Hard News: Dropping the Bomber
389 Responses
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Ian Dalziel, in reply to
So that's where Atlantis went to...
A fascinating world in miniature, anthologising
the major features of terrestrial planets.Makes ya wonder whether if might not just be a part of Earth that got knocked off during one of those planetary collisions posited...
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Thomas Johnson, in reply to
Which does rather suggest Radio NZ got a complaint from the PM's office.
Well, if that turns out to be the case then I'll be disappointed. At least RNZ management should have had the guts to make a decision themselves for their own reasons.
I do recall that Hooten was booted some time back after a particularly torrid Politics session on the pledge card, so there is form there - a search indicated it was back in March 2006 when Labour was in power.
Kiwibloglink to that issue.
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And, as Gordon Campbell points out, commentators from the other side of the political divide, most notably Matthew Hooton, have been pretty nasty at times too.
Um, you’re right – but I’d also note that Lila Harre wasn’t disciplined when, during the Pledgecardgate crazy, she accused the Auditor-General (who happens to be an officer of Parliament) of “conspiring with the Opposition to bring down the Government”. Chris Trotter has also gotten a pretty clear field to accuse critics of Winston Peters of “media gang rape” and lynching the uppity darkie.
There’s nothing close to defamatory about the “meth addict” comment – Bradbury merely compared Key to one, not implied that he was one.
You know, 3410, that's not a pinhead dance I'd really want to bust out in a defamation suit. If I merely compared Bomber to a child molester - but didn't actually, like, you know say he ran around dicking kiddies - I wouldn't expect him to have much of a sense of humour about it.
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Steve Parks, in reply to
- if bomber was less ranty and less conspiracy theory i’d pay attention to him more often
Yeah, I find him (as others have pointed out) quite shrill. Don’t value him much a commentator. But the actions of RNZ in this instance are ridiculous.
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Craig Ranapia, in reply to
Instead, John Howson has now said (according to a Standard commenter who called him on the phone) that he was dropped because the rant was defamatory and the Prime Minister might be taking action. Which does rather suggest Radio NZ got a complaint from the PM’s office.
It might also suggest that RNZ management are really hyper-sensitive and risk adverse when it comes to buying shit fights with politicians in election year. And not entirely without reason, I’d suggest – how many times did Sean Plunkett get suspended or forced to issue an on-air apology to various pols after *cough* rather robust interviews?
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Craig Ranapia, in reply to
Of course it isn’t as blatant as that. I’d be surprised to find a smoking gun email setting out terms. But there’s a general consideration that in return for Mediaworks running radio stations that promote a right-wing agenda, they’ll get favourable treatment on things like license fees.
That’ll be why they aired Public Address Radio for five years, then.
And why even the token right-y on Public Address Radio could say rather disobliging things about Mr. Key and his Government without a midnight visit from Darth Joyce's stormtroopers.
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Steve Parks, in reply to
There’s nothing close to defamatory about the “meth addict” comment – Bradbury merely compared Key to one, not implied that he was one.
You know, 3410, that’s not a pinhead dance I’d really want to bust out in a defamation suit. If I merely compared Bomber to a child molester – but didn’t actually, like, you know say he ran around dicking kiddies – I wouldn’t expect him to have much of a sense of humour about it.
Bradbury said (quoting from memory) that Key's behavior was like "the sort of ravings one would expect from a meth addict on a bender." That's obviously not the same as trying to suggest that Key is actually a meth addict. It was clearly hyperbole. (I believe some people who post on PAS sometimes also engage in this.)
I'd never bust out the "pinhead dance" in a defamation suit, though. I'd just look ridiculous.
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Miche Campbell, in reply to
Some people do appear to get off on it.
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Jim Mora’s panel segment often comes across as the ‘National Party Happy Hour’ where Michelle Boag and a motley collection of grumpy Garth George sound-alikes and climate change deniers air their prejudices and preconceptions freely, without let or hindrance.
I heard Bomber going off and found it quite refreshing. He wouldn’t be the first to read out written thoughts when asked to say what was uppermost in his mind…as this segment does after the 4:30-ish news.
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Craig Ranapia, in reply to
It was clearly hyperbole. (I believe some people who post on PAS sometimes also engage in this.)
