Radio New Zealand apologises to David Cunliffe

Written By: - Date published: 10:35 am, September 26th, 2013 - 78 comments
Categories: blogs, david cunliffe, radio, you couldn't make this shit up - Tags: ,

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This morning on Radio New Zealand Kathryn Ryan read out a short apology for comments recently made about David Cunliffe by Matthew Hooton.

The statement records that David Cunliffe had produced BCG time records showing he spent 235 hours working on the Dairy merger in 1997 and 8 hours in 1999.  This time sheet will no doubt become the equivalent of Barak Obama’s birth certificate as fanatics and idiots attempt to disprove its validity.

The audio is below:

MP3

Radio New Zealand apologised for the term used and states that Hooton’s character reference of Cunliffe was “inaccurate”.

Well done.

I look forward to the day when Mr Hooton and the right wing bloggers also apologise.

Speaking of which Whaleoil is showing an unhealthy obsession with David Cunliffe.  I had a look at his site and amongst all the photos of cats, proverbs of the day and weird and wonderful videos designed to increase traffic he is posting continuously about David.  Since the beginning of yesterday he has tagged David in no less than eight posts and most of them are attacking and analysing the BCL time printout.

At one level I hope he keeps it up.  Because he is rapidly turning the Collins faction of the National Party into the Tea Party of New Zealand politics.

78 comments on “Radio New Zealand apologises to David Cunliffe ”

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  1. vto 1
    26 September 2013 at 10:40 am

    Agree. By carrying on in this fashion the likes of whaleoil and farrar simply cement people’s growing realisation of the right wing in New Zealand.

    • Tom Gould 1.1
      27 September 2013 at 10:17 am

      The other reason for their panic is that Hooton’s company is dead the day after the 2014 election and his Tory ‘connections’ worthless.

  2. Ad 2
    26 September 2013 at 10:42 am

    Loving the volume of fear and loathing.
    They can feel their world tilt.

  3. Tracey 3
    26 September 2013 at 10:44 am

    Surely RNZ’s apology was for not cutting Hooten off, or shutting off his mike, they can’t really be apologising for his smear/lies? Its not within their power.

    • Mary 3.1
      26 September 2013 at 10:55 am

      Kind of the same thing in practice because Cunliffe has shown what Hooton said is untrue therefore RNZ has failed in their responsibility as a broadcaster in terms of defamation committed by those they bring on the air.

  4. karol 4
    26 September 2013 at 10:45 am

    Excellent.

    Yes, very much an own goal by Team Collins, Hooton, et al.

  5. Pete 5
    26 September 2013 at 10:48 am

    Good.

    NB – there’s a spelling error in the headline – should be “apologises”

    [MS – thanks Pete corrected]

  6. Cemetery Jones 6
    26 September 2013 at 10:53 am

    Man, Hooton’s smear tactics have blown up in his face. Repetition will simply seem transparent now. Game’s up, Hootie.

    • Tracey 6.1
      26 September 2013 at 10:54 am

      …and yet the media is full of his next smear, the CV.

      • Cemetery Jones 6.1.1
        26 September 2013 at 1:19 pm

        There is still some way to go in this fight but I think the nastier they are forced to become, the harder it will be for them to look good in contrast to Cunliffe. If he plays it smart, they’ll find it harder and harder to avoid being shown up as the real nasty party.

  7. veutoviper 7
    26 September 2013 at 10:55 am

    A very careful, legal apology from RNZ; but good to hear.

    I loved Cunliffe’s reference to the Barack Obama birth certificate conspiracies at the start of his speech in the General Debate yesterday – video is in the “Dark, dirt and heartless” post here on TS. It was priceless! It has also been good to see the improvement in Labour’s performance and general togetherness in Question Time over the last few days. You can actually feel some energy there at last.

    PS, MS. You might like to correct the spelling of “apoligises” to “apologises” in the title of this post.

    [MS – cheers corrected]

  8. Tiger Mountain 8
    26 September 2013 at 10:56 am

    Don’t apologise RNZ, a pre-emptive move with all the likely complaints coming your way?

    Hooten it is YOU that should apologise.

    RNZ, whether you keep the Hollowman on or not, Bomber should come back.

    • karol 8.1
      26 September 2013 at 11:08 am

      Hooton should be excluded fom RNZ now. He’s clearly a legal liability to them.

      There should also be complaint to the Broadcast Standards. RNZ may have done enough to legally cover themselves with the apology, but Hooton is a liability re breaching Broadcasting Standards – also, there’s a question about whether RNZ should have cut his mic off immediately.

