After savagely critiquing Seven Sharp for trying to whitewash the repulsive history of a far right hate speech merchant like Cameron Slater yesterday, Seven Sharp have contacted me and offered to do a profile on me.
Here is their email…
…now my first response is that I have little interest in allowing Seven Sharp to pretend to not be the biased mouthpiece for the Key Government that they are by having me appear on their program as some faint attempt at manufacturing balance, but I also appreciate that I have some responsibility in the media to take opportunities to appear and push our side of the debate.
The lesson I learned from getting banned for life from Radio NZ was that those of us with opportunities to speak up must be more responsible with that time than merely picking fights with the Right, which is why I’ve taken the guest columns in the Herald on Sunday so seriously.
As the largest left wing blog in NZ, The Daily Blog has a responsibility to challenge the mainstream media narrative, if readers want me to appear on Seven Sharp, leave your vote on this post, or email me or Facebook me or Twitter me and I will decide at the end of the day.
Take a leaf out of Jeremy Wells’ book, Bomber- you should be more “Like Mike”
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/07/10/jeremy-wells-mike-hosking-rant-on-radio-hauraki-today-6/
Awesome idea.
In fact I love the idea of sneaking Wellsy onto the program just so he can take the piss out of Hosking mercilessly.
Regardless, a sense of humour is a powerful weapon to use on a show like that. Go forth well stocked with a large arsenal of incisive one-liners.
My vote.
Get on, and don’t let them use you as a token leftie. See what it takes to get thrown off.
Please do it, you will provide some much needed balance.
If you do it Martyn, make sure they don’t portray you as the Left’s answer to Cameron Slater. That is likely to be the meme. You will end up being lumped into the they’re both as bad as one another basket.
Nah fuckem they only want to display you as a quaint curiosity. “Oh look Dear a left winger, isn’t he furry”.
This is a hard one, but overall I think you should do it. Personally I can’t bear to watch the show because it is right wing crap and I detest both presenters. However, it does get a sizeable audience and any chance to get a left wing voice on MSM should be grabbed.
Go on Martyn – take up the challenge. Dont be shy.
Cunliffe needs some sort of diversion to take the focus off him.
If u go on there dont stoop down to the other sides level. Dont even mention the right wing. Only do it if you benefit the most.
I love your work and I’d hate to see you do it. Not because yours isn’t an important voice, because it is and that’s why. I imagine that they would ambush you and cause you embarrassment, quoting figures for which you hadn’t prepared etc. If you do, I wish you well and please keep us informed. Thanks for the great work you do.
Agree. All the bloggers on here we can’t afford to have the right manipulate the story
Please do it!!!!
Do it, Martyn!
You decide whether you will appear on Seven Sharp Martin, I would support you doing so but truthfully I am a John Campbell follower who flicks over at times looking at content that interests me.
I have lost respect for Mike Hosking as it is too much about HIM these days and I am not interested in the shallow right wing views that he takes the liberty to press on all of us. These views should be viewed in light of the fact that he has two well paid jobs that have emerged within public service assets.
I say go on their show Martyn.
I first discovered you on TV Martyn. If people see you on TV, they may follow you up on the Daily Blog. Seven Sharp is going to be right wing whether you are on it or not. However, I think it is important for you to define exactly what you will be doing on the programme. “A profile” sounds like a short piece about you. What you want is to be giving your opinion on a subject matter.
It’s a trap.
“The first step in the avoidance of a trap is knowing of its existence.”
Lynch trumps Lucas
Martyn. Do it. Lets hear it from you. The worst they can do is try to make you look like an optimistic fool. The least you can do is get our point of view some air time on msm. If in the process they ban you from that too, it’s all in a good cause. I understand your immediate reaction. It was mine also when I read your headline. Go well. Come the Revolution.
Good one Martyn. Do it your way, or not at all.
The TDB being the most prolific left wing blog site with a strong support base, offering up an alternative perspective, is a definite threat to the status quo. That can’t be such a bad thing, proving the site is working as intended.
However, it seems TDB must be getting the right somewhat agitated. Seven Sharp and National mouthpiece Mike Hosking through TVNZ will be following instructions to try and destabilize TDB, by discrediting Martyn.
It’s part of Key’s msm network to destroy any challenge.
Yep, seem’s like a good opportunity IF they are responsible about it.
Yes.
However, you would need to make it clear to them, that you will insist on full freedom of speech with no editing of the interview.
yeah do it, as long as you can say whatever you like then you should. thanks for asking, ; )
don’t do it … they are not worthy of you ..don’t mingle with the trash..
