Ok so I’ve had a weekend Duck Shooting, unfortunately there weren’t many ducks, which meant I had a great deal of time to think about Matt Blomfield while I was freezing my tits off in the maimai.
So…..there are heaps of bad news stories about Hell Pizza, and about how Warren Powell is this mad, evil, narcissistic demagogue controlling and manipulating everyone….it makes for good copy and that is exactly what Matt Blomfield did…copy, loads of internal emails to tame and lazy journalists…like Maria Slade at the Herald on Sunday.
She emails Matt two days before a story appears saying:
What Maria was telling Matt is that she has written a story…based on the information that Matt Blomfield sent her. What is galling about this is that the information that Matt Blomfield sent Maria Slade was confidential court documents including the summary of defence. Maria Slade had a scoop, nicely packaged and fed to her by a Hell insider so that the story could be painted about a dysfunctional company.
This isn’t the only story Matt Blomfield has shopped to tame media contacts, tune in for the next installment and another lazy media hack will be named as a dupe of Matt Blomfield.
Fairfax repeater Jenny Keown really shouldn’t have put her name to the byline for the article on Stuff about the Ports of Auckland issue. She has basically cut/pasted Garry Parsloe’s press release in full from the Maritime Union website.
Comparing the two articles side by side there is a prima facie case of churnalism. Simply repeating a press release as if it was news.
Union Press release: 455 words, 56 lines, 14 paragraphs
Stuff news article: 397 words ,48 lines ,13 paragraphs
As British prime minister, Harold Macmillan was once asked what was the most likely thing to blow a government off course. “Events, dear boy, events,” he famously replied.
Despite being acquitted of the crime, Chris Kahui murdered his twin sons, Chris and Cru, in 2006, National MP for Rotorua Todd McClay has said under cover of parliamentary privilege.
Addressing Parliament last week during the second reading of the Crimes Amendment Bill (No 2) Mr McClay brought up the deaths of the 3-month-olds as one example of the “very many cases of children being abused, harmed” each year.
“We had another high-profile case of the Kahui twins, who were murdered … I believe Chris Kahui killed those children, but … that is for others to consider now.”
She was obviously at a different conference to me, when only two people out of a room of over 400 asked questions. Her contention is wrong but it doesn;t stop from spinning. Of course the difference between the National party and other parties is that delegates are able to feel comfortable
State asset sales are proving to be a bone of contention even within National’s own ranks as its grassroots members question whether crucial assets will be flogged off overseas.
The government has struggled to reassure Kiwis that its plan to sell a 49 per cent stake in the remaining state owned power companies won’t see them end up in foreign ownership.
But it also appears to have done a poor selling job among its own members with Finance Minister Bill English facing questions from party members during a public session of the National Party conference in Wellington today.
Mr English said the government was working on ways to ensure Kiwi investors were at the front of the queue but acknowledged there was no way to stop them selling shares to overseas buyers.
This was shortly before the media up sticks and bolted before lunch.
Of course the difference between the National party and other parties is that delegates are able to feel comfortable, even in a stage managed event such as this conference, to stand upa nd voice a contrarian opinion. That is to be welcomed. Political sycophancy should be avoided assiduously.
I’ve lost count of the number of times that I have broken stories and the repeaters ahve follwoed along one, two or even a week later. It would be nice of them to insert a line acknowledging where they heard about it from.
The thing is I know they heard about it from me first, because they all follow my Twitter account and read my Facebook wall. I’m sure as hell not following them on Twitter.
When bloggers use news stories to highlight their opinion they politely provide a link to the source story, it would nice if churnalists and repeaters did the same.
I might have to start billing I think. Either that or the various schools of churnalism start teaching these chumps about ethics, how to google, how to link to sources and other useful topics instead of them sitting on Facebook and Twitter hoping a story will land in their lap.
UPDATE: Just had an email from Jared Savage…he has said that he got the story from other sources…and that he was going to email me last night because he knew I would do a post like this lol… Good on Jared for emailing me.
It started as a trickle and now it is an avalanche.
I first noticed a couple of weeks ago a few journalists, churnalists and repeaters were starting to follow me on Twitter, then a few more, then even more and some are really obscure. Sure I had a few that were already, the heavy users and the like but the ones signing up now are just flunkies really.
It’s like they have all been on a course or got a memo or something. The funny thing is they are all set up the same way…so I’m thinking a course.
That would be typical, not ones to have any original thoughts about seeing that is out there, they wait till their overlords instruct them or send them a memo or on group hug bonding tweeting course or something.
Now I wonder where did they get that story from? Oh that’s right from Blondie’s post. And the pricks even quote Blondie. But is there a link to the source of the story? Not fecking likely.
Constable Grant Burrows will do anything to catch a crim – he’ll even strip down to his boxers in the middle of an upmarket Auckland street.
And his near-naked efforts have earned him high praise from a female passerby.
The woman, who would only be called Blondie, said he was “quite a dish”.
The Newmarket cop didn’t think twice when it came to getting his gear off and diving into the Orakei Basin to chase an alleged thief on Thursday night.
And the repeaters wonder why we think so poorly of them.
These communications people with fancy titles sometimes really should lay off the sponsors products. [Shakes head] Still trying to work out what that says. She should stick to ratting out TVNZ staffers to the Minger and Pork Chop.
Disclaimer: I haven’t appeared ever on Q+A because Tim Watkin is too scared to call me (he has rung around every other blogger known to man begging them to come on the show) and has the same underhand agreement that Damien Christie has that I will never appear on any show that they produce. Such are the manipulations of the illuminati of the left-wing.
