spin

Categories under spin

Polity: Key waves hands, insipidly

Written By: - Date published: 12:12 pm, September 9th, 2014 - 34 comments

Nationals hypothetical tax cut package has not gone down well. People do not appear to like the fact that it is small, hypothetical, and irresponsible, all at once.This is what you get when you have a prime minister so weakly desperate for public approval that they make up policy by accident and then push that poor decision through their cabinet and caucus.

Two weeks to go …

Written By: - Date published: 11:05 am, September 6th, 2014 - 139 comments

Two weeks to go and polls suggest that National’s slide in the poll may be arrested.  But for how long?

The Big Lie in action

Written By: - Date published: 12:30 pm, September 5th, 2014 - 13 comments

This morning Rob Salmond did a great post about the “big lie” – the spin coming from the Right that Labour hasn’t concentrated on policy, just dirty politics.

Like clockwork, David Farrar has a post up about the latest polls, suggesting “Their focus on hacked e-mails instead of policy  is backfiring.”

NRT: Sensationalising the status quo

Written By: - Date published: 1:41 pm, September 4th, 2014 - 55 comments

Pity the political reporter. Committed to horse-race style reporting and desperate for an ‘angle’. Patrick Gower on 3 News last night was desperately talking up how “complicated’ National’s… current arrangements are?? Use your brain Paddy…

Nasty negative Nats

Written By: - Date published: 10:02 am, September 3rd, 2014 - 20 comments

Disgraced ex minister Collins calls Cunliffe a moron. Another John Ansell negative billboard campaign coming. The Nats are nasty as well as dirty. If only there was some positive alternative…

Well that deteriorated quickly

Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, August 31st, 2014 - 170 comments

The Sunday Star Times has reported on the Hotchin – Slater attack on SFO boss Adam Feeley.  The email which caused John Key to effectively sack Judith Collins as a Minister was provided by Cathy Odgers.  The intent was to put off a SFO/FMA investigation into Hotchin.  This is third world stuff.

Wakeup call for the media – has Slater done us all a favour?

Written By: - Date published: 8:02 am, August 31st, 2014 - 171 comments

National’s dirty politics, for all its corrosive damage, also marks an opportunity for NZ. An opportunity to take stock, recognise such tactics for what they are, and reject them. An opportunity to clean up both politics and the media’s coverage of it.

Fairfax Media’s polling on Dirty Politics

Written By: - Date published: 9:07 am, August 30th, 2014 - 44 comments

The latest Dominion Post contains survey data on people’s responses to Dirty Politics but attempts to manufacture a message by quoting selected interviews suggesting that Labour and not National have been hurt by Hager’s revelations.  The headlines though are that half of all New Zealanders think less highly of John Key and 7.9% of voters are considering changing their vote.  National should be afraid.

When will they ever learn?

Written By: - Date published: 7:04 am, August 28th, 2014 - 37 comments

How did @peace’s offensive song from 2013 suddenly become topical news? Why the usual suspects of course…

Tapping the media: subverting democracy

Written By: - Date published: 11:16 pm, August 25th, 2014 - 32 comments

Dirty Politics shows why we urgently need a revitalised public service broadcasting & online media. The domination by corporate media is poisoning democracy, providing openings for ruthless manipulators like Cameron Slater.  An article by David Fisher provides some insights.

Mr Clean talks Dirty Politics: Key standup transcript pt2

Written By: - Date published: 1:30 pm, August 20th, 2014 - 12 comments

In this part of the transcript of John Key’s Aug 14  standup, Key repeats dubious spin lines, & tries to maintain his Mr Clean image. Topics include Jason Ede, Judith Collins, Bronwyn Pullar. Key tries to implicate left wing blogs, naming The Standard

Dirty politics vs accountability – you can’t be smeared with the truth

Written By: - Date published: 8:48 am, August 20th, 2014 - 50 comments

Accountability is not dirty politics. You can’t be smeared with the truth. John Key’s lines are as worthless as his promises of ministerial accountability.

“Mr Slater’s made it quite clear”: Key standup transcript pt1

Written By: - Date published: 1:10 pm, August 19th, 2014 - 26 comments

How slippery is John Key? Part one of transcript of Key’s press standup last Thursday. On accessing Labour’s website private details, OIAs to the SIS, Dirty Politics, Nicky Hager and Mr Slater. [Updated]

The moral low ground

Written By: - Date published: 3:00 pm, August 18th, 2014 - 45 comments

Revulsion. That’s what’s coming out from a range of people who have ploughed through the inner thoughts of Slater, Farrar, Ede, Collins, Lusk, Odgers, Jordan Williams – they’re all repulsive. It’s the strength of that gut feeling in response that will sink their plot. Despite all John Key’s efforts to move as quickly as possible to the end of the day, …it’s still not ok.  Key’s try at cover up is pathetic, and doomed to be futile. But what it shows is that he has chosen the moral low ground with the rest of them. TeamKey indeed.

Shadow play: Key’s 2-track politics

Written By: - Date published: 11:31 am, August 16th, 2014 - 40 comments

Nicky Hager’s Dirty Politics tells of the “two track strategy” of John Key’s leadership of the National Party & the country: a smiley nice front, & vicious, covert black ops behind the scenes.  Key has overseen one of the darkest, nastiest periods in NZ politics. Vote Left for necessary, democratic change, for people-centred governance.

Well-known conspiracy theorist

Written By: - Date published: 12:52 pm, August 15th, 2014 - 13 comments

It’s John Key. In a wide-ranging interview, he tried to explain how “the left” conspired to ensure over the last three days that they burnt an effigy of him, used a few swear words about him on You-Tube, ran a satirical video, and Nicky Hager launched a book at the normal after-work time! No wonder his minders would rather he didn’t do stand-ups.

