Bottom feeding fish

Written By: - Date published: 8:35 am, April 24th, 2018 - 99 comments
Categories: clickbait, Dirty Politics, making shit up, Media, the praiseworthy and the pitiful, you couldn't make this shit up - Tags: ,

National, like Rust, does not sleep.

The events of dirty politics showed a sophisticated calculated roll out of damaging news to media to willing participants who then broadcast the news in the most damaging way.

The most important aspect was the use of a compliant media.

The objective was to create media themes primarily to attack and terrify opponents.  And no one was safe.

I can’t help but wonder if recent treatment of Clarke Gayford is being orchestrated. Because there has been a lot of attention paid to him recently.

A lot more than I can ever recall being paid to Bronagh Key or Mary English or even Peter Davis although I am aware that Peter was the subject of the most malicious whispering campaign.

Max Key did get a hard time. But using your father’s position to enhance your standing does attract attention.

It makes you wonder if National has some dirt on Clarke and is shopping it round.

Because he has had quite a bit of adverse media attention recently.

There was Deborah Hill-Cone’s effort in the Herald where she described him as being cringey and smug. I am not going to link on the basis that this site should not be supporting click bait.

I often like her controversial writing but the only emotions this article caused were “meh” and “what the?”.

Clarke responded with a tweet that was more humourous and gentle than the subsequent Herald treatment of it.

The Herald article seemed strange.  Allowing someone to say something stupid about someone else, then immediately printing the other person’s response.

Then things became really weird as the Herald reported how its column had divided New Zealand.

How the clicks must have piled up.

Not to be outdone Herald columnist Heather “Ardern is just like Trump” Du Plessis-Allan weighed in.  From Newstalk ZB:

[Du Plessis-Allan] says that Gayford is the ‘Prime Minister’s weakest link’ because he doesn’t know when to pull back and be in the background.

She suggests that the Labour Party should be more mindful of him.

However, she also feels that Gayford and Ardern are ‘unbelievably cute’ together.

The evidence she relied on, a single photo of him and the other spouses which I thought was very funny, is about as reliable as her evidence that Jacinda is just like Trump.

Other elements of the media performed credibly when confronted with this most stupid of issues.

Danyl McLauchlan in the Spinoff said this:

Early this morning the New Zealand Herald published a hard-hitting piece on Clarke Gayford, a fishing show reality TV star and the partner of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. The story, which led the newspaper’s website and was announced with a “Breaking News” banner, was written by veteran business journalist and columnist Deborah Hill Cone. It contained a number of serious allegations that raise grave doubts about Gayford’s reputation as a likable guy who likes fishing. Instead, the story alleged, the “first bloke” is “vexing, “problematic” and “cringey”. Hill Cone further alleges that Gayford’s first name ends with the letter “e”. If the revelations in Hill Cone’s piece are true, Gayford is far from the amicable figure he seems. It raises important questions about how much Gayford actually loves fishing, and whether he is secretly kind of like Betty Draper. You know, from Mad Men.

But an extensive investigation into Hill Cone’s story conducted by the Spinoff over dozens of seconds in the early hours of this morning casts uncertainty on the story’s findings. This in-depth reporting, which involved repeatedly looking at pictures of Gayford looking dreamy and happy suggests that, far from being problematic, Gayford looks like he might be an OK guy. Furthermore, rather than engaging in “the political equivalent of manspreading” – as Hill Cone’s piece explosively claims – these inquiries reveal that Gayford looks kind of like an old friend of mine, which makes me kind of like him and feel instinctively that the Herald should leave him alone. How can Hill Cone maintain her charges against Gayford in the face of these findings?

Can’t we get back to the real news?  Like how bad child poverty is and why we have to do something about climate change and environmental destruction?  Or are we going to descend into click bait hell where columnists say stupid things and the paper then gets further attention by reporting the response and then the controversy?

There has to be a better way.  If you want a site that deals seriously with current issues then Radio New Zealand aka Red Radio is your only choice.

99 comments on “Bottom feeding fish ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. Grey Area 1
    24 April 2018 at 8:50 am

    Peter Davis I recall.