And which is a risky defense to run in a defamation suit. I've thought about that quite a lot because (believe it or not) I did self-censor myself quite a bit when doing PAR - and a handful of times I was asked to do an on-the-spot edit on grounds of taste or (once) potential defamation.
I was also part of a panel discussion on Chris Laidlaw's show a while back, and probably for the first time ever Russell said I was pretty good but needed to be more pushy and assertive. I was actually terrified that I'd say something OTT that I just couldn't take back or qualify on live-with-a-seven-second-delay radio; things you can do better around here.
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Steve Withers, in reply to
Bomber isn’t so much a conspiracy theorist as he is a person who speculates freely based on past behaviour of those he is speculating about. His ‘theories’ tend to account for much of what actually happens….while those who accuse him of conspiracy theories often fail to provide a credible alternative narrative that accounts for all the actions and behaviours we observe from some politicians.
Like: Why is the National govt deliberately running up a huge debt? On the face of it they seem to following the same template the GOP followed in 2001: Cut taxes for the rich, blow the deficit up as much as you possibly can…and then use it as an excuse to sell profitable state assets to your mates and backers, dismantle the welfare state, and gut the regulators and call it all “small government”. We can see how well that has worked out for the US. The top 1% make out like bandits and every one else gets screwed.
I’d call that a documentary at this point…not a theory. Bomber has this one right. It’s a big one, too….even if he was wrong about everything else.
Bomber definitely needs counselling on his presentation skills. He talks far too fast.
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I suppose it it is if one shuts people’s mouths with tape and forbid them from moving around.
What?
People are, as a someone, nay, many people, have pointed out so adroitly, complex. Your instructions are sound so long as people don't say a word and don't move.
Personally, I just reckon he’s become seriously jumpy about his personal security – a combination of believing the self-serving fairy (or monster) stories he gets from career securocrats, and not having come up through the ranks of being a minister.
Personally I see Key's DPS squad as bling. It tells Key that he's made it from suburban Chch.The amount of bling he throws around is a bit over the top but if it makes him feel superior and smug to do so, his choice.
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Craig Ranapia, in reply to
Personally I see Key’s DPS squad as bling. It tells Key that he’s made it from suburban Chch.The amount of bling he throws around is a bit over the top but if it makes him feel superior and smug to do so, his choice.
That's plain bloody silly. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but Key's DPS detail is exactly the same size as Clark's. I'm probably buying myself a mandatory drug test here, but Hooten and John Pagani actually trumped Key and Goff in the sensible stakes over that whole incident and the absurd aftermath. They made the (IMO) totally correct observation that it's actually pretty fraking cool that citizens can walk into their own legislature and watch their employees at work without having to go through airport grade security. (I have a friend who came back to NZ after a period working in the US and said it took her a while to stop emptying her pockets every time she walked into a public building.)
And, yes, Christoper you can sneer at the DPS as "bling" for small cock politicians but it's still remarkably low-key. And perhaps the public doesn't actually hear about the threats made to politicians - most of which are quickly marked down for the nutter file - for good reason. Another thing I find pretty cool is that most politicians actually feel safe about having their home addresses publicly available on the electoral roll. And, yes, I really don't think you're likely to see Julia Gillard, David Cameron or Barack Obama walking down the street to buy their own coffee.
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You mean the Standard and Poors issue? It was covered well on TV3.
Indeed it was. Thanks for the tip, it's here
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BenWilson, in reply to
And which is a risky defense to run in a defamation suit.
Seems pretty safe to me. It's not defamation if it's true. If Key did rave like a meth-head, then it's true. You'd only need to produce one meth-head and get them to rave like Key. Which is why it would never see a courtroom, like most threats of defamation suits. There's a bloody good chance that the "victim" ends up being the one on trial, and tarnishes their reputation far further than if they just let the matter slide.
Bomber definitely needs counselling on his presentation skills. He talks far too fast.
Yes, the weird pitch changes one gets during extreme excitement were amusing. But isn't that how it's always done on this kind of radio? The emulation of a braying donkey is part of the parody?
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DCBCauchi, in reply to
People are, as a someone, nay, many people, have pointed out so adroitly, complex. Your instructions are sound so long as people don’t say a word and don’t move.
