I thought the Press story was actually really nice — and relevant in that she's written about her new love on her new album. It rang true.

Sorry, I didn't mean that interview that was intrusive – it was actually well written and gave a good impression of Anika Moa…

Then again, it's important to remember that gossip journalism is a business. It's there…

But yes, I wonder if anyone at the HoS dares to think about how cloddish and hurtful those "gossip" pages can be.

Of course they don't Russell — although that might change if some enterprising blogger started publishing the kind of media gossip that doesn't get much further than work…

I don't know how much of the real time in the interview was actually in regards to her problems with her former label,…

Then the week after he'll be back to calling for the forced sterilisation of people who wear hoodies, or something.

This kind of intrusive press is just weird, and it's never remotely what the fans are interested to know. I love Anika's music and don't need to know anything beyond what she wishes to tell the press.

Leave it to bloggers – and fans – like me – to write…

Lhaws seemed to handle the intrusion quite well.

Oh, I have a funny feeling that we're going to see a grovelling apology to Laws, dictated by the local equivalent of Carter-Ruck. Most of the people Laws craps on for being degenerate apes don't have the means to do the same.…

Snap, kind of

I go for 3).

Indeed, Gio. But honesty compels me to admit that I was sorely tempted to bake a schadenfreude pie — and there's still a hopelessly naive part of my soul that hopes Laws is going to engage in some soul-searching about the same crap he's dished out…

What's the appropriate response:

1) Karma's a bitch.
2) Couldn't have happened to a nicer douche-bag.
3) It was appalling, regardless of…

Off to play "In Swings The Tide" for about…

And good on you for spreading the word, Dyan.

Relevant quotes from a story about Anika Moa and her wedding in The Press today

This kind of intrusive press is just weird, and it's never remotely what the fans are interested to know. I love Anika's music and don't need to know anything beyond what she wishes to tell…

"Some papers in Auckland said some lies – don't believe everything you read. Journalists are different up there, there are some good ones but some of them are evil. I got hounded by Woman's Day…

I've often wondered why the withdrawal method is encouraged by the Catholic church

It not only isn't encouraged it is put in the "intrinsically wrong" category along with other forms of contraception. They are OK with natural family planning or periodic abstinence. The confusion seems to be because the rhythm…

Sacha – those panties smell nice?

Atheists are people who dont believe in gods or god. We await evidence. It has NEVER been forthcoming. (Anecdata denied.)

Jeremy Andrew – ur, why? You've lost me.
There is a continuum of sexual orientations among us human apes: from omnisexual to asexual: asexuality is a late-discovered but now well-documented orientation.

We thought that obvious supporters would be from another minority
orientation – homosexual people. Not so. They have been…

I'd just prefer being at least self-aware about the hypocrisy so often involved when dropping the H-bomb on others. That's all.

Link.

And it's true: even after Haggard's adventures were exposed, he and those around him persisted with the notion of a cure for his sexuality. If they granted that it might simply be his nature, the whole edifice would have come tumbling down.

OK, I'll call bullshit on the whole idea…

Now now, Russell... I'm sure you've left one or two gay clubs with another man in your time, you big old dancing fool of a fag hag. Got anything you'd like to share with the group? :)

At least I didn't drive drunk afterwards?

And here's a fresh one: Republican state senator with long and unpleasant history of campaigning against gay rights in favour of "Traditional Family Values" picked up by cops after leaving a gay nightclub with another man.

Now now, Russell... I'm sure you've left one or two gay clubs with another…

OK, Russell, that's a semi-fair ping. Let me put it this way: I find it a little hard to be quite so theoretical about the ethics of "outing".

But I thought Philip made a valid observation. This is what he said:

To me, the public interest here isn't just the…

It should be possible to engage with what someone says without claiming to be made "physically ill".

You have checked the Still Crazy thread recently haven't you? Sometimes it clearly isn't possible to engage without gagging.

Speaking of which, a gagging order may be required.

He was arrested for drunk-driving; the gay nightclub tip came later via the local…

It should be possible to engage with what someone says without claiming to be made "physically ill".

OK, Russell, that's a semi-fair ping. Let me put it this way: I find it a little hard to be quite so theoretical about the ethics of "outing". My partner David (who was…

Indeed, Tracey — and I'm sincerely sorry if Philip felt "patronised" by me for pointing this out but I can take my own freedoms for granted as much as anyone. Nor am I immune to letting schadenfreude trump decency and empathy a lot more often than I should.

To be…

and as Craig points out, we do live in a relatively liberal environment.

