BE & JC are taking a short trip overseas. So here’s a  little something to remember us by. It comes courtesy of Dame Cath Tizard, who read it out at our recent Silver Wedding Anniversary.

Enjoy!

A Lesson in Spin

Judy Wallman, a professional genealogy researcher in Southern California, was doing some personal work on her own family tree. She discovered that Congressman Harry Reid’s great-great uncle, Remus Reid, was hanged for horse-stealing and train robbery in Montana in 1889. Both Judy and Harry Reid share this common ancestor.

The only known photograph of Remus shows him standing on the gallows in Montana territory. On the back of the picture Judy obtained during her research is this inscription: ‘Remus Reid, horse thief, sent to Montana Territorial Prison 1885, escaped 1887, robbed the Montana Flyer six times. Caught by Pinkerton detectives, convicted and hanged in 1889.’ Read the rest of this entry »

You really have to wonder how much longer John Key can keep the Blethering Bennett in his Cabinet. Here is her latest effort, reported in this morning’s Herald:

Ms Bennett today said she had reiterated to Ms Rankin Mr Key’s position that she should not campaign against the law.

“She certainly been made very clear that we don’t expect her to be actively campaigning on the no vote,” she told reporters.

Ms Bennett said the interview was Ms Rankin’s personal opinion. Read the rest of this entry »

There are times when it is not in your best interests to be interviewed by the media. The most important one is when you can’t tell the truth.

If you can’t tell the truth – stay away. This is one of our fundamental maxims. You can regard it as moral or practical advice. Since we aren’t in the morals business, we’ll stick to the practical. The best reason for not lying to the media is that you will eventually be found out. You can be as smart as paint, but the media has a finely honed instinct for lies, prevarications and avoidances. In the end, the truth will come out and it will be damaging to both you and your organisation.

The best advice for anyone dealing with the media is: Be straightforward, tell the truth, admit your mistakes.  And if your lawyer turns pale at the last suggestion, well, two out of three ain’t bad.

View other media tips

There are quite a few TV programmes you can watch without the sound and not miss a thing.  It even improves the comprehensibility of some of them. Unfortunately Rapid Response isn’t one of these programmes.  Unfortunately?  Yes, because the true love of Brian’s life, our wide-screen TV, is in danger of being smashed by a large and heavy object every time I have to listen to the commentary on the programme.   Read the rest of this entry »

The woman is a blethering idiot.

Watch her on Sunday

In the early 70s, not long after I left the ground-breaking current affairs television programme Gallery, I was approached by an advertising agency who wanted me to front a multi-media campaign for a publication called New Zealand Heritage. I was on the bones of my bum at the time and the appeal of making what I imagined would be a quick killing was considerable.

New Zealand Heritage was an educational part-work, a sort of New Zealand encyclopaedia in instalments. The editorial board behind the publication was a Who’s Who of eminent New Zealand scholars. It was an entirely respectable enterprise. Read the rest of this entry »

Late in 1990 Judy and I were approached by members of the then fledgling Green Party. They wanted to know if we could provide them with media advice during the coming general election. We were not then involved with Labour and said that, yes, this was certainly something we could consider. They were delighted and invited us out to dinner to discuss the matter.

The restaurant we were taken to was, perhaps not surprisingly, modest. But the mainly young people who were our hosts were simply charming and their naïve enthusiasm was infectious. It was agreed that we would provide them with media training and direct their television opening and closing. They were over the moon. Read the rest of this entry »