      • Alanz 8.1.1
        26 September 2013 at 1:11 pm

        Can someone (Mickysavage?) set up a public interest legal defence fund for the Progressive Left to mount challenges against broadcasters and twits like hooton when they spout rubbish?

        I would be delighted to contribute something by PayPal or with my credit card to such a legal defence fund, especially each time these kinds of nonsensical statements come up.

        I searched to see if the suggestion has been put forward and see that someone has recently alluded to this in some way:
        http://thestandard.org.nz/schadenfreude-3/#comment-675335

      • Hami Shearlie 8.1.2
        26 September 2013 at 4:49 pm

        Agreed! Apologies from RNZ are not enough!!! Hooten should be on a Lifetime Ban from RNZ – Bomber Bradbury apparently is, and he did NOTHING compared to Hooten’s crazy lying diatribe!!

      • Liberal Realist 8.1.3
        26 September 2013 at 10:14 pm

        karol, Hooten should be facing a permanent ban from Radio NZ, until such time as he retracts his diatribe against David Cunliffe in full, at the very least. LR

  9. Tracey 9
    26 September 2013 at 11:02 am

    Maybe not have politically aligned people at all.? Try something novel like sharing facts with listeners instead of trying to tell them what to think.

    • Macro 9.1
      26 September 2013 at 11:38 am

      +1 If there is one thing I detest intensely it is those opinionated pricks such as Hooton Gower et al on TV and Radio who presume to tell me what to think! The world would be a far better place without them.
      As for Ryan’s “political” slot where the discussion is SUPPOSED to be from the left and the right – it is in IMHO more like, from the right and the far right… The few times I have been unfortunate enough to have listened, it has been the most unbalanced tripe I have ever had the misfortune to hear .. apart from maybe Faux News.

    • Rich 9.2
      26 September 2013 at 11:46 am

      That would be great. It’s ridiculous the extent to which active political propagandists are given radio time.

      People should have a choice: politician or broadcaster. If they choose politics, they should come on and be interviewed, not given a free platform.

      • felix 9.2.1
        26 September 2013 at 11:58 am

        Yes that’s my issue with it too. This is a public broadcaster allowing public airwaves to be used to advance private interests, namely the profits of Exeltium.

        Actually it’s worse than that. They actually pay Hooten for his time in front of the mic, which he then uses to spread the lies that his customers are paying him to spread.

        • emergency mike 9.2.1.1
          26 September 2013 at 1:57 pm

          +1 felix.

        • LilaR 9.2.1.2
          27 September 2013 at 12:37 am

          How can people make up their minds on political issues without hearing from people of different viewpoints? Though I would like to hear from someone from the genuine left for a change.

          • miravox 9.2.1.2.1
            27 September 2013 at 12:52 am

            Different viewpoints = good
            Disseminating lies = bad
            Double pay (as 1. lobbyist and 2. commentator) for the same gig on public airwaves = double jeopardy

    • felix 9.3
      26 September 2013 at 11:47 am

      I disagree, there’s nothing wrong with having “politically aligned” people talk about politics.

      Allowing a paid professional lobbyist access to the airwaves to ply his dirty trade, that’s another story.

    • McFlock 9.4
      26 September 2013 at 12:34 pm

      To be fair, they only expected hoots to snidely imply that Cunliffe was untrustworthy and ate babies, rather than screeching an outright lie repeatedly 🙂

    • Populuxe1 9.5
      26 September 2013 at 3:51 pm

      In politics all things are subjective

  10. vto 10
    26 September 2013 at 11:33 am

    Matthew Hooton, what a clown

  11. Craig Glen Eden 11
    26 September 2013 at 11:47 am

    Hooten how imbarrising! Lets see if he is big enough to come on here and apologise. We are all waiting Mathew.

    • fender 11.1
      26 September 2013 at 12:16 pm

      That won’t happen, sorry folks, I thought it was a possum I ran over last night, however when I went back and checked I noticed it had a mouth full of shit and rocks where the brain should have been.

    • alanz 11.2
      26 September 2013 at 1:03 pm

      Waiting for the next time he gets on here and many here can ask him to apologise.

  12. greywarbler 12
    26 September 2013 at 11:59 am

    I’ve never heard what brew the tea party actually imbibe or inhale? There’s a line from west side story where a delinquent sings about his mother peddling tea. Would that be it?

  13. felix 13
    26 September 2013 at 12:05 pm

    “Because he is rapidly turning the Collins faction of the National Party into the Tea Party of New Zealand politics.”