    [Thanks will correct – MS]

    • ianmac 2.1
      24 April 2018 at 9:29 am

      Yes Asleep. Hilarious.
      There is something creepy though about Hill-Cone’s malice. To be published and repeated/continued by a large daily is distinctly odd in an unpleasant way. More suited to murky Weekly?

      • dukeofurl 2.1.1
        24 April 2018 at 9:41 am

        Notice its those in the ‘print media’ who are going on about this as in general their name is known but walk down the street as a nobody.

        Most PMs partners/spouses avoid publicity for the obvious reasons that they are uncomfortable with it and are at the stage in life the cameras are an intrusion.

        Clarke clearly had a life on screen before he met Jacinda and is comfortable with cameras around.

        • tracey 2.1.1.1
          24 April 2018 at 9:44 am

          But that makes him evil I tells ya… not clever and resourceful like little Max Key who was able to exploit the situation to create a profile, a DJ and music income etc etc…. let us not forget Dad was clearly happy for Max to be a tool to foster his image and his silly dadness. And the media duly complied.

  3. tc 3
    24 April 2018 at 8:54 am

    “Can’t we get back to the real news? ”

    Mickey this is ‘real’ , it’s what pays the bills and get the owners approval.

    If the govt doesn’t like it then it can get curran to sort it out /sarc.

    • AsleepWhileWalking 3.1
      24 April 2018 at 8:58 am

      The Herald needs a back n forth (conversation through the media, a technique also used by non profits writing letters to tge editor to get media coverage) to make up for its lack of actual reporting.

    • Tamati Tautuhi 3.2
      24 April 2018 at 9:10 am

      Curran is too busy organising secret squirrell meetings ?

  4. James 4
    24 April 2018 at 8:55 am

    “It makes you wonder if National has some dirt on Clarke and is shopping it round.”

    There are a couple of rumours frequently repeated (rather specific) on twitter that several people have been very vocal about.

    I won’t link or even mention what they say [Best you do that – MS]

    • tracey 4.1
      24 April 2018 at 9:17 am

      Max Key was no angel and there were sightings of certain behaviours that the media must have known about but chose not to follow up. Some traps would have been very easy to set in that regard.

      We have long been told that partners and children are off limits. Gayford was in the public eye before Ardern became PM so unlike Max Key he has not built a career and profile on the back of a family members election.

      But then the vile treatment by Davis by National’s friends does suggest nothing has changed for National. Hands off family when Nats govern. Arms length family attacks when they are in Opposition.

    • ianmac 4.2
      24 April 2018 at 9:33 am

      James. Your comments about “rumours” are worse than Hill-Cones. Bluddy sick.

      • Ed 4.2.1
        24 April 2018 at 9:34 am

        He is a bottom feeder.

      • james 4.2.2
        24 April 2018 at 10:29 am

        How so – I pointed out that there were some.

        I didnt mention what they were.

        I said that the source was anonymous and that should it be wrong (which was a possibility), that they should be held to account.

        • tracey 4.2.2.1
          24 April 2018 at 10:34 am

          How do you hold a pseudonym to account?

          How does one counter a mistruth? Once the lie or rumour is out you get “no smoke without fire” and hey presto it is 50/50 as to who believes it and who doesnt. The “truth” becomes irrelevant and those helpibg ACT/NAT by fanning the rumour flames know it.

          Funny there were no rumors that Bridges had suppressed a kiwirail report til after the election… these rumours always seem quite specifically directed

          Plant it, water it and let human nature do the rest. James, you have done your bit by pointing out there are rumours to those who probably knew nothing of them.

          • james 4.2.2.1.1
            24 April 2018 at 1:12 pm

            “How do you hold a pseudonym to account?”

            Its done all the time – plenty of people have legally been held to account from their twitter handles.

