Election debates to be 2 vs. 1

Written By: - Date published: 11:49 am, August 10th, 2017 - 33 comments
Categories: election 2017, jacinda ardern - Tags: , , ,

33 comments on “Election debates to be 2 vs. 1 ”

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  1. Union city greens 1
    10 August 2017 at 11:52 am

    That’s a bull shit call. This decision has to be challenged and an impartial moderator demanded.

    • Union city greens 1.1
      10 August 2017 at 12:00 pm

      Perhaps labour should get a deal stitched up with TV3 at competing time slots for one on one and phone in sessions and totally boycott tvnz.
      Let Hoskins debate his right testicle off and we’ll compare ratings to gauge the winner.

  2. Johan 2
    10 August 2017 at 11:53 am

    Certainly not that biased, self-absorbed clown???

  3. Carolyn_nth 3
    10 August 2017 at 11:54 am

    It doesn’t matter how close to impartial Hosking comes in hosting the debate. Hosking’s identity is strongly associated with right wing nastiness. The sight of his face on TV is always a visual reminder of this.

    By appointing him as host, TVNZ tacitly reinforces their support of Hosking’s vicious, anti-social, elitist rants.

  4. Robert Guyton 4
    10 August 2017 at 12:21 pm

    Jacinda will brush this off as a trifle. The inappropriateness of the host’s manner will galvanise the viewing audience and Jacinda’s support will soar. We shouldn’t get our knickers in a twist over this; we did last time and he wasn’t dropped. Fight where it matters.

    • OncewasTim 4.1
      10 August 2017 at 12:59 pm

      I hope she wears a jacket with cuff buttons she can pull constantly

      • Cemetery Jones 4.1.1
        10 August 2017 at 4:15 pm

        It’s the French cuffed shirt you need! Gotta have those cufflinks to toy with!

      • Robert Guyton 4.1.2
        11 August 2017 at 10:44 am

        Oh, that’s elegant, OncewasTim.
        She could even pull her own ponytail! That’d bring the House down 🙂

    • AB 4.2
      10 August 2017 at 1:04 pm

      That’s the courageous thing to do.
      Myself – If I was in the LP I’d get someone to have a quiet word with TVNZ CEO and tell him that Labour have a policy in the bottom drawer about restructuring TVNZ – selling TV2 and making TV1 completely non-commercial and accompanied by a total cleanout of all senior staff. “Cultural renewal” in fact. I’d say that lots of people were thinking that it was about time to look in the bottom drawer in case there was anything important lurking in there that had been overlooked for a while.
      Oh – and much as I love the Greens, this is why we need Labour to be a 40% party, so the right people are scared of it.

      • WILD KATIPO 4.2.1
        10 August 2017 at 3:34 pm

        That’s the spirit !

        Hit these media bums the only way they understand – in their pockets !!!

        • the pigman 4.2.1.1
          10 August 2017 at 6:51 pm

          That’s the spirit!

          Threaten a state broadcaster with privatisation and redundancies! Sure to evoke sympathy.

          Then we can get on with the Purge we’ve all been waiting for. Ready the gulags, comrades, the time of the authoritarian fut nucks will soon return!

          • AB 4.2.1.1.1
            10 August 2017 at 7:10 pm

            Not a threat pigman, just a ‘heads up’ on future policy direction. Not authoritarian either – in fact quite consultative in a way. And it’s good policy anyway if TVNZ is to truly discharge its responsibilities as the state broadcaster. The discussion would merely be around where it sits on the priority list – there is after all so much of National’s sh*t to clean up it doesn’t necessarily have to be the first thing that gets done..

          • WILD KATIPO 4.2.1.1.2
            10 August 2017 at 10:59 pm

            That’s the spirit , pigman ! ,… yes , a few well placed words about certain extremists losing their jobs and being replaced with those with more moderate views… and I concede, it could all be done without privatizing anything.

            As for gulags and authoritarian fut nucks ,…

            Been to WINZ lately ?

            • the pigman 4.2.1.1.2.1
              11 August 2017 at 2:11 am

              Now I know it feels good to feel the political tide coming in/lapping at your toes but…

              Might be a bit early to start dropping dark hints (let’s say they’re not threats) to media executives, don’t you think?

              Especially since those media executives’ organisations have basically been unrelentingly hostile to Labour since Helen Clark left the leadership, and that pall of hostility has only started to clear since the MSM finally now have their preferred candidate leading the NZLP? I mean, look at how Gower fawns…

              As for WINZ offices, I can well imagine. Watching “I, Daniel Blake” was enough dehumanisation for me…

              • Robert Guyton …
                11 August 2017 at 10:47 am

                I agree with the pigman – threats, subtle or otherwise, show support for the “threats way” – we don’t do that, so don’t do that! I reckon.

