Wednesday, October 04, 2006



Hot air?

Having promised that their dirt would be dished within two days, the Exclusive Brethren's stalkers for hire are now backing away from their threat. Is it because there is no dirt - or because they've realised that their idea of what is "explosive" might not be shared by the New Zealand public?

Posted by Idiot/Savant at 10/04/2006 01:15:00 PM

6 comments:

Or because, on closer scruntiny, they've realised the material is (a) untrue, (b) actionable, (c) flimsy and readily denied.

Lets hope their sense of self preservation is sufficient to stop them from simply becoming fools.

 Posted by backin15 : 10/04/2006 04:24:00 PM

Maybe Ian Wishart wants to use the "findings" in the next issue of his gutter glossy? With every claim followed by a question mark, to protect him from defamation suits? Has the fear of looking foolish stopped him thus far?

 Posted by Anonymous : 10/04/2006 08:35:00 PM

The media need to do their job here. It's debatable whether such claims should be reported in the first place - obviously there's an editorial judgement to be made; you can't turn every fantasy conspiracy into a news headline, but on the other hand the PIs' activities themselves were already legitimate news, so their statements could reasonably be reported as news too.

What's not debatable is the media's responsibility to follow up the story, not just leave it hanging. Wayne Idour got peak time coverage on Campbell Live telling us what he uncovered was so shocking, there would be a by-election if only we knew - well, we want to know. And if there's nothing to know, then TV3 and others must, at the very least, give Idour/Procter & co a proper grilling, not just hand over a microphone and say "Ooh, go on, tell us more, if it's juicy enough we won't bother with facts and shit."

Reporters doorstepped Brash's home when they were chasing the "affair" story, and Clark's husband was put on the front page. Where's the similar enthusiasm to track down the truth about things that actually matter?

 Posted by Anonymous : 10/04/2006 09:19:00 PM

Or maybe they realised having secret information isn't much use if you reveal it to everyone.

I agree with anonymous. It is worth the time of several reporters at least to put Wayne Idour under a microscope and keep on him until he cracks, one way or the other.

 Posted by Genius : 10/04/2006 10:49:00 PM

"If it all pans out it could all be good. Or it could be all rubbish and we are heckled and chucked out into the village square and stoned and all the other things people do."

At least he still has a sense of humour. But it was pretty much obvious that they were lying from the start. If only this country's PIs were like Precious Ramotswe.

 Posted by Chris Nimmo : 10/05/2006 09:22:00 AM

There obviously never was any dirt. Why else would Brash go grandstanding to the cops only days later about pledge cards if there was a government-breaking, smoking gun in the offing. Oh, that's right, he has nothing to do with the EBs, nor they him.
Not that it matters; all the foaming Clark haters can now fulminate at each other for months about cover-ups and suppressed evidence. Unfortunately, some will be swayed by such rumour-mongering, especially if there is no immediate investigation by media to prove or disprove the allegations. Now, who was it who said something about lying to the people often enough...?

 Posted by Anonymous : 10/05/2006 09:47:00 PM

Post a Comment

(Anonymous comments are enabled).