Ye gods, it’s nothing of the sort. Have you not heard of negotiation? How people actually get things done?
???
And they’re not instructions. If you could read, you’d’ve seen I said suggestions.
People negotiating to get things done. The cathedrals of Europe. Putting a man on the moon. Finding out what else is out there. Arthur C Clarke speculated on life already there under the ice of one of the moons. Can’t wait to find out.
And there’s not just Mars. We could seed Titan, fire it up with space mirrors. Move all our heavy industry into orbit for a start. No need for mines when you've got asteroids dangling above the ground. Good platform for launching ships, them.
The possibilities are endless.
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3410,
Craig,
Here it is verbatim:Yelling, "It's your fault, it's your fault" while making a throat slashing gesture at Phil Goff (as a man with mental health issues dangled from Parliaments balcony) is the sort of ravings one expects from a meth addict on a bender, not the political leader of a country.
The statement rests on what "one expects". It's clearly framed as opinion, therefore impossible to disprove.
As I said, I'm pretty sure that any talk of defamation would be about this bit:
What does a $43 million loan to Mediaworks buy you on Radio Live? Apparently, an hour of John Key avoiding answering any questions on politics.
but even that would be defensible, I'd say - though that one would require a pinhead dance.
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Sacha, in reply to
pretty sure that any talk of defamation would be about this bit
Pissing off the real man in charge (as that issue would) has to be worse than irking the frontpuppet.
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Did Bradbury defame the Key?
Yes , no, or maybe.
My own view is that Bradbury was his usual one eyed bombastic ranting self.
He never accused or alleged that the PM did anything that could be deemed to be defamatory.
6 weeks out from an election, budget rationing, Richard Griffin, Crosby/Textor, a life time ban. I think a certain brand of beer springs to mind.
If Bradbury is so objectionable how come Hooton is allowed to stay?
Griffin is doing his bit for his region and promoting products from Mangatainoka.
did
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Biobbs, in reply to
Olympus Mons – now there’s a mountain.
and in second place rising from the bottom of the
crater Rheasilvia on the asteroid VestaNeither of which is as monumental as The Pixies.
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Lucy Stewart, in reply to
Arthur C Clarke speculated on life already there under the ice of one of the moons. Can’t wait to find out.
Give me a few billion dollars and I'll find out for you. (Mars is a cheaper and better bet, though.)
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Russell Brown, in reply to
I do recall that Hooten was booted some time back after a particularly torrid Politics session on the pledge card, so there is form there – a search indicated it was back in March 2006 when Labour was in power.
Kiwibloglink to that issue.
Woah there. They didn't drop Hooton, they dropped the feature. His lefty counterpart in that feature, Peter Harris, also went.
Bomber was singled out for a ban -- and for reasons known only to himself, John Howson took the crazily unusual step of notifying the staff of that in a mass email.
If they'd simply had a word with him, or even just quietly stopped calling him it wouldn't have been such an issue. But Howson, who is normally a fairly measured character, made a very public statement.
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Ian Dalziel, in reply to
Taxon: Galactic Rock Titans...
Neither of which is as monumental as The Pixies.
Story! Just-so...
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Craig Ranapia, in reply to
Pissing off the real man in charge (as that issue would) has to be worse than irking the frontpuppet.
Hey, Sacha, as Russell might say woah there. I’m going to commit PA blasphemy here and suggest Joyce is as entitled to be pissed off at those allegations as our host is at insinuations from a certain corner that that Media7 and Public Address Radio were payola for a good little Labour sycophant.
But if you’re going to accuse any polititcian of blatant political interference in the editorial operation of state broadcasters, please bring some evidence to the table. It's not only wrong but illegal.
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Russell Brown, in reply to
Hey, Sacha, as Russell might say woah there. I’m going to commit PA blasphemy here and suggest Joyce is as entitled to be pissed off at those allegations as our host is at insinuations from a certain corner that that Media7 and Public Address Radio were payola for a good little Labour sycophant.
Especially given that there’s documentary evidence that Joyce initially rejected the financing request. Brent Impey didn’t get satisfaction until he buttonholed Key at a Telethon function.
I am most assuredly not a fan of Steven Joyce’s work as a minister, but I don’t think the conspiracy theory stacks up.
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