Hard News: Everybody's Machiavelli
408 Responses
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Hebe, in reply to
The other thing that really annoyed me was Palino after the election not congratulating Len Brown after a truly resounding win, but saying how worried he was for Auckland and blaming the media etc etc which was essentially saying that he had no respect for the voters.
Tea Party anyone?
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SteveH, in reply to
Colin Espiner’s column making a comparison with Anthony Weiner ... was also fairly annoying.
Oh yeah, that struck me as ridiculous as well. I pretty much wrote off his opinion after he said that.
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Sacha, in reply to
a bit exhilirating compared to the berms of last week
nothing like a journo starved of a story :)
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Rich Lock, in reply to
Herald-loathers can’t really be serious about comparing the two?
The problem is that whaleoil seems to act as a convenient conduit for a lot of stuff that subsequently gets picked up by the herald. That way they get to pretend they're not living in the sewer, just swept along by a tide that it would be remiss of them not to report on.
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Craig Ranapia, in reply to
Really not ideal, but more a matter of the pickle he got himself into than an improper action. The reference came via his office and was no more than might be expected for an active member of the advisory board.
I really wish you’d explain that to the media org. who lead with variations of “Len Brown gets his former mistress a job.” I actually think Len Brown’s at the back of the line for apologies for that… well, lie is too strong, but I don’t think highly over-stated is unfair. I wonder if anyone at the Herald gave a moment thought to how serious the allegation was to the Auckland City Art Gallery and everyone in the Mayor’s office, and the notion that you can’t recall some shit once it’s been flung.
I have just visited Whaleoil’s blog for the first time. I feel queasy. Herald-loathers can’t really be serious about comparing the two?
If any of that was directed at me, I don’t regard Whaleoil as a credible news source. The Herald (and everyone else) does, repeatedly and with very little of durable value to show for it. If they insist on begging for my contempt, it would be churlish not to oblige.
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The challenge for the Herald is to find a way to report the facts without prurience, and they may well have failed at that, and all I ask is that you say how, which you evidently don’t want to do.
Very insightful, there. I don’t actually want to spend most of my Saturday going through a pile of dreck that’s turned my fucking stomach from the start. But a good place to start would be the Principles of the New Zealand Press Council – which I believe the Herald is still a member of.
Particularly these bits:
"Publications should be bound at all times by accuracy, fairness and balance, and should not deliberately mislead or misinform readers by commission or omission.”
“Everyone is normally entitled to privacy of person, space and personal information, and these rights should be respected by publications.”
“A clear distinction should be drawn between factual information and comment or opinion. An article that is essentially comment or opinion should be clearly presented as such.”
“Headlines, sub-headings, and captions should accurately and fairly convey the substance or a key element of the report they are designed to cover.”
“Issues of gender, religion, minority groups, sexual orientation, age, race, colour or physical or mental disability are legitimate subjects for discussion where they are relevant and in the public interest, and publications may report and express opinions in these areas. Publications should not, however, place gratuitous emphasis on any such category in their reporting.”
“The use of deceit and subterfuge can only be condoned in cases when the information sought is in the public interest and cannot be obtained by any other means.”
“A publication’s willingness to correct errors enhances its credibility and, often, defuses complaint. Significant errors should be admitted and promptly corrected, giving the correction fair prominence. In some circumstances it will be appropriate to offer an apology and a right of reply to an affected person or persons."
And I’m sorry, but I fail to see a ’WhaleOil made me do it” exemption to any of the above.
Not for the first time, I'll have to agree to disagree with M'Learned Friend Mister Brown. This whole story is a shabby affair, and while it may serve APN's bottom line it hasn't been in the genuine public interest at all.
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TracyMac, in reply to
Because I’ve got all day.
All weekend too.
Damnit, late to the party again. *Stands forlornly with scones, crochet hooks, rope and carabiners*
Whelp, since I'm in a slightly different timezone, I can help cover the night shift.
Signed,
A Woman
(Who has read Dworkin, but who really does prefer others, for feminist writers of the Second Wave. But who appreciates her role in constructing ideas and food for thought (to argue against, mostly, but at least from knowledge)).
PS. I haven't piped up earlier, because my PAS reading has been spotty this week. And to be frank, I don't give a fuck about politicians fucking, unless it's exploitative, hypocritical (i.e. gay fundamentalist pastors fulminating against sodomy) or impedes their ability to do their jobs. I only got halfway thru the original article on the bus this morning, let alone the comments - not so much "invisible" as MIA.
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Yep, so Palino lied and is in it up to his neck.
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Konrad Kurta, in reply to
Does somebody involved have shares in APN? This is one hell of a story.
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You'd have to think that Bernard Orsman and Lincoln Tan didn't bother to alert Fran O'Sullivan or John Armstrong to the front page story they were planning to run this morning. For the first time, I'm tempted to borrow some of Craig's language to describe the posture of those two columnists.
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Sigh… and a weirdly pissy column from John Armstrong…
His decision – or that of his minders – to make his one and only media appearance on TV3’s Campbell Live was deeply cynical and supremely arrogant. It amounted to another slap in the face for ratepayers who are entitled to expect accountability from their mayor and that he front accordingly.
M’kay… guess hell hath no fury like a media outlet that can’t get an interview. Deeply cynical and supremely arrogant pot, don’t concern troll me with your access envy…
On Thursday, the revelation Brown had helped Chuang get a council-related job saw the moral compass swing 180 degrees against him.
Auckland Council’s chief executive, Doug McKay, wasted little time in doing the right thing in setting up an inquiry.
