Karl du Fresne: Why the Maiki Sherman-Lloyd Burr incident is a matter of public interest

A good and respected friend – like me, a former newspaper editor – takes the view that the furore over TVNZ political editor Maiki Sherman’s alleged verbal abuse of Stuff press gallery journalist Lloyd Burr is not news; that at best, it would warrant a mention in a gossip column.

Fair enough, but I differ. If the high-profile journalists who provide the public with political news and comment are bitchy, entitled, childish, over-stimulated and perhaps inclined to run off at the mouth after a few drinks at the end of a long day, I think we deserve to know. That knowledge is potentially very helpful in judging how much notice we should take of them, or indeed whether we should take any notice of them at all.

JC: The MSM Have Questions to Answer

My questions for the media and political journalists in particular are as follows:

If your incestuous relationship with the Labour Party was the correct one, in the sense that we the public should have followed all the journalists’ infantile utterances, why wasn’t Labour re-elected?

Karl du Fresne: Suddenly, the media are unimportant - and it hurts

I sometimes wonder whether political reporters ever pause to think how precious and entitled their behaviour looks to outsiders.
I doubt it. They are too self-absorbed.

Right now, members of the parliamentary press gallery are feeling peevish. After feasting for years on a rich banquet of political news and sensation, they suddenly find themselves on starvation rations. And they’re not taking it well.

Barrie Saunders: Labour one of two election losers

Labour is a big time election loser, but is not the only one. Labour will now have to re-build, while it has two strong competitors on its left – The Greens and The Maori Party. Given Labour’s natural position as a major party, this is much more difficult than it is for the niche parties. I became Labour Leader Bill Rowling’s press secretary, after they were truly smashed by National’s Muldoon 1975, so I know how hard it is with a much smaller caucus.

The other group to lose was the Parliamentary Press Gallery, which is broadly left of centre and operates within the Wellington bubble. Given the Greens hold two of the three Wellington electorates and Labour maybe the third seat, it’s perhaps hardly surprising they have shown themselves to be so out of touch with wider public opinion.

Bob Jones: Political Journalists

The most futile job in New Zealand right now is that of a political columnist. With four weeks to go to the election, they pretend the outcome is uncertain when they know full well the election is done and dusted. That’s because this is easily the most unpopular post-war government and they’re about to pay the price and be decimated, as I forecast on this Blog 18 months ago. But instead of saying so and writing about relevant things such as likely cabinet position allocations, or policy issues instead they moan that Luxon is boring and such-like trivia.