I’m always appalled by the difference between what political reporters report compared to what I see at political events. The political reporting from last year’s Labour conference being a good case in point. It always looks to me to be like egos trying to invent the news rather than simply reporting it. Jono Hutchison of 3 News is merely the latest. Normally I don’t comment all that much as I just view it as people caught up in the mystique of emulating fine ethics of the hacks from the News of the World.
However I’m rather irritated with Jono Hutchison. He ran a story that deliberately cherry picked a single comment from this site. Out of the stream of comments from people at the meeting he selected one that was there for no other purpose than to provide a angle. He wrote this:-
A post on the left-leaning blog The Standard says after Mr Cunliffe’s answer, Mr Shearer shouted angrily “We will be having a review.”
It wasn’t a “post”. It was a opinion in a comment from a commentator who is not exactly known to be a great supporter of the Labour party. Jono ignored all of the other comments about the meeting and the comments that said that Jenny was inaccurate – presumably because it was less of a story.
Now I was at that meeting after arriving a few minutes late. That meant that I was stuck in the foyer along with the other late comers. The hall was *full* and packed like a sardine can. David Shearer arrived somewhat later than I did. Unlike me, he slowly worked his way forward to the doors at the edge of the foyer and then started to work around to the right. Which was where he was when some obnoxious dickhead started yelling what would Labour and Shearer would do about this bill and forced a deliberately apolitical meeting to get political statements.
David Cunliffe was seated at the *front* of the hall, probably not aware of David Shearer at the back of the hall stood up, and took the mike. He expressed the Labour party stance and then expressed his own view, clearly stating it as his own. I saw David Shearer in profile shout out the Labour party stance that there would be a review and if Jenny in her *comment* thinks that was “angry” then she is completely mistaken.
That wasn’t David Shearer’s “angry” face. Hell – that wasn’t even his particularly irritated face. I’ve seen both at various times. Probably because I often suspect that I’m not one of his favourite people sometimes :twisted:. Not that is anything particularly unusual – Helen was often of a similar opinion. I’m not particularly interested in being either popular nor politic.
That just looked like David shouting out over the crowd in support of David Cunliffe’s statement. Which is pretty much what almost all of the other comments said in response to Jenny’s unusually later comment this morning (I swear she gets up early to write comments).
He wasn’t the only party leader who wasn’t able to speak either. Hone Harawira was also in the lobby and looked mildly eager to go forward at about the same time. However there was a rather dense crowd between where he was and where the front of the hall was….
Now as people who know this site are aware I get *irritated* when people try to use this site or try to make dumbarse stories up about it. Most of the reporters who lurk around the comments here use the opinions from comments here as background. That is safe.
If you are wanting to use this site as a source, then it behoves you to report accurately in the context of all of the opinions. Cherry picking a single opinion to make a story or just inventing one could result in some of us (especially me) unkindly returning the favour…
Update: I see that boring fart Pete George is making his usual bullshit about my “confirming” Jenny’s story. As is usual with this clown of the local blogs he has deliberately spun my clear statements into a lying dogwhistle.
Just to be clear enough in terms that even a Peter Dunne apologist can not fail to understand.
I have and had no idea what David Shearer was saying. I could see him, but not hear him. This was a crowded meeting and got quite noisy during the question time. You’d have to have been immediately next to or in front of David to have heard what he said.
I suspect that some armchair general interviewing his typewriter in Dunedin shouldn’t display such certainty about events in Auckland. PG probably does in his attempt to divert from the GCSB debate (and to divert attention from Peter Dunne’s puppy impressions – rolling over and playing dead for a pat on the head).
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