And how convenient that McKay has also (properly) shut down the very people who, IMO, might want to consult a lawyer or two if The Herald’s allegations aren’t backed up.
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John Palino's press release is starting to look a little ridiculous.
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Yep, so Palino lied and is in it up to his neck.
Oh man, so much stupid.
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Craig Ranapia, in reply to
Deborah:
Could you translate this passage from O'Sullivan for me...
He is being helped by the drip-feed of revelations about the role his former lover's buddies in the Palino camp played in his outing.
These revelations have made Brown a figure of fun. But there is also a sinister element to them. Particularly the pressure which Bevan Chuang claims was put on her by Palino's PR man (one of her other lovers) to try and get her to entrap Brown in making "dirty talk" on the phone.
Yeah, that 'drip-feed' your organ is perfectly happy to print, along with all that other salacious tittle-tattle that O'Sullivan finds irrelevant but (I think) would have roused her to vote. Or something.
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It's this bit I find absurd, Craig. After calling for a full scale inquiry, O'Sullivan says that once the (full scale) inquiry has reported...
Brown should stand down and call for another election where voters can either accept him or reject him in the knowledge they have all facts on the table.
I really don't think that the Palino camp wants all the facts coming out, do they?
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Russell Brown, in reply to
Armstrong:
His decision – or that of his minders – to make his one and only media appearance on TV3’s Campbell Live was deeply cynical and supremely arrogant. It amounted to another slap in the face for ratepayers who are entitled to expect accountability from their mayor and that he front accordingly.
Good grief, man, get over yourself.
On Thursday, the revelation Brown had helped Chuang get a council-related job saw the moral compass swing 180 degrees against him.
Did it really? And does it sound a bit different if you say what actually happened – Brown allowed his name to go down as a referee in her application for a job at the art gallery?
Jesus.
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All this "all the facts on the table" stuff baffles me. Do we honestly believe we have all the private facts of anyone we elect, or deserve/need them? Brown is no different a person now than he was on election night, and there will be many other facets to his private life that (thank fuck) we aren't privy too. I get all the hypocrisy/judgement/influence angles but there is no significant element of that here.
As for the ongoing story around the Palino/Slater camps role in this*, it's a bit of a poisoned chalice for Brown. His immediate fronting and fessing up struck me as smart PR - it would have been cauterised and over in a matter of days. Now it's being continuously dragged out, even if it is at the expense of his "opponents"
* Which I'm only following second hand, as the first Herald cover on this topic has finally made me swear off reading them ever again. Any link I follow which happens to be the Herald I close immediately. Not giving them my advertising eyeballs thanks very much...
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The right wing blogs are building themselves quite the little epistemic bubble. WO has reminded me of the whole Breitbart thing in the states for quite a while, which hasn't worked out too well for the GOP really.
And the first comment on DPF's post about the latest this morning:
Brown has no mana left now and has to go. He is a laughing stock
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John Palino first removed him to “the North”. Now he has fled as far as Melbourne. One hopes he never slept with Bevan Chaung, lest Richard Branson receive a panic stricken call about the availablity of the Virgin Galactic.
On Thursday, the revelation Brown had helped Chuang get a council-related job saw the moral compass swing 180 degrees against him.
Actually what happened on Thursday was this little revelation was spotted hanging up on the wire in no-mans-land between the two now fully entrenched sides exchanging furious bursts of chattering media machine gun fire.
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Craig Ranapia, in reply to
I really don’t think that the Palino camp wants all the facts coming out, do they?
No I don't; just as I don't think a fair few of Ms. O'Sullivan's colleagues would welcome forensic scrutiny of their own behaviour in this tawdry affair.
But here's another thing: Like it or not (and I think it's fair to say O'Sullivan and Co. don't), Len Brown did win a free, fair and credible election. Who elected the editorial writers and columnists who want to nullify that election? How are they "accountable" to the people they've been energetically concern-trolling this week?
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And now Roughan:
In the Herald Brian Rudman wrote, "Marital infidelity is hardly a sacking offence in this day and age".
Well, most people think it is on the evidence of the Herald online response. The 21st century is not as liberal as the late 20th century in many respects.
Did no one think to tip Roughan off to his own paper's actual poll today, which literally finds that a majority of Aucklanders see no need for his resignation and that Brown would win if another election were held?
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However, Ms Chuang claims she and Mr Palino discussed revealing to Mr Brown information about the affair and whether he might resign, claiming poor health. (He suffered a major heart attack in May 2008.)
"This would give him an opportunity to be a hero and assured that ... he did not lose any face, and yet allow him to move on to bigger and better political agendas," she saidIn a carpark meeting no less. If he's gonna act like he's in a US tv drama, then I guess that meeting would result in someone talking about 'conspiracy to commit blackmail'.
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The 21st century is not as liberal as the late 20th century in many respects.
Wishing something were so does make it true. I think John Roughan would be much happier living in Salt Lake City. People’s views are more nuanced, particularly as we now live in the time of social media and with it the end of shame.
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bmk, in reply to
It seems the Herald have made nearly all their columnists look stupid today. You'd almost think they've done it on purpose - maybe some people enjoy watching them make fools of themselves.
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Craig Ranapia, in reply to
If he’s gonna act like he’s in a US tv drama,
If only… At least on Scandal, the convoluted political sleaze has some kind of unhinged “oh no, you didn’t go there, President Stalker Dude” ultra-camp entertainment value. This is just sad, pathetic and more than a little creepy.
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