Posts by Jan Farr
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Hard News: The Politics of Absence, in reply to Tom Semmens,
We have Michael Bott and the Labour team working their socks off in the Wairarapa - door knocking, leafleting, news-sheeting, billboarding, Facebook-ing, tweeting - while John Hayes, the local candidate sleeps and sleeps and occasionally asks Big Daddy Key to come over and help him out with a bit of media-funded publicity. Who knows? The Wairarapa might surprise you yet.
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Hard News: More Secrets and Lies, in reply to Islander,
Islander, in reply to Islander, 2 days ago
Email
(including sort of continuing our 'sheeplike' (fuck you too mate) Labour voting- better the devil etc.)
Well that's fine, Islander, as long as you don't mind the people who do have an opinion choosing for you. Our politicians might be seriously flawed, but in my humble opinion some of them are at least trying to commit to more socially responsible principles than others. And they're not all responsible for handing over prisoners to the Americans.
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Hard News: Limping Onwards, in reply to BenWilson,
they did, though I haven’t checked it out – Open Labour
Jeez that’s one under-nourished wiki. No wonder Clare Curran was pleading for people in the open source community to help pick it up and run. Y’know, I’m tempted…
Only tempted Ben? How can Labour win when the people with the ideas are sitting on the sideline feeling tempted?
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Hard News: Limping Onwards, in reply to Lew Stoddart,
Due respect, but it’s bullshit to say that positivity can’t be a winner.
Change you can believe in
The audacity of hope
Yes We Can
Choose a brighter futureThat’s jut winning narratives from 2008.
Other than that, we have:
The man from Hope (Clinton)
Morning again in America
Never had it so good
I agree with Nick (arguable, but he is Deputy PM)
and most obviously, A New Deal.I could go on, but I think you get the point.
Of course I agree with you, Lew! And am feeling inspired (in a positive way) by the debate that's resulting.
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Hard News: Limping Onwards, in reply to giovanni tiso,
Ok. How about Orewa? Far from an election as you can get. Gave them a massive polling bounce.
There is a very obvious reason why Brash’s speech succeeded at Orewa. It was designed to shock and it tapped into popular sentiment. I’d love the Left to do this, except in a progressive fashion, but it’s not an easy proposition, and you can’t really magick away the difference just by saying “it’s their job”. That’s a ludicrous statement really, and I think you know it.
Much more elegantly put than mine, thanks Giovanni.
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Hard News: Limping Onwards, in reply to Lew Stoddart,
Ok. How about Orewa? Far from an election as you can get. Gave them a massive polling bounce.
The point isn’t that it’s easy to own the media agenda from opposition – it’s not. But it is possible. It can be done. Parties just have to find a way to do it. It’s their job, after all.
L
Yes that's true - but negativity is always a winner - and our message is not negative.
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Hard News: Limping Onwards, in reply to Kumara Republic,
If I may add, further, it’s always difficult for a party in opposition to get media coverage – I don’t remember hearing much about the Nats for most of Labour’s three terms – except around elections.
The Exclusive Brethren says hi.
Two ticks for me: 1) negative publicity and 2) around elections.
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Hard News: Limping Onwards, in reply to giovanni tiso,
A slightly incorrect reading of my position.
Not really. You presented these as alternatives:
what is the best way to proceed?
1) Continue to sit around and bitch about how biased the media is.
2) Actually work up a strategy for dealing with it and getting the message out there in clear and simple terms.
They are patently not. And ‘the Left’, as you so generically put it, most certainly needs to continue to agitate for better media (including: more public service oriented news and current affairs programmes a-la TVNZ7), and get its message out there in clear and simple terms through the media that we have.
If I may add, further, it's always difficult for a party in opposition to get media coverage - I don't remember hearing much about the Nats for most of Labour's three terms - except around elections. As we can see at the moment, it's a piece of cake getting negative coverage - the hard bit is to get the sort of positive media coverage that you want. And I don't think 'get its message out there in clear and simple terms through the media we have' quite does it. I'm sure that's what Labour's been trying to do all along. I bow to those of you who have actually had comms experience - maybe you do have some secret formula. For others I suspect it's easy to view the problem from the armchair. Like, say, flying a plane, or directing a movie.
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Hard News: Limping Onwards, in reply to Russell Brown,
Quite. I’m not about to prance around changing my vote just to show that I can. While I have great regard for a number of Green MPs, I don’t buy big chunks of their policy. It would almost be fun to cast a vote elsewhere, but there’s not really anywhere I’d be inclined to cast it.
I'm not sure that I think democracy is much chop if it's only about voting. For me being active in the Labour Party is just as important. Social Democratic parties are distinctive, not only for their policies, but for the inclusive way they arrive at them.
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Hard News: Limping Onwards, in reply to andrew llewellyn,
Don’t vote, governments always win.
:)