Cracker by Damian Christie

Personally I would have been far more inclined to ban the obsequious toad who posted comments like "I'm hoping for something bold, brave and innovative like the [National Party's] roading policy."

And

Have you watched John Keys speech on roading policy? The video is 30 minutes long but I think it's well worth watching.

Oh how I laughed! Well worth the 4 minutes of my life to read this.

Gerry backs Labour power policy, maybe John Key "leading a Labour Govt" is rubbing off?

Pretty sure that when he started Tamihere did his own stuff.

The reason for that is his comments on when Helen Clark was visiting the Pope, and there was some comment about whether or not she would, like when she met the Queen, wear a trouser suit.

Tamihere reckoned Clark should avoid a mini-skirt, especially if she planned to kiss the ground at any point. He was still a minister at the time.

The reason for that is his comments on when Helen Clark was visiting the Pope, and there was some comment about whether or not she would, like when she met the Queen, wear a trouser suit.

Yeah, either that or a press sec who was more sympathetic to JT than to HC... I'm pretty sure I know who wrote it from the get go, but prepared to be proven wrong.

The comment had the whiff of genuine JT to me...and if you mean who I think you mean, she was a bit more cautious than that.

Who knows, perhaps you're right. I could always fire off an email to her and ask of course... like a real journalist.

“Which kids were those?” I asked, turning to him mid-stride? He blushed and went quiet.

Softly Softly Catchee Monkey Christie...

Just hang behind them and listen in.

What puzzles me is why politicians' families are not given media awareness training. Surely that's common sense?

In my (v. limited) experience, 2 factors negated the need for *media awareness training* (yet anyway) - 1 was the family being taboo. Given that's not to be relied on, the other was common sense sans training, i.e., don't make an arse of your family member at work. Because the work's in the public eye, don't be a dick in the public eye. Heh dick in the public eye. Sorry v. inarticulate and simplistic, but not that difficult, unless there's some determined muck raking going on.

....Rule number 1: Don't. Be. A dick.

What puzzles me is why politicians' families are not given media awareness training. Surely that's common sense?

Politician Dad: Son, as I'm now more in the public eye, this lady is here to give us some family media training.
Teenage Son: You're not the boss of me! I'm going to listen to My Chemical Romance and/or write messages on my www Bebo cyber page!

Point to Robyn.

Doesn't rule number 1 "Don't. Be. A dick." apply equally to Politician Dad, and Teenage Son?

Hopeful of me I know.

Absolutely - frankly if they both fail that test then I'm struggling to find any sympathy. I guess my point is that it's not that difficult to avoid looking like an arsehole. If you can't manage that, then chances are that you are in fact an arsehole, so tough titty if the public finds out. (Realise am possibly spitting in the wind here)

Hi Damian,

Thanks for the mention in your blog.

Can you please explain exactly which part of the video you think is “defamatory”?
The Daily English Show places strong value on media ethics and would never intentionally defame someone.

As it says in Wikipedia, defamation is about making “a false claim, expressly stated or implied to be factual”. Which claim was I making?

Do you think the part where I said it sounded like he was drunk is defamatory?
I certainly wasn’t claiming that he was drunk.

Just to be clear about what I meant here – I didn’t mean he was actually drunk, or had drunk any alcohol at all. I don’t think any politicians would actually drink alcohol before going to parliament. What I meant was the style of his speech (cracking jokes etc) made it sound like that, so it would be better if we went for a more formal delivery.
Reading back over the script of what I said, I could have expressed myself better – but I still don’t think it qualifies as defamation.
I think this makes it clear what I was trying to say: “I mean I don’t think you were but just your delivery made it sound like that.”

You can read the script here:
http://thedailyenglishshow.blogspot.com/2007_02_21_archive.html

The intention of that video was to give my honest opinion of the National Party’s videos on YouTube. I certainly wasn’t trying to defame John Key and I regret that – at least to you – it came across that way.

Sarah Lilburn
Producer/Presenter
The Daily English Show

The intention of that video was to give my honest opinion of the National Party’s videos on YouTube. I certainly wasn’t trying to defame John Key and I regret that – at least to you – it came across that way.

Don't worry Sarah. Damian wasn't using "defamatory" in the you'll be hearing from my lawyer sense. It was just quite a nice description.

But Damian does have a tendency to scare people like that.

Sarah,

I think the defamation occurred when you implied that Key would make such a silly speech without being drunk.

I very much enjoyed your analysis of the videocast -- and hope that the National Party will take some of your points on board...

Hey Sarah,

Yes sorry, didn't mean to scare you. Russell is right, I didn't mean defamatory in the sense of being legally actionable. :) If anything I used that term only because it started with a D. Like "delicious". I'll do anything for a good bit of aliteration.

So I wouldn't be worrying about JK's lawyers..