        • North 4.2.2.2
          24 April 2018 at 3:02 pm

          Such apt comment Tracey…..about the entitled wee punk who screamed at cyclists on Parnell Road…..”Real men ride women…..”.
          So apt too about the media types who creamed over him. At the end of the day WTF did Gayford do, Deborah Darling ? Not look uncomfortable or out of his depth in his role as the partner of the PM.
          “Fucking Heinous !” I say. Deborah really is a dork.

        • North 4.2.2.3
          24 April 2018 at 3:29 pm

          With a name like Hill-‘Cone’ I just gotta be worried about Deborah’s imperiled state of sobriety when she nancied on about Clarke with an ‘e’. Obviously shaping to be the Katie Hopkins of ‘naice’ East Auckland waterfront suburbs. Flibbertigibbet !

    • Robert Guyton 4.3
      24 April 2018 at 11:07 am

      James knows something!!!
      3-0

      • tracey 4.3.1
        24 April 2018 at 11:23 am

        James read something, refferred to it, contributed to the titilation, denied being a part of the problem of rumour mongering, and thereby assisted those wanting the rumor spread. James aint alone however.

        • AB 4.3.1.1
          24 April 2018 at 12:23 pm

          I heard a scurrilous rumour about James to do with his frequent public statements about owning a barbecue and having friends. Even though it’s serious stuff if proven true, I won’t refer to it (!) and whoever spreads it should be held to account, obviously.

    • joe90 4.4
      24 April 2018 at 12:27 pm

      rumours frequently repeated

      Oh, the ones dreamed up by the bloke who reckons he’s the personal representative of the bloke who reckons he’s the true king of wherever the fuck?

    • bwaghorn 4.5
      25 April 2018 at 7:19 am

      not going to mention it ,but like a snivelling little toady you’re sure going to spread the rumour that there is more

  5. Stunned Mullet 5
    24 April 2018 at 8:56 am

    Good grief, the Herald will keep printing tosh as long as people click on it and write about it on blogs, ignore the drivel.

  6. Tamati Tautuhi 6
    24 April 2018 at 9:09 am

    Barry Soper and his girlfriends HPPA and DHC can’t get a hit on Jacindarella so their targeting Clarke Gayford, comes out of the Crosby Textor Operating Manual and is core reading for the University Paper “Dirty Politics 101” for the Undergraduate Degree in Politics and Communications ?

  7. Ad 7
    24 April 2018 at 9:12 am

    +100

    NZHerald better be damn careful with HillCones opinions or there’s no baby photos coming their way.

    Piss off an impending dad with the PMs media team at his side? Top work Debra.

    Gayford/Ardern are about to go media stratospheric with the birth and it will be a very very cold place in medialand to get shut out of that.

    • Ad 7.1
      24 April 2018 at 9:57 am

      And good to see the PM come out and defend him.

      Next the NZHerald squeals about their rights.

      Next NZME chief gets a call from PM’s office going “you know what’s next.”

      Next NZHerald editor figures it out fast or goes home.

      • tracey 7.1.1
        24 April 2018 at 10:13 am

        The thing is we know the rumour can be true or untrue, it wont matter because too many will say “no smome without fire” and thereby accept as likely true what the rumour is.

        I am particularly interested in the emerging view that Max Key got a hard time from the media? He had no profile before Key became LOO and seemed to set out to create as much as he could. DJ selling a record, tweets, instagrams etc… etc… fodder for Glucina.

        The Right seem to be setting up this comparison to justify attacking Gayford?

        • Sacha 7.1.1.1
          24 April 2018 at 11:15 am

          Max used PR people to lobby media for coverage. Far from a victim.

          • tracey 7.1.1.1.1
            24 April 2018 at 11:24 am

            My point exactly. Yes Garford had a public profile but it was not off the back of an elected representative, Max Key’s was yet the media was very accomodating of the family is out of bounds rule.

            They published his queen st drive by behaviour but again he put himself, and his Dad put him, in that media spotlight.

          • Cinny 7.1.1.1.2
            24 April 2018 at 12:57 pm

            + 100% it made me sick how max key so obviously used his dads position to attempt to be some kind of social media celebrity, massaging his own ego by being photographed in undies for a magazine among other things.