Indeed, Tracey — and I'm sincerely sorry if Philip felt "patronised" by me for pointing this out but I can take my own freedoms for granted as much as anyone. Nor am I immune to letting schadenfreude…

We thought that obvious supporters would be from another minority
orientation – homosexual people. Not so. They have been…

Jeremy – That's the debate from the Old, not New Testies.

True, the Old is all "eye for an eye" whereas the New is more "love everyone – but not yourself!"
I'll expect input from some of the masters here on PAS.

What did we get in ANZ?

Nothing.

Actually, Giovanni, I read quite a bit of discussion at the time of Larry "Wide Stance" Craig about…

I've often wondered (to the obvious scorn and banalization of the family) whether money shots are poking fun at the 'withdrawal method'.

I've often wondered why the withdrawal method is encouraged by the Catholic church, while Onanism (ie masturbation) is anathema.
Especially when the book itself says __"But Onan knew…

the nice enlightened corner of teh interwebz call Public Address.

*sigh*...if only more people were like us eh ?

What a wonderful world it would be !

What will it take for homosexuals to stop mocking my family? I ask myself this on a daily basis.

Tell me about it. Just last week, a group of old lesbians were standing outside my parents' house singing Melissa Etheridge songs in a nasal, mocking fashion until the wee smalls.…

On a scale of one to ten, your patronising goes up to 11, Craig.

Thank, Philip — you've managed to make me feel physically ill, so we're even.

From his wiki page:

"In many parts of the world, the family is under siege. It is opposed by an anti-life mentality as is seen in contraception, abortion, infanticide, and…

It's very easy to forget that there's a big wide world out there — and it doesn't all look like New Zealand, or the nice enlightened corner of teh interwebz call Public Address.

On a scale of one to ten, your patronising goes up to 11, Craig.

If you're going to define your sexuality as a "struggle" — rather than accept it and ask others to accept it — this is what happens, right?

Philip: Would I be totally out of line in presuming you're straight, and your understanding of the process involved in coming out is…

far more relish

Goes with corned beef :)

Nice to see The Press (Fairfax) running ads for TradeMe (Fairfax) masquerading as front page stories...

It's SOP for Fairfax nowadays. The Dompost is particularly bad — TradeMe spokespeople are great for quotes regardless of field of enquiry.

The classical liberal in me says "Play the ball, not the man. Whatever he does in his private life is private.

I find it takes on new perspective once you consider that it's harassing a person for being gay/bi/other not entirely straight classifications, and struggling with it, as many other…

I don't think there's any serious doubt about said action.

I agree, and my wording was probably a little on the flippant side. I guess I should have said "He didn't exactly say he was gay" which is a slightly different point. The denial that someone can actually be gay…

he didn't actually admit to any hot man-on-man action

I don't think there's any serious doubt about said action. This is Haggard's wife talking in the NY Daily News a little over a month ago:

Haggard admitted that her husband, who once led a church of nearly 14,000 worshipers, had…

Never? What about, for example, Ted Haggard?

I don't think the public was terribly well served by his outing (if you can call it that, given that he didn't actually admit to any hot man-on-man action.) However, his congregation had explicit standards of behaviour (public and private) that they expected…

Never? What about, for example, Ted Haggard?

Um, you mean the married evangelical preacher who was scoring drugs off a prostitute — something that would still be a crime in the great state of Colorado even if the hooker-dealer concerned was a woman?

I sometimes think, whenever "public interest" is discussed, that there's misunderstanding about what the term means.

Mikaere made this point upthread, but in C.

Never? What about, for example, Ted Haggard?

Now there's a poser. I guess you got me. Perhaps outing publicly homophobic homosexuals is a tiny bit in…

Craig and Ben: fair enough. It did occur to me that if Mau is taking a strong on-air position on same-sex relationships — and good on her — then her own relationship might not be irrelevant.

Meh... Well, Philip, using that logic it might "not be irrelevant" that someone who…

As I understand it, "public interest" doesn't mean what is "of interest" to the public but what is in the interest(s) of the public; i.e. concerning the welfare of the public.

(I think the…

outing homosexuals is never in the public interest, unless they do it themselves.

Never?…

I find the question of the lesbianism interesting. The media's interest in trivial shite is not, it's long established, and easily explained – gossip sells copy.

Well, for me, the sexual orientation thing falls into the category of 'trival shite'. I'm just bemused that as a society we still find…

If I understand the train of thought here: Alison Mau called bullshit on a typical Paul Henry slur against GLBT parents. Therefore, there is now a public interest justification for Ratshit Glaucoma printing…

But if Mau is going to take a position in debates like this on TV, rather than just being a "neutral" autocue reader, does that make her outing by a woman's mag closer to the "public interest" than otherwise?

