At the time Edwards invited Garner to refute the accusation that Garner had a vendetta against Carter, suggested by the consistently skewed coverage and exemplified when in the Auckland Airport Koru Club lounge, Garner was alledged to have said to Carter:
“I am going to fucking get you, Carter. If it takes me to Christmas I am going to fucking destroy you.”
At last Garner has responded. Yesterday, in his delightfully childish reply reminiscent of a less eloquent Whaleoil, Garner denies many things, but he never once denies he said he was “going to fucking get you, Carter… I am going to fucking destroy you”.
We can not have senior political journalists reporting to satisfy their personal vendettas and insecurities. The Fourth Estate have a very important duty to perform in a democracy and this falls so far short of honouring that duty that Garner’s spectre will continue to contaminate any remaining credibility TV3’s political reportage might have had. Indeed, with Garner at the helm of TV3’s political reportage, you can safely assume – if you haven’t already – that anything they say will be bullshit.
It is utterly unacceptable for TV3 to continue to employ someone with such low professional standards. It makes me wonder just what they see in him? Clearly objective reporting is an optional extra for TV3’s political coverage.
UPDATE: A day later as the spotlight goes on, Garner has now suddenly remembered to deny the allegations. It seems that if TV3 are to clear their name, an investigation is needed. Dame Margaret Bazely, who witnessed some of the exchanges, sounds like a good place to start.
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