      • Tamati Tautuhi 7.1.2
        25 April 2018 at 7:08 am

        NZ Herald Editor is in desperate need of Professional Help or needs to change the colour of his pills ?

    • Ffloyd 7.2
      24 April 2018 at 10:33 am

      Holiday in Hawaii. More in depth training.?

    • Ffloyd 7.3
      24 April 2018 at 10:36 am

      Ad. Lol. What I was thinking. And Derp better watch out as well or ‘her Bawwy might not be allowed on any more overseas junkets.

      • veutoviper 7.3.1
        24 April 2018 at 12:22 pm

        Soper actually finally clarified the situation in an article a few days ago.

        I refuse to link to it but it seems he had a longstanding visa of some type to enter the US for some years that ran out in Oct 2017 and he had not applied to renew it.

        Hence the need to get the online visa (whatever it is called) to transit the US, which he had not done.

        So a big blow-up about nothing really – just clickbait.

        • Ffloyd 7.3.1.1
          24 April 2018 at 12:41 pm

          I wasn’t actually referring to immigration thing. More about who chooses the press to travel with Govt overseas trips. Does the pm get a say?

          • veutoviper 7.3.1.1.1
            24 April 2018 at 1:45 pm

            Does the PM get a say?

            As a rule, I doubt it. The PM needs to be seen as fair etc and not interfering in the Fourth Estate.

            In this case, Soper was travelling to Europe independently of the PM and her party, via commercial airline and a different route (US) and timeline. The PM and party went via Brisbane spending a couple of days there for the Commonwealth Games and presumably on to Europe via that direction.

            Where the press travel with the PM and party on one of the NZAF’s two 757s, then the Government (rather than the PM) may have more say as to who from the press can travel via that means, for example because of seating limitations. But I doubt that any restrictions would be as to who – unless it was a person who, for example, had had previously displayed unacceptable behaviour such as making themselves a nuisance etc to others on such trips. Anything like that would be handled by someone else well away from the PM.

            • Ffloyd 7.3.1.1.1.1
              24 April 2018 at 4:54 pm

              Thank you got the information. Much appreciated.i did wonder about him travelling through Stated. Good to know why.

  8. tracey 8
    24 April 2018 at 9:23 am

    Perhaps Gayford is enjoying it while he can. Being a fulltime parent of a new baby is not easy.

    Not surprised to see HDPA with her passive aggressive “advice”. Did Barry fulltime parent their kids, or have they not had any?

    • veutoviper 8.1
      24 April 2018 at 12:34 pm

      They don’t have any children together. Soper is about 66 and HDPA about 33, and they have been together for about 10 years as they were engaged in 2009. HDPA did write recently about them thinking about it …

      Soper’s children result from his earlier marriages – not sure how many but did read there have been several. In fact I seem to remember something re five but doubt it was/is that many.

      Sorry, refuse to provide links but plenty out there on Google.

      • adam 8.1.1
        24 April 2018 at 5:31 pm

        I don’t think you need to apologize for not putting links veutoviper. Nothing you wrote was controversial, and if people think you are wrong they will look it up.

        At times we should take what people say on trust, especially if they being honest about not knowing all the facts. As a matter of fact, I like reading when people say that.

  9. roy cartland 9
    24 April 2018 at 10:03 am

    They can’t attack Jacinda, so they try to get to her through the partner. Pathetic indeed.

  10. veutoviper 10
    24 April 2018 at 11:45 am

    WO has been posting innuendos, rumours, claims etc re Gayford regularly since the general election. I will obviously not link, but Dirty Politics WO style is definitely not dead IMHO.

    In response to the Cone article, Martyn Bradbury has also posted on TDB defending Gayford as a friend. I don’t often support Bradbury’s views but do on this one.
    https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2018/04/23/even-for-deborah-hill-cone-this-is-petty-spiteful/

    I’ve known Clarke since the late 1990s when we worked together as DJs on Channel Z. He met Jacinda over our GCSB mass surveillance meetings.

    Clarke is one of the most genuine human beings I know. He is kind, compassionate, intelligent and funny. He worked hard in TV to do the shows he wants and has enormous respect in his industry.

