Trans-Tasman picks Power

17 comments on “Trans-Tasman picks Power ”

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1. LawGeek 1

   9 October 2009 at 11:46 am

   I unsubscribed from TT when they had a nasty little side bar saying that Labour wished that Paula Bennett and other National female MPs were still on the benefit and beholden to the state. Just vile.
2. JD 2

   9 October 2009 at 2:29 pm

   “Never have I read (OK, skimmed) a sorrier collection of catch phrases and big claims with no detail.”

   Obviously you’ve never read Labour’s ‘knowledge wave’ policy then. So where did that end up again?
3. millsy 3

   9 October 2009 at 2:58 pm

   Simon Power will become deputy, and Joyce will pick up Infrastructure. English will remain as Finance, albiet pushed down the list a bit.
4. Rex Widerstrom 4

   9 October 2009 at 3:53 pm

   it’s a little rag written by anonymous Tory hacks

   Are you trying to be haughty, Zetetic, or do you really not know the history and personnel of Trans Tasman?

   Amongst its authors are the venerable Ian Templeton, who’s seen more politics — and knows more — than you, me, and everyone else here combined. Rob Hosking and Catriona MacLennan also write for it — both journalists for whom I have an admiration bordering on fandom, and experts in their respective fields.

   John Shewan is another contributor — I can barely manage my own tax return but those in the know tell me he’s widely acclaimed as an expert in that field — as is Chris Mole, though I don’t personally know either of them and aren’t as familiar with their work.

   “Anonymous Tory hacks”? I think not. Given The Standard is written by anonymous (and I’m not for one minute disputing your right to be) contributors with, I’m pretty certain, less experience than any of the people I’ve just mentioned, it might be better to concentrate on critiquing their content, not their composition.
   • LawGeek 4.1

     9 October 2009 at 4:16 pm

     Rex – Ian Templeton sold it last year to ChCh based businessmen. I don’t think he writes there any longer.
     • Rex Widerstrom 4.1.1

       9 October 2009 at 6:38 pm

       He’s still on their website, so I assumed he was at least exerting a moderating influence.

       I don’t read it that often so I’m not denying (or supporting) charges of right wing bias.

       I just think that characterising the people I’ve mentioned as “anonymous Tory hacks” suggests Zetetic is very young indeed — about the same age I was when I couldn’t understand why I, with a couple of published articles under my belt, hadn’t been shoulder tapped to take over from David Frost and Alan Whicker 😀
   • snoozer 4.2

     9 October 2009 at 4:33 pm

     I think that the hypocrisy might be a bit of humour on Zet’s part, Rex.

     There aren’t any names on any of the articles in the TT, pretty anonymous in my books.

     And it is an awful rag, like that quote that LawGeek put up shows.

     we get it emailed but I never bother to open it.
5. JD 5

   9 October 2009 at 4:08 pm

   You’re right Rex

   http://www.nzherald.co.nz/catriona-maclennan/news/article.cfm?a_id=157&objectid=10571693

   Clearly the work of a tory hack. Are we to expect a retraction?
   • Daveo 5.1

     9 October 2009 at 4:16 pm

     Have you read the Trans-Tasman? Like the man says, it’s shrill Tory hackery at its finest.

     The decline in quality since Templeton’s departure has been noticeable.
6. JD 6

   9 October 2009 at 4:27 pm

   Shrill tory hackery?

   http://transtasman.co.nz/home/free-articles/economic-debate-borrow-or-not.html

   “Bolger told Hamilton business people “breathe in the spring air. Doesn’t it smell great today?’ The net public debt was wiped out under the Clark Govt. The Crown now has more assets than liabilities.”
   • Daveo 6.1

     9 October 2009 at 4:32 pm

     One line from one article doesn’t prove your point.

     I could just as easily quote this from their website:

     After ending up in an economic cul de sac after 9 years of Labour-led Government, NZ has to dig itself out of stagnation.

     John Key’s Government says it has a comprehensive plan to re-balance the economy from debt-fuelled consumption towards investment and exports…Key has made it clear he is determined to reverse NZ’s slippage down international league tables’

     You can’t argue that it’s not a pro-Tory neolibreal rag. That shit about Labour just wanting Paula Bennett to go back on the DPB was inexcusable.
7. randal 7

   9 October 2009 at 4:43 pm

   so this is the one that hooton mentioned on rnz on monday. he more or less intimated that nationals foreign policy was subcontrcted to them?
8. kiwteen123 8

   9 October 2009 at 5:48 pm

   Why would National change? They’re beating Labour.
9. JD 9

   9 October 2009 at 6:03 pm

   “You can’t argue that it’s not a pro-Tory neolibreal rag. That shit about Labour just wanting Paula Bennett to go back on the DPB was inexcusable.”

   Of course I can. Don’t be an idiot.

   Why anyone would pay $300 for political propaganda is beyond me (which is why subscription based partisan blogs are not a viable business model) so they must be offering something of value to their readers.
   • LawGeek 9.1

     9 October 2009 at 6:32 pm

     JD – because the current owners are trading on Ian Templeton’s good name. It hasn’t lasted.

     The subscription rate at my work place, at least, has gone down significantly since it became the weekly National newsletter. Ian Templeton was a bit of a lefty, but he actually had good sources and valuable inside information. Whoever writes it now doesn’t have either.
   • Pascal's bookie 9.2

     9 October 2009 at 9:35 pm

     “Of course I can.”

     I’m sure you could, the real question though is whether the argument would be any good. The fact that you lead with an argument from personal credulity is not a good sign.

     The reason ‘subscription based partisan blogs’ are not a good business model may be that subscription based blogs in general are ‘not a good business model’.

     People do however pay for propaganda all the time.
   • Phil 9.3

     10 October 2009 at 6:31 pm

     Why anyone would pay $300 for political propaganda is beyond me (which is why subscription based partisan blogs are not a viable business model) so they must be offering something of value to their readers.

     They also review/report equities that don’t get ‘airtime’ outside of the brokerage specialists. And they have a solid enough track record on coming up with interesting viewpoints on economic (GDP/unemployment/inflation) sub-data that gets missed in the general media hubub.

     You just need to look down past the political headlines… but I guess someone with an attention span as short as Zetetic’s might not get that far.

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