Polity: Herald editorialisal

Written By: - Date published: 11:51 am, June 27th, 2014 - 8 comments
Categories: Media - Tags: ,

polity_square_for_lynnReposted from Polity.

In amongst all the OTT bluster, here is the most important line from today’s New Zealand Herald editorial:

We regret having reported inflated and conflated dollar figures.

That is a good start, at least. I expect there will be more expressions of regret, and in more prominent places, in coming days.

But then the editorial writer immediately proceeds on to make the dumbest claim of the editorial:

The core issue remains, however: At a minimum, removing Mr Barker’s China trip and a donation to a rowing club the MP’s daughter belonged to, Labour faces Liu’s claim that he made $38,000 in donations to the party and anonymously through MPs.

No, at present Labour faces no claims at all

For there to be any claim to answer, Liu needs to back up his statements with some real, hard evidence. Bank records, receipts, things like that. That is because we now absolutely know that Liu’s memory is faulty, so we cannot trust his recollections. And we also know his motives are compromised, after donating heavily to National in recent times.

Once there is real, hard evidence of donations, then Labour can deal with it. Until then, there is nothing.

The editorial is titled: “Cries of bias will not stop reporting.” Nobody is asking the Herald to stop reporting. I, for one, would just like to see better reporting. Better doesn’t necessarily mean “more favourable to my preferred political party;” better means “with greater regard for facts and less regard for compromised hearsay.”

8 comments on “Polity: Herald editorialisal ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. Hami Shearlie 1
    27 June 2014 at 12:05 pm

    I’d just like to see reporting of actual FACTS – you know the kind of thing I mean, things that can be verified with PROOF – like receipts, cheque stubs, bank statements, those little boring things that actually PROVE that what you are reporting is in fact TRUE! Is that too much to ask? Well, obviously from the Herald’s latest blustering editorial the answer would have to be a YES, it IS too much to ask!!

  2. Kiwiri 2
    27 June 2014 at 12:14 pm

    “The core issue remains, however: At a minimum, removing Mr Barker’s China trip and a donation to a rowing club the MP’s daughter belonged to, Labour faces Liu’s claim that he made $38,000 in donations to the party and anonymously through MPs.”

    The tortured construction and punctuation of that sentence betray the amount of redrafting attempts and number of people involved.

    Perhaps the anonymous editor would like to release the number of different versions and hands that produced that sentence, in track changes?

  3. facts guardian 3
    27 June 2014 at 1:08 pm

    Nice if NZ Herald could base standards on UK Guardian (which I continue to subscribe to)..which maintains, in my view,consistently high standards of FACTS and WRITING quality. Just a thought here from a random reader of your site.

    • Lanthanide 3.1
      27 June 2014 at 2:06 pm

      The Guardian have set up their own Australian division. Mayhap they’ll jump the ditch?

  4. Jack 4
    27 June 2014 at 3:38 pm

    The NZ Herald coverage of the Dong Liu Donations Scandal was dangerous and unethical, disregard which parties were involved the Professional Standards were appalling and the accused have every right to fell aggreived.

  5. anker 5
    27 June 2014 at 6:45 pm

    I paid to place an add in the Herald that never appeared and I am prepared to put that in writing but produce no receipts. Will the Herald give me a refund or publish the add…………………………..

  6. Jack 6
    27 June 2014 at 7:23 pm

    The Dong Liu Affair was the old Smoke & Mirrors Trick and the Chasing of Shadows.

  7. Colonial Viper 7
    27 June 2014 at 9:57 pm

    Polity misses the point. Liu doesnt have to do fuck all. Hes a private citizen. On the other hand, the NZH needs to start understanding that “reporting” a story means investigating, fact checking, and multiple source confirming a story.

    Coz if a story doesnt pass all those stages, it aint a news story, its gossip.