Edwards on politics and the media

Written By: - Date published: 9:36 am, June 20th, 2015 - 21 comments
Categories: accountability, Deep stuff, journalism, Media - Tags: , , ,

It won’t come as a surprise to any Standardista, but it’s good to see Brent Edwards being up front about some of the systemic problems in politics and the media.

What’s wrong with the way politics are practised in NZ?
Brent Edwards, Political Editor
…
Politics in this country is hard on people but soft on issues. As a result what should be serious policy debates often denigrate into political and personal points scoring. That often deters or alienates people who would, but for the “hard on people” approach to politics, have significant contribution to make to Parliament.
…
But while [CTU secretary] Mr Conway engaged unfailingly in reasoned debate about issues he believed important to the wellbeing of working people and others, too often in Parliament the debate is all about scoring points and attacking political opponents.

In the atmosphere which exists at 1 Bowen St the political game and how it is played becomes all important. It is exemplified in how political leaders are judged. Most leaders are not judged on the substance of what they say but how they say it. Perversely for politicians honesty and openness to new ideas are often weaknesses to be exploited by their political opponents.
…
Sticking to a consistent line is all important even if it is not in the long-term interests of the very voters politicians represent. And being truthful will often get politicians into difficulty. This is not to say politicians are all liars as regularly portrayed in the news media. But the political system does not encourage truthfulness.

Nor is the news media free of blame. Politics is too often reported as sport where winning or losing is the most important aspect. The tactics of the teams, read parties, are analysed but the substance of the debate often overlooked.
Reporters love to catch out politicians on a lie. Yet when they are truthful they are more often than not depicted as naive in the news media.
…
It is an approach to politics which does not necessarily promote reasoned debate.

It’s a must read piece, see the full article on RNZ.

21 comments on “Edwards on politics and the media ”

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  1. ianmac 1
    20 June 2015 at 9:53 am

    When Brent Edwards speaks on National Radio I listen carefully. No bullshit.

    • Morrissey 1.1
      20 June 2015 at 7:22 pm

      Agreed. He’s the opposite of Brian Edwards.

    • D'Esterre 1.2
      20 June 2015 at 10:59 pm

      @ Ianmac: “When Brent Edwards speaks on National Radio I listen carefully.”

      As do I. Edwards is one of NatRad’s treasures.

  2. Kiwiri 2
    20 June 2015 at 10:57 am

    Grateful to Brent who maintains the high standards of broadcasting.

  3. Tracey 3
    20 June 2015 at 11:11 am

    Many of you might alreayd read this but it is new to me

    http://realmedia.press/about/

    “Real Media is a cooperative of journalists dedicated to public interest journalism and challenging mass media distortion.

    We believe the large media organisations, as they currently exist, are set up to serve the interest of a small establishment – their owners, their advertisers and the governments that they get most of their information from.

    HOW WE ARE DOING THIS

    We intend to stand up for public interest journalism in as many ways we can. As an organisation we intend to grow and adapt as we try and meet these objectives.

    We are starting with our online presence, specifically this website.”

    • ianmac 3.1
      20 June 2015 at 11:35 am

      Great plan from Real Media. British isn’t it? SCOOP here in NZ has similar aims.

      • tracey 3.1.1
        20 June 2015 at 12:05 pm

        it is British. Scoop is underway in its donorship drive

        https://www.pledgeme.co.nz/projects/3711-scoop-s-sweet-sixteenth-birthday-crowd-selling-campaign

        “You are invited to help change the course of #FutureOfNews in NZ

        At a time when the institution of the Fourth Estate and public broadcasting are both under dire threat, Scoop has developed a funding model that could save the news industry. By charging a license fee for commercial use of news content, Scoop can maintain free public free access to its news – and help inform NZ’s democracy.

        NZ’s much loved, and widely used independent online news service Scoop has discovered a solution to funding the provision of public good news services in NZ. Scoop’s solution isn’t primarily driven by the interests of advertisers or massive media corporations.”