Tough one. I loathe MSM more than thrush but I also feel like no articulate left voice is being put forward. I detest the system but then again if it was me on the show id punch their smug little faces and get all postal on them. I think you’re alot more restrained. It will be a total setup. Its the mike hoskings show afterall.
Perhaps you could invite him to write a piece for your blog as ‘balance’ hahahahahahahahahahaha
Martyn:
My guess is that you’ve got it wrong with respect to the reason for their invitation. Its not the “perception of balance” that interests them. . . rather they would like to try to discredit you, your blogging, and all else that you stand for.
Perhaps someone in ‘the hierarchy’ has decided that “The Daily Blog” is getting a little too much attention from the public. The blog might be having an effect on swing-voters. Some of your readers may even be seeing the light about the Nats and what they really stand for, and that would never do.
Of course you’d be able to defend yourself and your position.
But I haven’t forgotten that you once were a fairly regular guest on Jim Mora’s “The Panel” (far and away my favourite radio show) . . . . until ‘the powers that be’ pulled the plug on that.
I was sad to see your disappearance from that program.
I may well be wrong about their reasons for inviting you – its just a guess!
I agree. This is the perfect time for some intervention and damage control from the right. Look at The Daily Blogs likes growing on the right hand side there on facebook. People are waking up. Martyn is absolutely crucial and pivotal in the Lefts battle now and the right know it. Once people have footage of you, they can edit, cut and present you anyway they see fit. And it will be to their satisfaction. We will always support you Martyn… just be careful.
Go for it.
I am sure you will be fantastic. Pascal’s Bookie made good points about being a commentator sometime ago back on The Standard at:
http://thestandard.org.nz/josie-pagani-replies/#comment-753124
Do it to promote The Daily Blog and not be put in the ‘he was invited but won’t front’ box, and have two strategies.
• play it straight if they somewhat do (we know what you are dealing with) but put challenging questions right back at them if they get too cheeky
• if they are on turbo tory attack from the start use the John Lydon method of charm (you filthy liar Hosking etc) and wait for security, either way will get some good mileage for TDB
Do what you want, I won’t be seeing it. I saw Seven Sharp the first time it aired and thought it was absolute crap. I haven’t watched it since and I don’t think I’m missing anything considering the dipshits that anchor it.
Campbell is miles better unfortunately folks seem to have some weird 1960ish misplaced loyalty to TV1.
Please do, Martyn. We need a voice on a show which attracts 500,00 viewers. Superb publicity for TDB.
I think you should do it, but maybe think about making sure the piece is completely uncut and / or you get to watch it before it’s broadcast. Editing can make all the difference.
NO.
Seven Sharp is purely commercial and selling advertising space to a limited appeal audience has made all the harder by the fact it is National Party MC Mike Hosking’s National Party love show. Same as Newstalk ZB. And trying to market John Keys confidant Cameron Slater as something pleasant has degraded Seven Sharp even more.
So having you on as the token lefty for 5 minutes will allow them to claim they are reaching out to all audiences which of course will be utter rubbish.
I cannot foresee anything but dismissive editorial content using you for pure financial expediency.
If you going to sup with the devil use a long spoon or better still avoid dinner at his house all together!
Please do it Martyn, did you see how well Nigel Latta did on tihat show recently – Toni tried repeatedly to get him to talk about cunliffes holiday but he just kept saying it was a distraction and whatnot talk about what is going to be done about 280,000 kids living in poverty
If you turn them down then they’ll be able to announce that you refused to come on the show and make you look bad anyway.
I came to this blog via a mainstream source (the Herald) so it may well be worth reaching people who don’t realise they have other options.
You’ll have to be disciplined and make sure you give them absolutely nothing that can be twisted (as David Cunliffe will testify) and for god’s sake don’t let them describe you as the left’s equivalent of Cameron Slater! I’m not sure what you’re the left’s equivalent of but it’s not David Farrar either, althought that would be better.
It could also be a sign that TDB is becoming too big to pretend it doesn’t exist any more
Yes, do it. the reasons for are several and strong, and the reasons against are something I think you can deal with. The RadioNZ experience will help, I am sure.
By the way lifetime bans are eventually forgotten – I was at Aotea Square when Dave Dobbyn played at WOMAD, though admittedly it took 15 years from the Queen Street Riots. And Nelson Mandela became President of South Africa.
Please go on Martyn! As others have pointed out here though, there may very well be traps they might spring on you. Don’t fall for them. Keep your cool. Bring along some statistics of your own to counteract any that they may bring up to use against the points you are trying to make. May I suggest the total number of unemployed since National came to power, based on the numbers the way they USED to be calculated before it was decided that any job at all, at any amount of hours per week counted as employed? Or the number of electricity accounts that have been disconnected by New Zealand power companies in the past year and the number of individuals that have been affected by this?