But the door was open…

Written By: - Date published: 5:00 am, August 15th, 2014 - 277 comments

The intention of this post is to examine the similarities and differences between the hacking of Cameron Slater’s communications on the one hand, and the hacking of the Labour Party donor database on the other. There are two important issues to determine in both cases and I will cover them separately. The first is the legality of the hacking and the second is the ethics of using the resulting information regardless of whether the obtaining of the information in the first instance was unlawful.

Hager’s “Dirty Politics”

Written By: - Date published: 5:30 pm, August 13th, 2014 - 189 comments

So the book is an expose of the Slater-Ede-Key Dirty Politics machine, based on data acquired and leaked to Hager. Will Update: Update: Hager to be on Campbell Live tonight.

Naming the game

Written By: - Date published: 6:34 pm, August 12th, 2014 - 78 comments

It’s been interesting to watch the nats and their busy little helpers working away at branding the election campaign as a nasty one.

It’s been disappointing to watch the media falling for it so hard.

Typical misrepresentation from Farrar

Written By: - Date published: 12:21 pm, August 12th, 2014 - 97 comments

Sociologist Dr Jarrod Gilbert takes everybody’s favourite right-wing spinster to task for misrepresentation and spin on gangs.

Dancing on the grave of Hollywood and the reformation of the music industry

Written By: - Date published: 7:57 pm, August 3rd, 2014 - 144 comments

During every revolution there will be winners and losers, change can mean pain for some, especially for the bloodsucking leaches & parasites, that have entrenched their positions, after years of mediocrity. Yes the death of Hollywood and current Music industry would cause financial pain for some, including some of the arguably overpaid actors and performers […]

NRT: National’s roads are pure pork

Written By: - Date published: 7:03 pm, July 29th, 2014 - 13 comments

The extent that the National minister have been pork-barreling the roading budget for their electorates is crazy. The OIA’s show that most of the $212 million announced by John Key at the National party conference is pure pork for ministers. They are assessed as costing more money to build than they will ever produce in benefits, even using NZTA’s infamously overoptimistic assessments. National MPs and Ministers want to be seen as delivering something for their electorates before the election. So much for assessing needs based on merits. They must be really worried about this election to misuse so much pork.

Local Bodies: Manipulated Data and the Art of Deception

Written By: - Date published: 12:28 pm, July 28th, 2014 - 7 comments

The National led Government are desperate to present the good news stories to promote the success of the past six years of their governance. They have increased the budget and the numbers of their spin doctors to ensure that it is mainly positive messages that make into the public domain. The Government cleverly manipulates data to hide the extent of poverty the degradation of the environment and the success of our economy. Of course most of us who live in the real world know that National’s reality is a falsely constructed one.

Armstrong’s gotchas

Written By: - Date published: 10:48 am, July 28th, 2014 - 19 comments

It’s only “gotcha” politics when the left wing does it.

Government Inquiries – Not Throwing Light But Closing Down Debate

Written By: - Date published: 3:18 pm, July 23rd, 2014 - 8 comments

As a young MP in the British House of Commons in the late 1970s, I rapidly became aware that half the political stories in Fleet Street originated with the Press Association’s indefatigable political correspondent, Chris Moncrieff. I was regularly button-holed by Chris as I crossed the Members’ Lobby and asked to comment on the latest […]

Herald says weird things about Cunliffe and Labour Clutha Southland candidate

Written By: - Date published: 6:06 pm, July 21st, 2014 - 110 comments

The Herald is saying some weird things about David Cunliffe and Labour’s Clutha Southland candidate Liz Craig.

NRT: Docs or its bullshit

Written By: - Date published: 9:48 pm, July 18th, 2014 - 5 comments

Over the weekend we learned that police had been juking the stats, recoding burglaries as “incidents” to make themselves and their Minister look good. But its all fine now, supposedly – the police claim they’ve instituted a series of spot audits to ensure it can never happen again. Except when they’re asked for information about these supposed safeguards and whether they’ve uncovered any problems, they suddenly can’t find anything… Sounds like bullshit and spin.

Vernon Small jumps the shark

Written By: - Date published: 7:25 am, July 18th, 2014 - 217 comments

There’s lies, damn lies, and statistics. And then there’s writing a beat-up story and providing none of the numbers needed to back it up at all.

Updated: Other bloggers commenting on the ‘maths’

Dotcom – Who applied the political pressure?

Written By: - Date published: 8:46 am, July 16th, 2014 - 219 comments

National is claiming that Immigration NZ’s decision to allow Kim Dotcom to stay was made without any political pressure being applied.  But it was the decision of the SIS to remove its block on Dotcom’s application that let the approval be granted.  Why did the SIS remove its block and who applied the political pressure?

Dear Greenpeace – difficult cases make bad law

Written By: - Date published: 12:06 pm, July 15th, 2014 - 55 comments

Greenpeace has been told by the Electoral Commission that its Climate Voter Website requires third party authorisation and that a cap on the amount that can be spent applies.  There is an exception in the law if the site is a “news media” site which is paradoxically the same defence Cameron Slater is running in his case against Matt Blomfield justifying his refusal to disclose who his informant is.  The sense of irony is strong here …

National wanted Dotcom to stay in NZ

Written By: - Date published: 8:30 am, July 15th, 2014 - 202 comments

The Herald is reporting that direct political pressure was applied on Immigration NZ to grant Kim Dotcom and his family residence in New Zealand. And the SIS tried to block the application but dropped their objection after being told there was “political pressure”.

Updated with more links

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