                • Stuart Munro …
                  11 August 2017 at 10:50 am

                  When it comes to Mediaworks losing its sweetheart funding I imagine any responsible auditor would demand it. That should be a promise, not a threat.

          • philj 4.2.1.1.3
            11 August 2017 at 10:54 pm

            Pigman. You obviously missed it. We already have had the purge for quite a while. it’s called Mike.

    • WILD KATIPO 4.3
      10 August 2017 at 3:32 pm

      @Robert Guyton

      You know, … there’s a lot of good sense in what you are saying , matey… after all … we are talking ” BUT , … YOU !!!… YOU !!! ” Jacinda Adern here… there’s no doubt Adern has a steel backbone when it comes to media gits.

      I don’t think Hosking would dare take on Adern in a full frontal assault… he will be advised carefully on what tack to take… of that we can be sure.

      But the mere fact that we can almost guarantee that he will be advised demonstrates bias.

    • mary_a 4.4
      10 August 2017 at 3:37 pm

      @ Robert Guyton (4) … Jacinda will be able to handle herself well in the debates. She is intelligent and articulate. Hosking is anything but.

      As Jacinda has said, she will be concentrating on her opponent, not the moderator.

    • Robert Guyton 4.5
      11 August 2017 at 10:42 am

      Yeah, but…even Farrar says:
      “Arden is showing her smarts by not complaining. Off memory I think Cunliffe or Labour did complain last time. Just makes you look sore.”

  5. red-blooded 5
    10 August 2017 at 12:23 pm

    Appalling! He doesn’t even pretend to be impartial.

    I wonder if this give Jacinda a foil, though – a chance to show that wit and determination..? I guess we’ve got to hope so.

  6. mosa 6
    10 August 2017 at 12:45 pm

    Two against one……yeah that’s fair ( sarc )

    • Robert Guyton 6.1
      11 August 2017 at 10:49 am

      Nice optics though, for Jacinda-against-two-blokes, I mean. It’s the women watching who will decide this election result. Good thing.

  7. Roy 7
    10 August 2017 at 12:57 pm

    Jac’s totally got this. Hosko will have to box pretty clever to undermine her.

  8. NickS 8
    10 August 2017 at 12:57 pm

    On the plus side, we get a good chance Arden will eat Hosking alive on TV, given how likely it is for Hosking to say something really misogynistic.

    • Robert Guyton 8.1
      11 August 2017 at 10:52 am

      It’s all good, Jacinda will play it relaxed and unflustered. Two powerful men on the set, and one woman? The woman has won already. Don’t rock the boat. If they put a woman in as mediator, the balance shifts in Bill’s favour. The important audience is female.

  9. Sanctuary 9
    10 August 2017 at 1:02 pm

    Selecting Hoskings as moderator is more than a deliberate slap in the face for objective media – it is a clear act of political partisanship and arrogance from TVNZ. But TVNZ is an organisation that is not beyond the reach of political control. This action should provoke (in private) the explicit promise of retaliation against the powers that be at TVNZ. Perhaps when confronted with the possibility of a change of government, and the clearest possible promise of a lightening of their pay packets by way of wholesale sackings, the TVNZ board might slowly and, under the utmost protest of the subversion of the media, reluctantly surrender to the public storm and replace Hoskings

  10. Richard Christie 10
    10 August 2017 at 2:54 pm

    These debates are a joke regardless.

    Superficial non informative point scoring exercises, basically who comes across best on camera, so the media can crow about it later. Perfect for gotcha jonalism.

  11. Sacha 11
    10 August 2017 at 6:26 pm

    From the Stuff story:

    TVNZ head of current affairs John Gillespie declined an interview but in a statement defended the decision, saying TVNZ was providing a range of perspectives across its election team. He promised no politician would be getting an easy run during the debates.

    “Mike has skilfully and fairly moderated many Election debates for us over the years – this Election will be no different,” Gillespie said.

    There’s a name from the long lineup of editors, producers and managers across media with no sense of professional ethics. They all need moving on.

  12. Robert Guyton 12
    11 August 2017 at 11:55 am

    From Kiwiblog:
    “MCos

    Most people watching the debates will have decided beforehand who they are voting for, or at least a sizeable minority.
    The undecided will soon pick up if the moderator is being condescending towarded English’s opponent(s), as he is inclined to be when expressing an opinion at other times.
    I’d say Hosking will bend over backwards to appear neutral. Anything else will harm National.
    I would say Ardern couldn’t wish for a better scenario.”

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