    The Clarke that Deborah Hill Cone attempts to describe doesn’t exist. That isn’t a column, it’s a written shit on another human being for no clearly established reason other than petty spite.

    Bradbury has followed up this morning with a broader post on The Herald which is also worth a read, and similar to many of the views expressed on TS.
    https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2018/04/24/after-character-assassinating-clarke-with-an-e-is-the-nz-herald-now-just-a-blog-with-trolls/

    Russell Brown and others in the media have also come out in support of Gayford on Twitter. In doing so, they like Bradbury have referred to his TV work, and that he is putting this aside to become the chief baby caregiver in just a few months’ time, which is a big ask considering what he has achieved in the last three years.

    There is not much mentioned about his TV series “Fish of the Day” which is currently playing on Prime TV on Wednesday nights, and about to play in May in 38 countries around the world via the National Geographic network – up from about 20 in the previous two years and apparently negotiated before JA became Labour Leader and then PM. In NZ, it used to play on Choice TV.
    https://www.facebook.com/fishofthedaytv/?ref=page_internal

    Not bad in three years or less since Gayford followed his dream (wiith JA’s blessing) and took a gamble with his partner in this venture, Mike Bhana, a NZer who is known for his brilliant photography, particularly underwater. Bhana is also called ‘Mr Shark’ as one of the creators of the largest shark exhibition in the world – Planet Shark http://www.planetshark.com – an educational installation designed to promote awareness, conservation and understanding of sharks and our oceans. Bhana is also known for his photographic/video work in documenting the work of the Red Cross teams worldwide.

    Gayford and Bhana also do a lot of other work in relation to marine sustainability and protection both in NZ and in the Pacific, eg the proposed Niue Marine Sanctuary and the annual Humpback Whale migration. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11930357

    For six or so weeks over last summer, Gayford also wrote a weekly column in the Travel section of the Herald ostensibly on fishing but some of the articles had wider application eg marine sustainability and human nature.

    Since then, Gayford has continued to write regularly for the Herald Travel section on various parts of NZ, Australia and the Pacific and their wider travel attractions (with the occasional little bit about fishing thrown in.) The latest of this series was only two days ago on April 22 on the Coromandel – http://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/news/article.cfm?c_id=7&objectid=12037189

    More here – http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nzh-search/NZH/Clarke+Gayford/1/

    So what the hell is the Herald up to, allowing one writer to diss another of their writers?

    • adam 10.1
      24 April 2018 at 5:33 pm

      +100

    • Ed 10.2
      24 April 2018 at 5:45 pm

      The Herald top 4 shareholders are as follows :

      Citicorp Nominees Pty Limited 30.08 % of shares held
      New Zealand Central Securities Depository Limited 16.89 % of shares held
      J P Morgan Nominees Australia Limited 12.69 % of shares held
      HSBC Custody Nominees (Australia) Limitedowned 10.96 of shares held.

      Foreign owned banks and global finance companies do not care for a government that might support the citizenry against plutocracy.
      And the paid puppets know what they must do.

      http://www.nzme.co.nz/investor-relations/major-shareholders/

      • Tamati Tautuhi 10.2.1
        25 April 2018 at 7:11 am

        That clears the air instantly, shareholders dictating the narrative ?

      • Unicus 10.2.2
        25 April 2018 at 12:55 pm

        Thanks l

        So since City Corp is Sydney based
        It’s clear The Hearald is almost entirely Australian owned

        Looking at City Corp’s profile is difficult and is hidden behind it’s “private company” description .

        Any attempt to expose the influences driving the Herald’s anti-democratic agenda must start with unmasking its company directors .

