Posts by Felix Marwick
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Felix, thanks for the inside perspective. Without dropping yourself in it or revealing any potential scoops, can you give us regular folk some sense of how much the gallery knows but hasn't published yet about this whole Winston mess?
The thing about news is there is always a bit more going on than gets reported. Parliament, particularly, is a place that thrives on gossip, rumour, innuendo, and the like. However the challenge is to sort the gems from the dross as there is often a Chinese whisper effect. What starts as something simple can be blown out of all proportion by the time it's filtered its way through half a dozen people and made it to us. Substantiating, cross checking, and confirming some of these things is sometimes almost impossible and in those cases we simply can't publish.
The other challenge is that of confidentiality. Often people will give us fantastic information but on a non-attribution basis. That leaves us to confirm it through other means (eg the OIA or another contact), or to use the phrase :sources have told us" (personally I'm not a fan of the the latter option). Again, we may find ourselves in a situation where we're positive we have a great story but aren't in a position to tell people about it.
So what I am endeavouring to say (in a terribly long winded way) is yes there is more to come on Winston Peters, but it's a matter of making sure it's reported properly.
I know there are those out there who feel the Gallery has a duty to tell the public all it knows. But on the flipside we also have ethical responsibilities not to be a conduit for unsubstantiated gossip.
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The use of "the Beltway" stems from a comment the PM made at one of her post-cabinet press conferences some time back.
We were quizzing her at length on an issue (I think it was the Electoral Finance Bill but I'm not entirely sure - forgive me I've been writing about Winston Peters for the past 10 hours and my brain's a bit fuzzy) and Clark was of the opinion the matter the journalists were raising wouldn't have much resonance outside of political circles and those that frequent them (ie journalists).
Her exact words were "outside the beltway". So journalists, being the respectful creatures that we are, have made the most of it.
Now don't take that as unusual. You wouldn't believe how many pictures of meerkats suddenly appeared on doors and walls around our offices a few weeks back after one Winston Peters made some observations on our skills and abilities.
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but the day the Herald website led with the news that Peters had -- gasp! -- turned his back on journalists was a silly one. The fact that Peters has been rude to some reporters is not the lead.
That would be the infamous "step" story. I take it?
For the record I was one of the two journalists Mr Peters objected to regarding our position on the Parliamentary staircase (the other was Guyon Espiner). And yes I did file a story on it.
If a politician, be he Winston Peters or anyone else, is going to walk away from questions (quite valid ones in Winston's case), simply because they're not happy where I'm standing then I'm going to mention it in dispatches. It gives people an idea of what's happening and how someone is responding - answers are important. But so too are the manner in which they answer them (or not answer them as the case may be).
I note what I wrote was picked up and used by the Herald. Given the relationship between the Herald and ZB that's to be expected. But it was their choice to make it the lead, not mine.
Also bear in mind what I wrote was aimed at a radio audience and was written around a piece of audio. In this case the verbal exchange as Winston Peters walked away from the gathered reporters. Now I'm not sure how others would go about describing that exchange but I felt the phrase I used low summed it up adequately given the context of recent events.
Did what I wrote translate to print? Well I'll let others be the judge of that. However the piece I filed on that was one of several I wrote on the Peters' issue that day and was designed to form part of a bigger picture.
After all that's how radio news works. We can't put all the angles/information into one story as we only have 30-45 seconds at our disposal. What you get are a series of elements run individually in a sustained narrative over a news cycle. The exchange with Winston Peters was just part of that narrative.
I hope that answers a few questions as I have noted a number of people took issue with that story. Frankly, I don't have a problem with that as it's not exactly uncommon in this line of work. People are entitled to their opinions and, believe it or not, some journalists don't mind the criticism.
But ....
If a politician refuses to answer legitimate questions and behaves in an unusual or abrasive manner in doing so I'll report that every time and I make no apology for doing so.
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As a member of the so-called MSM and the Press Gallery I've been wondering whether or not I should contribute to this conversation. Given the references to churnalism, corruption, and elite snobbery that have been bandied about I'm not sure anything I have to say will make much of an impact.
But here goes:
Bloggers in the Press Gallery
- an interesting idea and one that poses a few challenges. Despite some of the accusations of snobbery and elitism that have been cast in our direction the fact is accreditation is actually not a necessity for them if they want to cover Parliament. An organisation wanting to cover proceedings in the House, on a less regular basis, is free to make a request of the Speaker to do so. Until there is a blogger who wishes to cover Parliament in a full-time capacity I suspect that will be the best avenue to take. (on that note is there currently a full-time blogger who could cover Parliament full time?)The Gallery reports the game not the substance
- Have you seen the behaviour in general debate and question time lately??
Politics is a mix of both game and substance. Parties point score off each other, and MP's do have a tendency to push their own agendas. Whether you like it or not that is worthy of reporting as voters should have some idea of the way their elected representatives are behaving.
As for not reporting the substance - well I'd estimate I'd file between 130 to 150 pieces of copy a week (that'd probably cover 30-40 different stories/issues) and I'd like to think most of it is centred on political processes, legislation, and the like.
I think the issue is that some of the "game" element capture the attention with a lot more ease so people focus on that and some of the more ... umm ... less sparkly stuff (probably a poor choice of words) slips under the radar.The media is biased
- We get this one all the time. I will note though, in a lot of cases, the people making the accusation are coming from a political perspective of their own.
I'm just saying, but it seems that sometimes when people find something that doesn't gibe with their worldview the default position is to accuse the person who wrote it of bias.
personal disclosure: since I started covering politics I haven't votedAnyway that's my two cents worth for the moment. I just felt like doing my bit to defend, if not my honour, some of my fellow professionals.
BTW regarding that stuff the Standard was spouting about Tracey Watkins. Well I work not that far away from her and can honestly say from what I've seen and heard the Standard has pulled that story out of its fundamental orifice
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Am I alone in being a little befuddled at Keith Quinn's commentary during the shotput final?
And as far as other bizarre moments are concerned: WTF were the TV directors thinking when they did a slow-mo' replay of Paula Radcliffe having her "pit-stop" during the women's marathon??
T.F.M!
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Handball is where it’s at people. Trust me.
You'll go blind .... and it stunts your growth. ;-)
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Re Winston's blog.
I must admit I had to chuckle when the explanation New Zealand First gave for the creation of the site was that it allowed New Zealand First to communicate directly with the public without having to go through the media.
This information was imparted by way of a press release sent to every major media outlet in the country.
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Taking the bobble thingies off the epees in the fencing would be a start.
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After watching the x-games recently I feel the Olympics need more edge, a little more danger, just that little extra thrill.
Personally I quite like the idea of having the swimming events in a salt water pool complete with a Great White Shark.
Or even going back to the original Aztec traditions around their version of basketball.
(the losers were ritually sacrificed)
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George Balani lost a lot of face when he was tied to Terry Brown and Phil Gifford in the Mayoral election campaign of 2005.
Shep,
as one of the reporters that actually wrote about that at the time may I point out that it was in 2002, not 2005. Also Phil Gifford was most definitely not connected to Balani's campaign, nor to Terry Brown.