his identity was already on the internet (and was revealed on mainstream news outlets shortly thereafter). So where's the "protecting your sources" angle to this?

    Since Nov 2008 • 12 posts Report Reply

  • merc,

    “Labour constantly pretends they didn’t drive New Zealand into recession before the rest of the world."
    From this point to the last he's not doing his forgetful leader any favours.

    Since Dec 2006 • 2471 posts Report Reply

  • 3410,

    Ummm ... no it isn't. The police don't want copies of the tapes, they want any information about how the tapes were made that may have come from Bradley Ambrose.

    Police presumably want the raw tape of the Ambrose interview.

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report Reply

  • Ian Dalziel,

    CD behaviour...
    What is all this talk of tapes?
    Surely these would all be
    digital recording devices?
    Hard drives, Flash drives,
    solid state n such like...
    These old codgers need
    to get with the program...

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • hamishm, in reply to Pete Sime,

    Classic, teapot drone

    Since Nov 2006 • 357 posts Report Reply

  • Richard Aston,

    Its karma man - seriously bad karma for trying to hustle the Epsonites

    Northland • Since Nov 2006 • 510 posts Report Reply

  • Richard Grevers,

    Some pertinent (dammit, I can't even use key as an adjective any more!) questions:
    Did the media invites to the cuppa tea stunt explicitly say that no recording of the conversation would be permitted, or did the media turn up with a reasonable expectation that they would get sound bites? Hardly worth radio journos turning up if there are only photos in the offing.
    If it wasn't mentioned in the invites, how clearly was it announced at the gig? Forty journalists must make a fair bit of background noise. Was everyone who was "hustled out" under the clear understanding that the remaining conversation had "private" status?

    New Plymouth • Since Jul 2011 • 143 posts Report Reply

  • Paul Williams,

    Richard, I think all of the issues you note will have to be explored by the Police as part of deciding if they'll lay charges. There's a certain inevitability that the outcome will be "not likely to lead to a successful prosecution" but when?

    Sydney • Since Nov 2006 • 2273 posts Report Reply

  • Richard Aston, in reply to Gary Hutchings,

    Sounds like Winston’s just played the media big time…

    Yup business as usual for Winston.
    The media’s fascination with him is weird to watch – he treats them like shit but when he needs them , look how they jump up like puppies licking their cruel master – kinda like a Stockholm Syndrome / Battered Woman thing.

    He should be ignored.

    Northland • Since Nov 2006 • 510 posts Report Reply

  • dc_red,

    Anyone else thinking this whole 'fiasco' is tailor made for Winston Peters,?

    He can string everyone (esp. the media) along, drip-feeding innuendo and half-sentence "quotes", for days on end. A pig in the proverbial.

    As for the NZ media writ large: nice to see they've found their claws once again. Probably a bit rusty after not having been used since eviscerating Labour, and Peters, in 2007-08. Interestingly, though, in the current situation the claws are being used in large part to protect themselves.

    Oil Patch, Alberta • Since Nov 2006 • 706 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Grassed Up,

    The interview with him was carried live-to-air, and even if RNZ didn’t name him, his identity was already on the internet (and was revealed on mainstream news outlets shortly thereafter). So where’s the “protecting your sources” angle to this?

    No news organisation can credibly request an interview if it is willing to subsequently provide information about the subject to the police.

    Excerpt:

    Radio New Zealand’s head of news, Don Rood, says police have the interview that went to air, but he is refusing to hand over any material gathered by news staff in the course of getting the broadcast excerpt.

    He says Radio New Zealand will always protect its sources and the right to gather and report news in the public interest.

    They are to be searched because they reported an election campaign story during an election campaign.

    I’m sure you’re relaxed about that. I really am not.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Paul Rowe, in reply to Richard Grevers,

    I'd add a question, Richard.

    When Key sat down for a cup of tea with Rodney Hide when they were campaigning last year, were media prevented from recording the event and the conversation?

    Lake Roxburgh, Central Ot… • Since Nov 2006 • 574 posts Report Reply

  • dc_red,

    Perhaps the Polis could go after Winston Peters instead ... that would make for great viewing, and I'm comfortable with the implications. ;-)

    Oil Patch, Alberta • Since Nov 2006 • 706 posts Report Reply

  • Jonathan King,

    If John Key is more interested in talking about policy than old people and ACT leadership … why didn't he talk about that with John Banks?

    Since Sep 2010 • 185 posts Report Reply

  • Geoff Lealand,

    In these days of leaky-leaks, I wonder why these tapes haven't turned up on the web by now.

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

  • Kumara Republic,

    Going a bit OT, are we headed for our very own Little Rock-on-the-Waitemata?

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

  • Kracklite, in reply to Russell Brown,

    They are to be searched because they reported an election campaign story during an election campaign.

    Chris Trotter made an interesting observation on The Panel about the possibility of cops being filmed raiding news organisation offices and what a disaster that would be for Key/National.

    Whatever the bias that the Herald and the television news have shown - and I believe that they have been biased, but that's irrelevant... Craig would say that they've been biased towards stupidity, and I'd agree... but no news editor in any medium could resist the terrific drama of such an event. It could be a perfect "make my day" moment turned on the police and their perceived masters.

    (There should be a few parentheses, colons, dashes and whatnot in the previous mishmash of a paragraph, I know.)

    My You-Know-It-Hates-Being-Called-That, the manifold ironies of this situation... and the very, very nasty impulses that lie so shallowly beneath the surface of things...

    As an aesthete, indeed, I could luxuriate in the irony, the karma and the what-have you... but it's scary how it's happened with a smile and a wave and a cup of tea.

    The Library of Babel • Since Nov 2007 • 982 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Barnes, in reply to Graeme Edgeler,

    Black didn’t intentionally record the conversation, so subsequent use of it isn’t criminally proscribed.

    It would seem this should also apply to Ambrose.

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia, in reply to Kracklite,

    but no news editor in any medium could resist the terrific drama of such an event.

    It would be nice if they tried, just a little. As I said on the other thread, the trade and youth policies released yesterday (by National & Labour respectively) may have been a big yawn to Russell. They certainly weren’t considered worth any airtime on Morning Report (allegedly a flagship morning news program on a public broadcaster) today.

    They weren’t “sexy” or “drama”, but they just might have a real impact on people's lives. Whatever the fuck Winston was chuntering on about - none at all.

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

  • PaulC,

    But surely that is the point, the integrity of the person trying to sell the policy is crucial, who cares what’s in the detail if you need to question the veracity of the salesman, and our pm is in real trouble in this context

    Auckland • Since Nov 2011 • 19 posts Report Reply

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