  11. Whispering Kate 11
    24 April 2018 at 11:49 am

    If you reach the age of Clarke Gayford and don’t have a history then you were living asleep your entire life. Some of these columnists you can betcha led colourful lives, they are all just a bunch of hypocrites. Hill Cones has written many columns about her health and she sounds a right head case – why would anybody read her shit. Almost all people have some baggage when they hit 40 or thereabouts, it’s called being alive – most people accept that and just get on with it – accept it and look forward. Clarke Gayford gets my support as he is going to be a stay at home Dad – frankly the poor sod doesn’t have a clue what he is in for but all power to him. When she became the PM she was so busy Clarke Gayford packed up all her possessions in her Wgtn flat – what a great guy she has – considerate and he obviously cares for her.

    The MSM in this country has become a sewer and anybody who reads this shit is just enabling them to carry on. There needs to be some regulation about insulting people in the public social media, as for Max Key well his sister was a class act in tackiness in her art and persona – the MSM never slagged her off or her brother with his insulting sexist comments. Starve the columnists and don’t access their crap – it will just give you a pain in the gut.

    • Et Tu Brute 11.1
      24 April 2018 at 3:27 pm

      Remarkably level-headed comment. Who doesn’t have some baggage? We’ve all done something we regret, or don’t regret but probably should. Someone who claims otherwise is either lying or they haven’t stepped out of their shell.

      • Whispering Kate 11.1.1
        24 April 2018 at 8:15 pm

        Thank you Et tu Brute – it beggars belief how these “so called” writers/journalists can write such unmitigated crap. Even worse why we should have to be subjected to their bile. They write stuff about every day occurrances as if they are the only people who have been there and done that. One of them gives a weekly burble in one of the trash rags about how she is bringing up her kids – why should we even be interested in her life – its not as if most of us are not doing exactly that – what an inflated sense of her own importance.

        The only time I have ever seen these types of mags is in waiting rooms – I wouldn’t spend a cent on them or the NZ Herald. They are only worth lining the cat’s litter tray if someone is kind enough to pass them on to me.

    • Ed 11.2
      25 April 2018 at 7:43 am

      Someone said Cone is/ was friends with Cathy Odgersof Dirty Politics fame.
      Is that true?

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathy_Odgers

  12. Ant 12
    24 April 2018 at 12:09 pm

    If anyone stomached reading to the end of the article…..

    ” Here is the real reason I find Gayford problematic. I feel disquiet about his jolly japes because I worry for him. Clarke honey, please don’t love all the shits and giggles too much. ”

    Loathsomely patronizing.

    • Unicus 12.1
      24 April 2018 at 1:13 pm

      Vile creepy creature that HC – a character profile perfectly suited to trash writing for the Herald and its. Aussie. owners .

  13. McFlock 13
    24 April 2018 at 12:51 pm

    Is that all they have?
    This is why I watch less and less NZ news. Trouble is, you need to keep an eye on it in case the bastards slip in a thirty story hotel two on the harbourside when you’re not looking

  14. Sanctuary 14
    24 April 2018 at 12:55 pm

    There is no need for a conspiracy theory for seeing what publishing Hill-Cone’s trash for what it is: A desperate attempt by an increasingly irrelevant and dying newspaper to generate a story about a story. It’s pathetic, nasty and sad all at once.

    As for the “rumours” – there are always outlandish rumours about anyone in the public eye. They are all rubbish. Don’t repeat them and look down on those that do as lesser humans than you.

    This Gayford piece has marked a tripping point for me. I will no longer visit or reference the NZ Herald or link to it. They’ve replaced journalists and commentators with regurgitated bullshit from right wing radio shock jocks. I loath ZB and it’s hate-filled talkback. Why would I want to read the printed hate speech of a radio station I avoid listening to?

    Let this story in the Herald act as a positive thing – delete the Herald and it’s Daily Mail inspired rubbish from your life. Newsroom is much better.

    • Bearded Git 14.1
      24 April 2018 at 1:46 pm

      I’ll join you in that boycott right now Sanctuary.

      Newsroom has some actual news, reporting and critical thinking.

    • Heather Grimwood 14.2
      24 April 2018 at 3:47 pm

      Have already done so ( deleted the ‘Herald’ from screen).

      • Unicus 14.2.1
        24 April 2018 at 4:39 pm

        Ditto !

