Hard News: Taxpayers' Union: still stupid, cynical and dishonest
60 Responses
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That Herald link is 404ing and the story seems to have disappeared. I guess they realised, a little too late, that it was all bullshit?
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Sacha, in reply to
Who was the Herald 'journalist' credited with the story?
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Andrew Geddis, in reply to
Yep – the “story” came down off the Herald website in remarkably quick time. It always was a cross-post from this still extant Newstalk ZB piece (http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/news/politics/nz-taxpayers-money-used-to-fund-clinton-foundation/ ).
But I’m guessing that with all the “synergies” and “cross platform content” stuff, editors actually checking that a story is accurate before posting it up takes second place to potential clicks.
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Russell Brown, in reply to
That's how it looks, yes.
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MxDEJ, in reply to
Who was the Herald 'journalist' credited with the story?
Alica Burrow
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Andrew Geddis, in reply to
Alica Burrow
She isn't a Herald reporter - she works for Newstalk ZB.
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Russell Brown, in reply to
Alicia Burrow
Who I presume works for NZME. I don't want to bash a single journalist, though. This is really systemic.
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They know this is aid money for an ongoing development project and they know quite well they’re constructing fake news
They should also know that successive New Zealand Governments have been done this in partnership with non-governmental organisations for decades – and many which weren’t even close to being as thoroughly audited and scrutinised as the Clinton Health Access Initiative. But yeah, dudes, don’t let your Hillary Derangement Syndrome – and let’s be blunt that’s all this is – get in the way of a good story. Or actually save lives, even if they’re black people you don’t really give a shit about.
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Ah. Turns out NBR reported the same story more accurately last September – but still missed the fact that the project had been announced by all parties two years before.
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Sacha, in reply to
I don't want to bash a single journalist, though. This is really systemic.
Yes I realised after I wrote that. Main problems are pressure on often junior journos to file stories fast - and lax, unethical oversight from editors and publishers.
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Presumably, the Taxpayers’ Union noticed that New Zealand was on the list and on Noveber 11 fired off an OIA request to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Or presumably they were fed the story by the Israeli embassy, given the shoe horned in cheap shot at our recent security council resolution? The Israeli government has vowed to ’punish” us, I expected all sorts of planted fake news stories like this from Israel’s astroturfing Quislings and dupes to start popping up all over the place.
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The Herald has replaced the original story with a rather more seemly one, attributing, rather than endorsing, the TU's claims.
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Brent Jackson, in reply to
Or possibly they were fed...
Fixed that for you ...
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Tom Semmens, in reply to
Gawd that is what I meant to say!
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eszett, in reply to
Hanlon's Razor: "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity,"
I don't think we should distract from the farce that the TPU is by peddling some obscure conspiracy theories, which will only be used by them to obfuscate any criticism
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Curious whether DPF will push the story.
As the "founding father" of the TPU he quite likes to push the "scandals" they have uncovered. -
SHG,
I don't get why this is an issue again in January 2017, especially featuring words like "it has been revealed" as if this was some dark secret that we've only just learned. The CHAI donation and discussion of it was covered by the NBR at least THREE TIMES last year:
https://www.nbr.co.nz/article/mfat-under-fire-donations-clinton-linked-charity-jw-p-196621
Hell, even the nutty conspiracy sites had blown their loads by the first week of November:
http://uncensored.co.nz/2016/11/05/nz-taxpayer-funds-pledged-to-shady-clinton-charity/
Why is this a thing in the Herald now in the second week of January? -
I similarly could not believe my eyes this morning when the NZHerald had this as their top news. I was really angry the media would post this in the first place, but especially without their own commentary. This is hardly journalism. There was no place to make a comment. Interesting to see it gone on a flash! Clowns on both sides: the charming Mr Williams and a NZ Herald journo.
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Sacha, in reply to
It's her editors, to be fair. That piece of copypasta crap should never have been published if media were still operating to any professional principles.
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Taxpayers’ Union follow-up, triumphantly nickel-and-diming the side issue of CHAI’S relationship to the Clinton Foundation – and not even attempting to defend the original wild claims about aid money being “diverted” for political ends.
Jordan Williams then told me on Twitter that he didn’t have to defend any claim about the use of the aid budget because “given the brouhaha in the US, I don’t need to.”
I think it’s pretty clear that these people don’t give a shit what they say.
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Sacha, in reply to
As the "founding father" of the TPU he quite likes to push the "scandals" they have uncovered.
Sheesh. Who do you think creates them?
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Sacha, in reply to
Of course not. You can see why people might resort to physical violence against privileged establishment shitheads like that.
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Ignoring the timing of funding commitments and election campaigns may be convenient for evil astroturfers but don't training courses still instil the basic 'Ws' in journos?
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Greg Presland, in reply to
I think it’s pretty clear that these people don’t give a shit what they say.
They seem to think that Trump's success allows them to review what is morally acceptable.
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Kumara Republic, in reply to
I think it’s pretty clear that these people don’t give a shit what they say.
And they're still no less selective about their targets. Wonder how they'll react when Trump gets a tad too crony capitalistic and statist for their liking?
That said, the media deserves brickbats for even giving them oxygen to start with.
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