Co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick didn’t just defend her colleague — she attempted to drag the entire rainbow community into the fray, implying that criticism of Doyle’s language stemmed from ignorance about gay culture, or more specifically, a niche subset of it.
That’s not just wrong — it’s disturbing.
Not all gay people refer to themselves using slang like “bussy,” nor do many even know what the term apparently means and to suggest otherwise is to flatten a diverse community into a caricature for political cover.
Whether Swarbrick genuinely believes that all gay people think and speak the same way, or she’s cynically using that narrative to deflect criticism, the result is the same: a dangerous and divisive form of identity politics dressed up as progressive defence.
When that narrative didn’t gain enough traction, she escalated — attempting to pull the Prime Minister into the controversy, as if Christopher Luxon bore some responsibility for the actions of an MP who isn’t even in his party.
It was a textbook deflection, a masterclass in political blame-shifting.
Go to the headmaster first, and maybe your mate avoids detention.
It worked — at least with RNZ and Stuff, who happily churned out headlines implying Luxon was on the back foot.
Meanwhile, the real issue — the MP’s judgment — was buried under layers of media spin and sympathy pieces.
But ordinary New Zealanders aren’t fooled.
They can see through the PR strategy and the media bias.
Winston Peters was absolutely right — if this had been any other MP, the media would have been in a full-blown feeding frenzy.
This was the real story — the double standard was undeniable. At least TVNZ’s political editor had the backbone to press Swarbrick on what she actually knew about “bussy.”
Overall, the coverage itself was yet another nail in the coffin for Wellington mainstream media, which once again proved incapable of reporting political drama with objectivity.
Their decline will continue — and democracy will be better off for it.
Broadcaster Chris Lynch is an award winning journalist who also produces Christchurch news and video content for domestic and international companies. This article was originally published by Chris Lynch Media and is published here with kind permission.
Not all gay people refer to themselves using slang like “bussy,” nor do many even know what the term apparently means and to suggest otherwise is to flatten a diverse community into a caricature for political cover.
Whether Swarbrick genuinely believes that all gay people think and speak the same way, or she’s cynically using that narrative to deflect criticism, the result is the same: a dangerous and divisive form of identity politics dressed up as progressive defence.
When that narrative didn’t gain enough traction, she escalated — attempting to pull the Prime Minister into the controversy, as if Christopher Luxon bore some responsibility for the actions of an MP who isn’t even in his party.
It was a textbook deflection, a masterclass in political blame-shifting.
Go to the headmaster first, and maybe your mate avoids detention.
It worked — at least with RNZ and Stuff, who happily churned out headlines implying Luxon was on the back foot.
Meanwhile, the real issue — the MP’s judgment — was buried under layers of media spin and sympathy pieces.
But ordinary New Zealanders aren’t fooled.
They can see through the PR strategy and the media bias.
Winston Peters was absolutely right — if this had been any other MP, the media would have been in a full-blown feeding frenzy.
This was the real story — the double standard was undeniable. At least TVNZ’s political editor had the backbone to press Swarbrick on what she actually knew about “bussy.”
Overall, the coverage itself was yet another nail in the coffin for Wellington mainstream media, which once again proved incapable of reporting political drama with objectivity.
Their decline will continue — and democracy will be better off for it.
Broadcaster Chris Lynch is an award winning journalist who also produces Christchurch news and video content for domestic and international companies. This article was originally published by Chris Lynch Media and is published here with kind permission.
6 comments:
Absolutely. The sooner we can build a fresh fourth estate, the better.
Swarbrick got very close to speaking of the specific niche subset she was referring to but like the deer in the headlights realised at the last minute that it was ground not to stand on.
What niche subset is it? It is the one those people who sit within it have been trying to mormalise globally for some time now and it is people who identify as MAPs.
MAPs are minor attracted peoples which is a more pleasant way of describing paedophiles....see, saying minor attracted people sounds so normal doesn't it?
Agree, I posted here that this is really disturbing. The left are toxic low quality individuals.
It is surprising perhaps how many share the msm narratives as the truth. Unfortunately, I don't think this will damage the Greens or the loosely left bloc at all. Seems the Greens with this issue and Tamatha Paul's grandstanding are carving out a position ahead of the next local body elections, especially in Wellington, where they will benefit from sympathetic media and victim portrayals in their stronghold.
The Spinoff's coverage is even more disturbing.
Another failure to put the child first. This should be the focus of everyone’s concern but rarely gets even a mention.
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