John Key and National has always appeared to be on the leading edge of understanding and manipulating public opinion. But it seems that something of a tsunami has erupted and Key’s most trusted media supporters are being denigrated for their bias. And his judgment appears to be totally calculating and nothing to do with what is actually happening.
Yesterday Winston Peters raised the issue in this column where he said that Hosking was a “National Party Stooge” and he suggested that the cost of Hosking’s show should count against National’s electoral advertising. His conclusion was that Mr Hosking’s jowls are up the Prime Minister’s cheeks. Ouch.
The Labour Party and the Green Party chimed in. Andrew Little said that Hosking made “no attempt at objectivity,” and Shaw said it was pretty obvious that Hosking was biased and there was not any balancing voices with the same reach.
Raybon Kan summarises it very well in a single tweet:
The problem is the overwhelming sense of media bias you get from any interaction with current media. For instance yesterday’s concerns about Hosking’s clear bias were met with this Stuff headline:
Of course he would say that. Can you imagine him agreeing with the suggestion that Hosking was biased? But the poll suggests that Key is clearly on the wrong side of public opinion on this occasion.
Meanwhile National continue to do what they always do and attack the intelligent dissenting voices prepared to raise their heads above the parapet and say that things have to change. This recent twitter exchange between Rod Oram and Steven Joyce shows clearly what happens when you criticise this Government. Oram is one of the most thoughtful analytical commentators we have and Joyce views this analysis as evidence of bias just because Oram disagrees with what the Government is doing.
I expect Paul Henry to do what he does and attack every left wing progressive idea presented to him. But I am still flummoxed that Television New Zealand, the state broadcaster, should choose to employ someone who does not have the decency to hide his clearly right wing views.
This is serious stuff. It is all to do with our future and our democracy and the insistence of the right that they twist the rules so that they tilt the playing field to their favour so that they can retain as much power as possible.
There has to be a better way. The State owned Television Channel insisting on some notion political balance would be a very good start.
Update: Mike Hosking has responded in the Herald. The article contains this passage:
He said any links between him being a National Party stooge and an article on dairy prices he wrote last week for the NZ Herald were non-existent.
“I didn’t even mention the National Party at all because the two issues are not related,” Hosking said.
He misses the point. It is not that on the basis of one particular article there is evidence of his bias, it is because of a continuous mode of behaviour there is evidence of his bias.
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