    Wasn’t that pretty much Lusk’s stated goal?

  14. felix 14
    26 September 2013 at 12:12 pm

    ps If you can stomach it, Hooten is usually on Radio Live on Thursdays, from 2pm til 3pm, talking politics with Matt McCarten.

    I wonder if he’ll continue to legally expose himself. I wonder if the owner, Mediaworks, will allow themselves to be exposed.

    pps It’s a stupid time for a politics show btw, coinciding with Question Time whenever the house is sitting.

  15. blue leopard (Get Lost GCSB Bill) 15
    26 September 2013 at 12:17 pm

    Good to hear there has been an apology.

    Has there been any word of standing Hooter-brain down from airtime?

    Do they introduce him as a spin-doctor or a ‘political commentator’?

    An apology is insufficient when the lies continue and when proving the factuality of the statements propagated by Hooton does not stop the technique’s effects (although it is a good start); it is enough to get the ideas out there, regardless of whether they turn out to be factual or not. It embeds ideas into people’s minds.

    • karol 15.1
      26 September 2013 at 12:22 pm

      Or, alternatively, what is being embedded in people’s minds is NAct’s smear tactics.

      • blue leopard (Get Lost GCSB Bill) 15.1.1
        26 September 2013 at 12:36 pm

        Hi Karol,

        I don’t quite understand your comment. Are you suggesting that people might start associating Nact with dirty tactics?

        If so, I like where you are coming from and it would be great if that is the case, however I think that would only occur if the public are repeatedly reminded of the litany of lies and those who spread them are introduced as Nact spin doctors (not ‘Political commentators’) Will our media play such a role? Did they under Helen Clark? Or did they keep giving headlines to the spin?

        • karol 15.1.1.1
          26 September 2013 at 12:39 pm

          The left can’t rely on the MSM to get it’s messages out. We have digital media, and word-of-mouth.

          • blue leopard (Get Lost GCSB Bill) 15.1.1.1.1
            26 September 2013 at 12:46 pm

            Yes, and thank you for the work you do in this regard! (loved your article re Hollowmen)

            It would be nice to see our media becoming less biased and more focussed on intelligent discussion.

            I don’t listen to the radio, however have many friends who do, and share information that they’ve heard with me. It is clear that radio is the best information source out of a very bad bunch. It is, therefore, particularly sad to hear this drama being played out over radio, added to the Bradbury affair, it is not good news.

  16. tracey 16
    26 September 2013 at 2:17 pm

    Felix is hooten et al really paid to be on rnz?

  17. karol 17
    26 September 2013 at 2:20 pm

    As, Hagar has said, Hooton will never back down. He’s still repeating his smear’s in the light of the RNZ apology, according to MSM News, is going to continue with that line on Radio live this afternoon.

    Gutter tactics from the corporate shill and Hollow Man..

    • emergency mike 17.1
      26 September 2013 at 2:35 pm

      Backing down and an apology would be admitting he was wrong. That’s just not how narcissists roll.

  18. gobsmacked 18
    26 September 2013 at 2:32 pm

    On Radio Live, Hooton has chucked in the towel.

    One of our favourite Standard righties was repeating “explain is losing” ad nauseam yesterday. Well, Hooton has just been losing for five minutes of convoluted pain.

    Note – in that long explanation (i.e. surrender) Hooton did not ONCE use the word “lie” or “liar”.

    On Monday he was skiting on here about how he stood by all he’d said, playing all macho, constantly repeating “liar!”. Staunch as!

    By Thursday he’s a craven little mouse. Cunliffe has chewed him up and spat him out.

    • felix 18.2
      26 September 2013 at 3:04 pm

      “Hooton did not ONCE use the word “lie” or “liar””

      Did you hear the bit at the end? Sounds like he’s been put on a very short leash by Mediaworks. Not allowed to use those words at all.

      Guess they’re not as stupid as he is.

      • bad12 18.2.1
        26 September 2013 at 3:18 pm

        ‘Brought to you with the help of NZ on air’, should the ‘political shock jocks’ including Hooten, Garner, Espiner and Alfred.E. Nuemann,(also known as Gower), continue with the lies and smears my advice to the incoming Labour/Green Government would be to ensure that such help from NZ on Air stops,

        The nastier side of me would suggest they simply do it anyway based upon past behavior…

    • BLiP 18.3
      26 September 2013 at 4:40 pm

      ‘

      Yes, a much more subdued Hooton than we had to endure on Monday. Hardly contrite, though.