You know something, Philip, if Paul Henry is going to base…

The desperation and frustration of the parents is understandable.

The real story would be if Sensing Bullsh!t have an angle on this one.

I do find it interesting. But not interesting enough to violate my own ethic on the matter, which is that giving attention to such news encourages it.

The media's obsession with and (over-)reaction to, trivial shite is interesting, for sure. But that needs to be separated, as much as is…

http://www.medialawjournal.co.nz/?p=347

But if Mau is going to take a position in debates like this on TV, rather than just being a "neutral" autocue reader, does that make…

Where I come from, that deserves nothing but a yawn and a reach for the remote.

Never let a lesbian get hold of your remote, especially when you're yawning?

What's interesting about someone being a lesbian?

Where I come from, that deserves nothing but a yawn and a reach for the remote.

You come from Lesbia?
.
.
.
.
.
.
I'll get my coat.

Difference is interesting for all humans, but yes it provokes some damned interesting social dances as you work out where to look. The models would probably be annoyed you didn't stare.

Could be. But they can always just do something to attract attention, then (other than just being pretty).

I…

Where I come from, that deserves nothing but a yawn and a reach for the remote.

Hell, she works with the bigoted Paul Henry and she has often been quoted in the press expressing love and admiration for Simon Dallow. I remember how…

Did anyone else do the same?

Yes, but with Mau, it was because I couldn't give a fat rat's arse about her or whoever shares her bed.

With the 'murdering kid', I only read the story after Russell linked to it as part of a broader disucssion of some media…

The models would probably be annoyed you didn't stare.

I have a tee shirt that indicates otherwise, but only for the image that got printed on the Tee, but it certainly looks like she didn't invite the photo, then again one will never know.
All humans are interestingly different.

Nothing will change unless the public stops consuming it.

And the other media. And it's really hard not to be hypocritical. Personally I haven't read anything about Mau or this murdering kid's private lives because I don't think it's news, and I do actually respect their privacy. It's not really…

and that photo had to go in the paper somewhere...

...which will become stock standard go to for sexy stories aboot the PM. Although, that Italian guy Bruscolini dude...

In the end, if people get off on sceptic tank schadenfreude could they at least spare themselves — and everyone else — the hypocritical chuntering about the public interest?

Yes. I don't really see the point of debating this like it's some complex moral quandary in the modern…

a North Korean journalist proud.

For sure, those guys can only dream of a readership who actually gives a fuck about what they write.

but to suggest anyone could do this is sometimes more subjective than objective

Indeed, if I was to man up and grow a pair I'd be twice the man I already am. Easier said than done.

I guess, technically, women are the ones who are typically growing a pair, any…

That Key-makes-girls-swoon story is the logical conclusion of the Herald's ongoing handjob. I bloody hope that's where it ends, anyway.

No chance. This is the foreplay. I'm still waiting for the fashion section to do a ten-page photoshoot of him, complete with pinups, and a centerfold.

It's probably based in…

She was no more a victim than any kid who decides to go for a burn up and wipes out. Really.

I too found Deborah's comment... unwise I guess. It's like punishing someone for being imperfect and making bad decisions.

Diana wasn't driving the car, so to some extent at…

When the story becomes more about the journalists placing themselves in the story than the story

Why am I thinking of a Fox here? Oh that's right...
kinda Fox network Tv stuff all. However, speculation is all that will be needed to string this along, until it will be dragged…

That Key-makes-girls-swoon story is the logical conclusion of the Herald's ongoing handjob. I bloody hope that's where it ends, anyway.

Well after the sexy wee thing declared it himself in Parliament last week, then TV ran with it, I suspect he/ Key truly believes the hype. Righto.

That Key-makes-girls-swoon story is the logical conclusion of the Herald's ongoing handjob. I bloody hope that's where it ends, anyway.

It's a brilliant article, though, really, would make a North Korean journalist proud. I think I might frame it.

It seems the police…

Shaun Quincey had drinking water and two copies of the Herald dropped to him yesterday

Two? So he’s not doing this solo after all.

Transtasman rower Shaun Quincey had drinking water and two copies of the Herald dropped to him yesterday.

First he drank the water. Then he read the Herald and immediately turned the boat back.

(Hat tip as ever to James Coe, Editing the Herald)

That would be Michael Savidge. Real name.

Hey, I didn't ask for this media intrusion y'know! :)

It doesn't really take much to get media attention here, you just have be semi-famous, and do something that isn't plain vanilla. Acting like a dick is a popular choice.

but if that attention has the possibility to negatively impact on your career by way of a criminal conviction, then…

I don't…

Savage came to personify the Labour Party's commonsense humanitarian approach. He spoke with sincerity, eloquence and power, convincing many voters that he and his colleagues not only understood their problems but could be…

Anyone have any idea how much of the local stuff is like that?

