There has been discussion and questions asked lately about why some media (Newshub and RNZ in particular) have been publishing conversations that had been secretly recorded by Jami-Lee Ross. It has appeared at times as of they are aiding ongoing attacks on Simon Bridges and National on behalf of Ross and/or Cameron Slater and/or Simon Lusk. They have at least aided and abetted the attacks.
Some of the latest headlines on it from Newshub:
- Simon Bridges denies plan to cover up women’s complaints against Jami-Lee Ross
National Party leader Simon Bridges has defended comments he made on the latest leaked recording on the Jami-Lee Ross saga. -
Simon Bridges’ handling of Jami-Lee Ross affair a ‘disaster’ – expert
That ‘expert’ was an employment consultant, and the issue being covered had nothing to do with employment.
An indication of how agenda orientated these are is that this sort of article is being repeated at Whale Oil – and most other media are not covering it with anywhere near the same attack style.
The Newshub approach prompted an interesting discussion on Twitter:
Matthew Hooton: People complaining that @NewshubNZ is campaigning to get rid of Bridges don’t understand current media ethics. @TovaOBrien etc are doing #AdvocacyJournalism. They think Bridges is too socially conservative so they think they need to protect NZ from him by getting rid of him
Tim Watkin: Matthew, I’m putting this into your ‘wind-up’ category. Because I assume you do actually know what advocacy journalism is… and know that’s NOT advocacy journalism.
Liam Hehir: Advocacy journalism is more like what John Campbell does – or did – right? What do you call it when you simply go out to wreck politicians and degrade public trust in the institutions of politics?
Time Watkin: Advocacy journalism explicitly advocates for a cause or argument. Sometimes for a group of people/victims. It takes a viewpoint & transparently says it’s not balanced. Saying Tova is not balanced is insulting & undeserved. I don’t like lazy insults.
Lawrence Hakiwai: I think what @MatthewHootonNZ is saying is that there is a clear and obvious attempt by members of the media to unseat @simonjbridges as leader of the National Party by using manufactured and imagined crises. The issues this Government faces are real and far more newsworthy.
Tim Watkin: Well if that is what he’s saying, then I think he’s very wrong. (And I’m sure he knows that’s not true). If any journalist in NZ set out to try to unseat a politician they would be fired. Anyone claiming that has never been in a NZ newsroom. Let’s value our independent media.
Matthew Hooton: Don’t make me laugh. Journalists of a certain kind constantly speak privately in terms of “we’re gonna get her/him” as you very well know. This is exactly what is happening in this case.
Russell Brown: On this one point, I agree with you. I hate hearing journalists brag about “scalps”, as if ending a political career is what they’re there for. But that’s quite different to your original allegation. It just happens to weakened leaders, because that’s safer and easier to do.
And I don’t even know that that’s what’s happening in this case. Maybe it’s more about a supply of newsworthy material for people who are under constant pressure to deliver news. That’s why some journalists used to hold their noses and deal with Slater.
Matthew Hooton: “used to”?
Liam Hehir: The nihilistic approach to covering political news here, with its emphasis on corroding trust in institutions & assuming the worst about everyone, will continue to have purchase since at any one time, half the audience just laps it up with little regard to how they felt earlier.
Matthew Hooton: It’s like the @IainLG thing. A total colossal fuck up of course. But “gotcha” reporting didn’t start speculating on how it all happened (which would be of huge interest) but on whether he would resign (which is neither here nor there).
Russell Brown: To be fair, the gotcha was the key message of the Opposition party. National doesn’t *actually* think ILG has committed a resigning offence, but must be delighted that the more biddable commentators have bought into the idea.
Whether the sort of journalism being discussed is a result of pressure to produce headlines and clicks with a fast turnover of stories, or whether some journalists get sucked into the thrill of the political kill (there is probably some of both) this is a serious issue facing both journalism and politics in New Zealand.
One symptom is media making virtual demands that politicians resign over embellished stories that can look more like hit jobs than reporting.