      (How can anyone bear listening to those endless ads on that MediaWorks show? Drove me crazy. I’m tempted to superglue the car radio tuner to National Radio.)

  19. Clement Pinto 19
    26 September 2013 at 3:05 pm

    I am waiting for Hooten to come here and apologise graciously and profusely for his attempt to smear and character assassinate a newly elected leader without even bothering to contact Mr Cunliffe for clarification.

    I somehow doubt that Hooten has the integrity, moral fibre, guts or character to apologise to us, to Radio NZ and indeed to Mr Cunliffe personally.

  20. vto 20
    26 September 2013 at 3:48 pm

    Yes come on Hooton. You come on here to comment from time to time and now there is an entire issue which is about exactly you, on which you have already passed comment here. Now that it is running against you it seems you are not willing to comment.

    So, come on. What say thee?

    book book

  21. Pascal's bookie 21
    26 September 2013 at 4:30 pm

    lol

    https://twitter.com/toby_etc/status/383085447045328896

    When radio ritalin is calling you a hack, you got credibility issues going forward.

  22. s y d 22
    26 September 2013 at 4:36 pm

    I’m waiting for ipredict to open a book on Hooton apologising for being a liar before 1 January 2014

  23. Intrinsicvalue 23
    26 September 2013 at 7:07 pm

    [deleted]

    [lprent: Permanently banned for commenting whilst banned. ]

  24. geoff 24
    26 September 2013 at 7:18 pm

    I wonder whether this topic will be discussed during the RNZ politics section on Monday.

  25. Intrinsicvalue 25
    26 September 2013 at 7:20 pm

    [lprent: deleted and permanently banned. ]

    [karol: you had better have some evidence to support your first assertion, or you risk getting yourself banned from this thread. Surely you must have learned from the chastening of Hooton that you can’t just go around making unsubstantiated defamatory assertions?

    Provide relevant citations or ship out]

    [MS – S/he is banned to October 24. Looks like we have our own birther movement. This will be fun!]

    • karol 25.1
      26 September 2013 at 8:20 pm

      Thanks, micky. When I put that notice up I was thinking it was one of some similar comments under one or two of my posts. But, yes, Birthers it looks like.

      • QoT 25.1.1
        26 September 2013 at 10:24 pm

        They’ve already established that – much like the US birther movement – they get confused by the notion that organisations don’t keep fifteen years’ worth of hardcopy original timesheets in a filing cabinet somewhere.

        Note to birthers: Boston Consulting Group is not Wolfram & Hart.

  26. Sable 26
    26 September 2013 at 7:44 pm

    Its all pretty sad and pathetic but then that’s what we have come to expect from the far right.

  27. Appleboy 27
    26 September 2013 at 8:22 pm

    Good God – Intrinsic Value. You moron. Can’t you engage brain and listen – it was covered in the one minute apology piece. Too much to take in was it?

  28. Rhinocrates 28
    26 September 2013 at 10:11 pm

    All well and good that Radio New Zealand has apologised, but should they have forced Kathryn Ryan to do it? He’s often bullied and harassed her on air and this was only one case among many. To have her read the apology implies that she – as a representative of Radio New Zealand – is responsible in some way when in fact he’s simply treated her as fodder. She shouldn’t be reading apologies, she should get one, but her bosses who bring Hooton on are hiding behind her.

    Hooton’s a misogynist shit as well as a racist and he likes bullying women.

    She shouldn’t have been made to apologise for him. He should have had to apologise to her as well.

    Shame on Radio New Zealand’s managers and board.

  29. vto 29
    26 September 2013 at 10:29 pm

    maybe hootors would answer our questions if we paid him..

    20 cents per question payable to the most deserving of your choice

    • Rhinocrates 29.1
      26 September 2013 at 10:38 pm

      Twenty cents??????!!!?/1ELEVEN! That’s only about as much as Kyle Chapman can afford and Hoots won’t work for him. Meanwhile, the Malborough Sounds Symposia types, who were so inspiring to Anders Brevik that they provided much of his manifesto were exactly the sort of people Hoots wanted to be seen with, ’cause they had cash and bling.

      Make sure that your death’s head badge is really shiny and of the best silver before you promise him money!

  30. Martin 30
    28 September 2013 at 1:35 pm

    I wonder if it will turn up on Media Watch tomorrow with Chris Laidlaw?

  31. hoom 31
    28 September 2013 at 6:59 pm

    So do we get to have Bomber back on RNZ now?

  32. Aotearoean 32
    30 September 2013 at 2:56 pm

    Poor old Whaleoil he could not run the Truth and doesnot tell the truth!

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