Posts Tagged ‘teapot tapes’
Teapot tape saga sputters out with withdrawal of ‘costs’ action against cameraman
For the record: Teapot costs bid dropped By Cherie Howie Herald on Sunday May 6, 2012 The Attorney-General has ditched plans to demand nearly $14,000 in court costs from freelance photographer Bradley Ambrose over the long-running “teapot tape” saga. Ambrose was embroiled in controversy and faced criminal investigation after he taped a conversation between Prime […]
For the record: Teapot tapes media audit clears ‘pond scum’
Herald on Sunday journo Jonathan Milne’s narrative of how the ‘cup of tea’ media stunt got recorded and the actions following is a must-read (if you care). See: Findings not quite Key’s cup of tea (NZ Herald) Read it. Seriously. (Ignore the 1 April dateline.) In the same paper, I noted that broadcaster Mike Hosking […]
Questions about the teapot investigation
So, it’s been announced the cameraman who recorded the pre-election ‘cup of tea’ between John Key and John Banks in November last year won’t be prosecuted. Stuff.co.nz reported: Police will not lay charges over the “teapot tape” saga and say freelance cameraman Bradley Ambrose has received a warning. Assistant Police Commissioner Malcolm Burgess held a […]
As predicted, tea pot tapes released
I predicted here and elsewhere that the recording of the now infamous election campaign ‘cup of tea‘ between ACT Epsom candidate John Banks and National Party leader John Key or a transcript would be released … I called that “inevitable“. Viz, yesterday: The recording is now available at multiple locations. This ‘cleaned up audio’ version […]
Losing the shine? Maybe. We’ll see.
Post mortems don’t always render a conclusive or even useful diagnosis, especially when tackling multi-faceted puzzles like an election campaign, but I nodded as I read TV3 political editor Duncan Garner’s round up of the political year … in which he shares some of the same conclusions I expressed in my pre-election post Teflon John […]
Is NZ’s international reputation as a democracy taking a pasting?
I started to reply to a comment by Craig, who suggested that if Bradley Ambrose is successful in his call for the High Court to declare the ‘cup of tea’ conversation “not a private communication” that that (in Craig’s view) would be “a sad day for privacy in this country” Oh yes? I thought. What […]
‘public interest’ vs ‘the issues that matter’
Reflecting on John Key’s clearly-scripted talking point before he ‘stormed out’ of a media conference yesterday, it seems to me the National Party spin doctors (and lawyers?) will be emphatic that their man Key NOT under any circumstances admit to any ‘public interest’ in the cup of tea tapes. Thus, the apparent attempt to smother […]
Teflon John Key under pressure over tape
Politics is all about responding to emergencies — and I don’t mean a container ship grounding itself on a reef. From the NZ Herald’s John Armstrong today: John Key insists there is nothing on the secret tape of his “cup of tea” conversation with John Banks to cause him the slightest bother. If so, why […]
A shot across the news media’s bows re cup of tea tape
UPDATE: In an extraordinary display of service beyond the (routine) call of duty, I’m told the police actually rang individual news outlets last night (14/11/11) to emphasize this release/gag threat (above). Even going so far as saying “Have you read paragraph three? About the two years in jail?” Wow, what great service the police give […]
Thin-skinned media critic Cameron Slater spits dummy
Oops, I did it again. I briefly engaged in a Twitter conversation with ‘Whale Oil’ right wing attack blogger Cameron Slater, provoked by his stream of increasingly hysterical and accusatory rants against the Herald on Sunday about the bugged cup of tea … Starting about 9.40 this morning the National Party’s [avowedly] unguided missile, lap […]
Mystery object was a bug!
So. it transpires that the ‘cup of tea’ stunt was bugged, and the Herald on Sunday‘s intrepid David Fisher has the recording (kudos, David). How could that happen? And was it deliberate? Dunno. But simple almost always beats complicated … Here’s my shot as we were being shepherded out like geese by Wayne (right) and […]
Security footage of a burglary?
Authorities have released an image from security camera footage of one of the [alleged] perpetrators of an electoral ‘dirty-deal’ sealed in Auckland yesterday. Anyone with knowledge of the incident, carried out in front of about 40 journalists* and cameramen, should um … well, they should, er … gee … well, what can they do? * […]
