Posts by Russell Brown
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Hard News: The perils of political confidence, in reply to merc,
It is to be determined but that is what Key is claiming, albeit obliquely.
Not so obliquely, really. He told Rachel Smalley this morning, when challenged, that the circumstances of his recording were "not different" to the News of the World hacking the phone of a dead child.
He possibly needs to get over himself.
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Hard News: The perils of political confidence, in reply to merc,
His entire premise that a private conversation was recorded illegally is onerous.
That the recording was in fact illegal is yet to be determined – and, as Steven Price demonstrated, not necessarily straightforward.
As Dylan Reeve points out, the cameraman’s account is quite plausible in terms of general industry practice.
I’d take issue with Dylan’s contention that the criminal investigation is no impediment to the HoS doubling down and publishing anyway. In light of the proactive police warning yesterday, that would be mad.
But Steven Joyce might wish to revisit some of his allegations. If the HoS “deliberately arranged the recording” as Joyce alleges, why would 3 News get offered it?
Joyce also has no evidence for his claim that the HoS was lying when it said the cameraman, Bradley Ambrose, was not a staff member but a freelancer. Because Ambrose is a freelancer.
And I would enjoy Joyce’s account of precisely how the Herald on Sunday “deliberately arranged the taping”. Did they pay off the DPS staff? Or just use special magic powers?
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Hard News: The perils of political confidence, in reply to Hilary Stace,
Nice bit of synchronicity re Joanne Black, with her more recent links to the National Party, and now it is the National Party PM as recording ‘victim’.
She's her own woman with her own work. I don't think it's fair to accuse her of having "links to the National Party" in that context.
They should get Geoffrey Palmer to give his personal/legal opinion on teapotgate.
He probably wouldn't go there, but you don't need to be a lawyer to appreciate the contrast between his handling of the issue and Mr Key's.
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Hard News: The perils of political confidence, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
Leadership speculation around a man who is spectacularly failing to meet his own performance benchmarks? Not exactly Woodward and Bernstein, especially when you're talking about a party whose appetite for intrigue makes the Borgias look like slackers. :)
It's rather more of a story if the Prime MInister and senior coalition party leader has, to a greater or less extent, a discussion about rolling Brash with a member of Brash's own party. Especially in the context of a high-profile meeting in public during an election campaign.
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Hard News: The perils of political confidence, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
Nobody here is suggesting otherwise – and I’m not the only one who’s said that to Henare on Twitter. As I’ve said right here, there’s plenty of ethically sub-prime/legally dubious media monkey shines that don’t sink to that level. Can we now stipulate that straw man has been reduced to a handful of ash?
Perhaps when Steven Joyce, National’s campaign chair, withdraws his statement directly and aggressively making the same comparison?
Mitigate that risk by attempting to independently corroborate the material, so you can run the story without using the tape. STFU, and pray the story is fit for print next week.
I think that won’t be possible now, at least for the HoS. The criminal charge will make it very difficult to pursue a story based on the contents of the tape.
4. Neither legally obtained nor of any news value. Oh, well. Something else that happen all the times in newsrooms: Stories don’t pan out. Shit happens. Move on and fill that hole.
If the story was what it appears now to be – a discussion about rolling Brash after the election – then it’s absolutely of news value. No question whatsoever. Any media outlet in the country would lead with that story.
Did it carry enough public interest to justify a decision to publish and face the possibly severe consequences? Clearly not, especially given what seems to have been a very heavy response from the party.
My loyalty remains strongly with the journalists here. Had National made a Press Council complaint, fine. But seeking criminal charges against an editor who didn’t actually publish the transcript is rotten.
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Hard News: The perils of political confidence, in reply to Hilary Stace,
Good call!
The story in question is here.
Absolutely fascinating comparison, although Black's recording was far more clearly of a private communication.
Interesting to note who used the story to help bring down Geoffrey Palmer: Ruth Richardson.
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Hard News: The perils of political confidence, in reply to Matthew Littlewood,
I mean, really, let’s get some perspective here
Just been having some brief interaction with Henare on Twitter: he’s doubling down on the NOTW comparison and a comparison with Watergate. Doesn’t seem to realise that that journalists were the heroes in Watergate.
That said, there are real ethical quandries around the incident itself- but that’s a separate issue.
There are, but it seems to me to be similar to Gordon Brown’s “that woman” moment and the more recent Obama/Sarkozy discussion. In both cases, the subjects didn’t know they were being recorded. Both cases involved conventional mics and transmitting equipment used by journalists.
I’m also fairly appalled at the response from National. I feel some loyalty to fellow journalists here, and the pursuit of a criminal complaint against an editor who, after all, did not publish the transcript gives me the shits.
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Hard News: The perils of political confidence, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
Neither am I, but I’m not entirely comfortable with the idea that if you’re a politician you’re just asking for anything and everything that happens to you. Might be a radical idea, but even if you think Key and Banks are porn-sized twatcocks they’re entitled to exactly the same recourse to the law as everyone else. No more, but certainly no less.
A complaint to the Press Council would have done fine.
Alongside Joyce's missive this is looking like a nasty bit of "don't fuck with us" bullying. For all that the usual suspects complained about Helen Clark, she never did this.
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Hard News: The perils of political confidence, in reply to ange wither,
You’d have to strongly suspect from the 3 news item that the tape contains discussion about rolling Don Brash straight after the election.
As Judi Lapsley Miller predicted in this very thread earlier today!
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The police statement:
URGENT MEDIA ADVISORY
November 14, 2011, 5:22 pmPolice have confirmed that the this afternoon we have received a formal complaint from the Prime Minister Right Honourable John Key concerning an allegation that a private conversation between himself and the Honourable John Banks has been unlawfully recorded.
This is potentially an offence under s216B Crime Act 1961 carrying a maximum penalty of two years imprisonment.
Media outlets are advised that it is an offence to disclose private communications unlawfully intercepted. This offence, is punishable by up to two years imprisonment where any person discloses the private communication, or the substance, meaning, or purport of the communication or any part of it, or discloses the existence of the private communication if he knows that it has come to his knowledge as a direct or indirect result of an offence against s216B Crimes Act.
Police have indicated that they have commenced an active investigation into this complaint.
So if the recording is deemed unlawful, the HoS seems to have already committed the offence.
I'm really not sure if going to the cops was a good idea. If the police prosecute, National will be responsible for the bringing of criminal charges against a newspaper editor. That is hardly ever a good look.