        And. Yes it is a dying newspaper frantically holding on to its reader base in east central and rural. Auckland

        Time to cancel those subscriptions blue /greens !

  15. ianmac 15
    24 April 2018 at 1:38 pm

    ZB and the Herald are lining up to be NZs Fox News without an obvious counterbalancing publication. They are able to carry out any dodgy Dirty Tricks for the Opposition without fear of being accountable for the source of their misinformation.

  16. OnceWasTim 16
    24 April 2018 at 3:03 pm

    Christ!
    Richard Marles at the okker National Press Club.
    I’d be interested in hearing @ ExKiwiForces take on it if he’s around.

    For me – a whole new perspective re Mr Marles.

    Oh btw – it’ll be on Credlin TV (aka Skoi News Stray ya) in some form or other….. you cn probably just press red

    • OnceWasTim 16.1
      24 April 2018 at 3:14 pm

      apologies …. this should be on Open Moik. Please shift and shunt if you’re able

  17. Et Tu Brute 17
    24 April 2018 at 3:24 pm

    Yes they’re shopping around dirt. I wouldn’t repeat it here for legal reasons.

  18. ianmac 18
    24 April 2018 at 4:52 pm

    Gidday Clarke. We are with you mate. And Happy Birthday to his Dad.

    “”HB today Dad. Thanks for teaching me how to fish and for my name, taken from your middle name, which was taken from your fathers name, which was from his fathers name.
    We should really talk about that letter hitching a free ride though, making us look all fancy and above our station,” Gayford tweeted on Tuesday.”

    Hill Cone listed the spelling of Clarke with a “E” as one of the reasons for Gayford bugging her.

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12038620

  19. Ken 19
    24 April 2018 at 7:08 pm

    We are witnessing a once popular publication sink to desperate tabloid depths.
    The Herald is in it’s death throes.

  20. xanthe 20
    24 April 2018 at 8:12 pm

    Choose one advertiser and promote a boycott of their products until they stop using the herald, repeat as many times as required

  21. Chris T 21
    24 April 2018 at 8:19 pm

    The media have spent the past 6 months cheerleading Ardern.

    It’s hardly surprising they need something with more substance

  22. peterlepaysan 22
    24 April 2018 at 9:13 pm

    Actually the DHC piece, the Duplicity A piece, and the Bob Jones nonsense all bear the marks of puerile playground strutting. There is certainly no evidence of adult rationality.

    In the Jones instance it was a singular lack of judgement from a person who delights in being provocative. He strongly misjudged his audience. Egotism does that to people

    The other two just belong to a media coterie of know all arrogant loudmouths passing themselves off as intelligent adults with something to say that is worth listening to.

    Our super clever business leaders keep showering them money from their advertising accounts.

    While “the market” rules idiots play.

    Some idiots behind steering wheels also crash cars. Just saying.

  23. Obtrectator 23
    24 April 2018 at 9:20 pm

    Hardly ever bothered to look at the Herald site once it removed all the comments facilities on its so-called stories.

    They clearly didn’t want to give room to anyone’s opinion other than their own. Well, fine. Why then should we care about what they think? (We could probably write it for ourselves anyway.)

  24. Koff 24
    24 April 2018 at 9:40 pm

    Blimey. Even the Guardian has a piece on the crap in the Herald.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/24/hipster-salty-sea-dog-jacinda-ardern-defends-partner-clarke-with-an-e-after-op-ed-attack

    Britain is awash with far more pressing issues so a bit of a surprise this non-story gets a mention.

  25. ropata 25
    24 April 2018 at 9:47 pm

    Another well considered and humorous response by Clarke G, makes DHC and cronies look like the pathetic gossip mongers they are

    HB today Dad. Thanks for teaching me how to fish & for my name, taken from your middle name, which was taken from your fathers name, which was from his fathers name. We should really talk about that letter hitching a free ride though, making us look all fancy & above our station— Clarke Gayford (@NZClarke) April 23, 2018

  26. BIGDOG 26
    25 April 2018 at 11:37 am

    Maybe the Cone part to her name explains what she’s smoking when she writes her drivel?