  4. Tracey 4
    20 June 2015 at 11:24 am

    What happens when people lose faith in the media? Do they become more questioning, or less? According to the Washington Post

    “The natural result of that loss of faith in the news media is for people to seek out more partisan sources of information which they can “trust” because the information being put out by those sites jibes with their particular point of view. That is, of course, is exactly what’s happened in recent years as partisans shows, news sites and radio programs have boomed even as more traditional, non-partisan media outlets have struggled. That means people are faced with information that doesn’t perfectly fit their world view less and less of the time — leading to the idea that people with whom you disagree are not simply looking at the world differently but rather are, at best, stupid, at worst, and evil.”

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/06/25/americans-dont-trust-the-media-thats-a-very-bad-thing/

  5. dukeofurl 5
    20 June 2015 at 11:35 am

    Oh no , not another restaurant critic who doesnt like food?

    Its not enough to say politics is show business for unattractive people, he wants us to consider the politicians with poor skills but ‘openess to new ideas’

    Sound like he angling for a job as a political studies academic.!

  6. Brillo 6
    20 June 2015 at 11:46 am

    He’s got it about right, it seems to me.

    Too much playing the man, not the ball. No wonder our goals are so hard to achieve.

  7. Draco T Bastard 7
    20 June 2015 at 12:53 pm

    His [Conway’s] approach to economics differed markedly from that of the bank economists who tend to hog most headlines in this country.

    He believed the economy was meant to work for people, not the other way around.

    The former is as economics should be, the latter is how it is especially under RWNJ governments such as we’ve had over the last 30 years. The people are driven (yes, driven, as the attacks on beneficiaries proves) to produce ever more with the gains of that going to the rich rather than the people who actually produced it. If the gains went to those produced it then we’d probably require far less and we could have a far more diverse economy.

    • tracey 7.1
      20 June 2015 at 3:48 pm

      “He believed the economy was meant to work for people, not the other way around.”

      It’s also how the priorities sit for the Green Party.

      people first
      environment first
      economy

      in that order

  8. Save NZ 8
    20 June 2015 at 1:58 pm

    All true especially honesty is something to be treated as a weakness.

    Grow up NZ politics.

    Our country is being sold off to enrich already extremely wealthy individuals.

    Even some Nats must be wondering what happening.

    • Sacha 8.1
      20 June 2015 at 5:28 pm

      I’m surprised we do not hear more public grumbling by genuine old-style conservatives. Not as if the current mob represent them either.

      • tc 8.1.1
        21 June 2015 at 10:12 am

        The Nats keep that under control by suppression, not allowing MSM into feisty conferences, them turfing them out.

        How many electoral selections are stacked and look how many they were able to allegedly pay off and replace last election.

        Money talks very loudly in NACT land.

  9. maui 9
    20 June 2015 at 3:34 pm

    Too many people named Br… Edwards involved in political commentary if you ask me.

  10. whateva next? 10
    20 June 2015 at 4:13 pm

    “Politics is too often reported as sport where winning or losing is the most important aspect.”
    Says it all, playground politics is winning and governing our country.(and John Key’s dad has got the biggest car)
    Really enjoyed reading this, as I usually enjoy reading/listening to Brent , thankyou

  11. AmaKiwi 11
    20 June 2015 at 7:11 pm

    NO ONE except the PM has a say on the issues. No one can modify what Big Brother demands. GCSB. Asset sales referendum. Etc., etc. etc. He/She is our elected dictator.

    How often do majority party MPs vote to pass laws they disagree with? I’ll bet it’s more often than any of us imagine.

    If we can’t break the whipping system we have no choice except to try to topple the rider who’s leading the charge (the PM).

    Your “Representative” in Parliament does NOT represent YOU. She/He represents one person: the leader (dictator) of her/his party.

    Until we can break that we’ll just keep beating up the dictator and his/her court of slavish attendants. We have no alternative.

  12. AmaKiwi 12
    20 June 2015 at 7:19 pm

    I liked the title of this story in the Guardian and wonder how it might apply to NZ:

    “We can pay £7bn to fix parliament, or much less to an arsonist. You choose.”
    (Marina Hyde)