ACT leader Don Brash 'not talking' to TV3's Patrick Gower (click to watch video)
Is it OK for ACT leader Don Brash to call a journalist ‘a deceitful bastard‘ and refuse to be interviewed by him?
Yes. Absolutely. Damn right it is.
Is it smart?
No.
In an election campaign?
Even less so.
Never mind.
This (below) is how I prefer to see Don Brash.
Much better. This Don Brash is an electoral asset. That guy under pressure on TV3? Not so much.
– P
I agree with you 100%.
I think the media deserve more truthful statements from their questioning.
The media’s line of ‘the public want to know so I have to do my job’ is a cop out.
Yeah, I’m perfectly happy for a politician to tell a journo he’s lost trust and respect for him or her and boycott them.
The trouble is, the boycott becomes the story. Not good.
I think it was unwise for Don Brash to say those things like that on the record, repeatedly, with a camera rolling, but that’s the media environment these days. Get with the times.
Let’s face it, journos and commentators in the media can say some pretty bruising things about politicians. Hurtful things like:
But what if that actually seems true?
Journalists do NOT owe their subjects a right of veto or editorial ‘direction’ … it doesn’t matter what the topic of the press release or interview was originally — a good reporter makes sure the story follows the ‘newsworthy’ angle.
– P
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