About three years ago, when I was at the Listener, I did a very in-house interview with Sido Kitchin, then newly appointed NZ Woman's Weekly editor. Sido had come back from Melbourne where she had been publicity…

I'm not sure what the eventual aim was (William to be King ahead of his father? Personal glory? Just a symptom of her psychosis?) but the campaign was organised and unrelenting.

I think her handlers would most likely have had that aim of raising the profile and popularity of the…

Anyone have any idea how much of the local stuff is like that?

Total guess, but I'd say not much. It doesn't really take much to get media attention here, you just have be semi-famous, and do something that isn't plain vanilla. Acting like a dick is a popular choice.…

I'm not entirely sure but anyone saying something along the lines of "she was asking for it" makes me very uneasy.

Hang on.

She was paid an immense amount of money out of the pockets of the British taxpayer to be the royal family's glamour girl.

She ran the equivalent…

Is that something to do with the Fabians?

A socialist shrink tank?

sceptic tank

Is that something to do with the Fabians?

does using princess diana as example equate to something along the lines of godwins law?

I'm not entirely sure but anyone saying something along the lines of "she was asking for it" makes me very uneasy.

I waver a bit about people who have deliberately used the chequebook system for profile and profit, and then don't want to be in the magazines.

OK, I share your wobbling sympathies on that score but I think we both felt a wee bit ill at the sight of the…

there's a mickysavage at te standard

That may be who I thought of. Or possibly that's also our Michael Savidge. Or it's homage.

the person who posts on here as Michael Savage

there's a mickysavage at te standard

You're wrong. But I'm sure you're a lovely person.

Oh wait. On the subject of "princess" Diana, you aren't wrong. She was a publicity-mad lunatic, and if one goes hooning through narrow tunnels at 160kph with a driver who's off his face on booze 'n' drugs, one has…

(Was that the actual Ms C, or is it like the person who posts on here as Michael Savage?)

That would be Michael Savidge. Real name.

And yes, that's Deborah. Extend the courtesy you would towards any other PAS poster who doesn't behave like David Garrett. But you knew that…

(Was that the actual Ms C, or is it like the person who posts on here as Michael Savage?)

At last, someone sheds light on what Lost is about

OMFG you're so right!

trumped by this nebulous smoke monster called "public interest"

At last, someone sheds light on what Lost is about :)

John Campbell has made a pretty good job of that.

I applaud him, although there's always one person whose image consists in not having much of an image. Also, describe to me what would happen if he were seen at a restaurant dating a bloke.

(If he is openly gay…

Clearly, here's someone who has seriously courted the media for years.

But this Fevola guy has found a whole new shed of barrels and scraped them all.

Is it even possible not to make a pact with the mags if you're Alison Mau? Withdraw your image?

John Campbell has made a pretty good job of that. But, as above, I'm not a believer in the idea that people lose all right to privacy if they've done a…

Slap me down if I've crossed a line, but do you and Fiona feel you've made a "Faustian pact" with anyone by being so very candid about your experience as the parents of autistic sons?

Oh, I think about this a lot, and I don't buy into the axoim.

I…

The debate there, of course is around to what extent people give up their privacy when they make their Faustian pacts with the "women's" mags.

See, I just don't understand that. Is it a Faustian pact, or is it in fact a requirement of the job as an anchorperson? Is…

The debate there, of course is around to what extent people give up their privacy when they make their Faustian pacts with the "women's" mags.

Slap me down if I've crossed a line, but do you and Fiona feel you've made a "Faustian pact" with anyone by being so very…

I trust Russell won't introduce her as "state-owned broadcaster autocue-reader Alison Mau", but otherwise, yes, the ever-increasing prurient bullshit has to stop.

The debate there, of course is around to what extent people give up their privacy when they make their Faustian pacts with the "women's" mags.

I trust Russell won't introduce her as "state-owned broadcaster autocue-reader Alison Mau"

I think Russell could testify that autocue reading is much harder than it looks, and in my book anyone who can resist the urge to pull Paul Henry's spine out his arse and throttle him with it is…

It is inconsistent with an individual’s privacy to allow the public disclosure of material obtained by intentionally interfering, in the nature of prying, with that individual’s interest in solitude or seclusion. The intrusion must be highly offensive to an objective reasonable person

Hopefully this will prevent…

He's right, from what I can see. The free press are not always your…

Also: here's hoping I'll finally get to see Media 7. The channel is a recent addition to the basic Telstra cable package in Wellers but for the last…

Let's just assume, for the sake of argument, that Mau is…