Good luck 🙂
On balance, I’d say do it.
Reading some of these responses, many are worried about being well and truly set up – and rightly so. At the end of the day you go in with facts and figures that can’t be denied (at least by the viewers!).
Right wingers don’t like the truth. Don’t get mad if you are ambushed (highly likely!), show up Hosking for the blow-hard he is!
They obviously read this blog Martyn….
I think you should go on! would love to see you take on seven sharp 😛
Your title says it all. Please don’t do it!!!
Martyn
Generally, people who watch this regularly will be a lost and brainwashed bunch anyway, but… a voice is a voice and considering Labour’s incompetence and implosion in the polls, we can do with every bit of the truth being in the public domain. If you are well prepared and able to turn the tables (i.e. present a ‘profile’ of the program itself) and manage a few of the viewers to challenge their views, you can’t really loose… IMHO.
Apart from that: Keep up the excellent work and go hard!
Thomas
Who said the polls are true?
go for it just keep cool and dont let that spikey headed dweeb get you flustered
Yes, go for it Martyn. I NEVER watch Seven Sharp, but I will if you appear.
Should you do, the chance that I’ll be watching the show won’t shift from the current odds of 0%.
Go for it, but prepare and be on your guard. If you don’t they’ll just do a hatch-edit job of stock footage and, as TM says; “put [you] in the ‘he was invited but won’t front’ box”.
I still won’t watch it though, unless you put up a link here so I don’t have to wade through an entire show of Seven Swill.
Yes please – do it, Mr Bradbury.
fuck it just do it Martyn, there are so few left-wing voices on t.v they had Whale Oil on last night so you should be there on tonight.
Hi Bomber! To preclude what I’m about to say, you should know I have never seen Seven Sharp, only heard disparaging things about it from almost every source available. Regardless, even if I had, I feel you’re in a unique position where you can see more angles on this than any of your readers, and as someone who has a clearer view of both the bigger picture and the small details, only you can decide what the best course of action is. For that reason I believe that you shouldn’t look on our answers for advice on what to think, but rather, how to think. This is how I have tried to word my response.
This is clearly a difficult choice, and there are obvious advantages and disadvantages to both. Since Seven Sharp appears to be more of an entertainment segment then an actual news show, you could easily be shown with your views misconstrued as a crazy extremist who should be dismissed. Arguably that wouldn’t even be a bad thing, and any exposure is good exposure, but it is certainly still a legitimate concern. However the main impression I get about Seven Sharp is that you do not expect your readers to be fans of it. This means because of the potential exposure to an audience you’re trying to convert, it should be more important for you to question why you wouldn’t go on the show instead of starting on why you should. In my opinion, the deciding factor for you IS that audience, not Seven Sharp itself, and I believe they offer you a clear reason to accept going on the show: they’re essentially offering you a positive freeroll.
Think of it this way: you expect people who watch Seven Sharp, on average, to either A) not know about you, B) not care about you (or rather politics at all), or C) disagree with you. If this is your audience, and when going on Seven Sharp they make you look like the village idiot, what have you lost here? You might not have changed anyone’s mind, but you won’t have lost any fans. And that to me looks like the worst-case scenario. On the other hand, if things go well, you have a lot to gain. You might make a portion of their audience question their beliefs, or at least get them intrigued enough to start reading your blog, and that’s certainly a positive outcome. In short, I think that because you’re not preaching to the choir, you have everything to gain and nothing to lose.
Of course, I could certainly be missing things in my assessment that make the choice far less clear – you have a much better view of all the angles in this decision then your readers do. Let’s pretend for a second that Seven Sharp making you look like a fool through clever editing (which I imagine is your main concern) is an outcome which is almost certain. If that’s the case, perhaps instead of simply giving them a yes or no answer, you could try negotiation. If you do decide to turn this opportunity down, you could at least ask them if they would be open to doing a live segment, as that way you have as much control as possible over how you are portrayed.
I do hope this has helped your thought process, and if you do accept, then good luck.
Make sure – if you do, that it is live – as in live and direct, and that it’s not part of the Fox News phenomenon (i.e. with you being the token leftie appearing with 2 other ‘faur and balanced’).
Also that you don’t fall for any “we’ve got to take a break” ploys when the going gets tough.
Agreed. We all know how easy it is to edit what people say so that it can be twisted to their favour. If it’s live, it’s much more difficult to twist your message.
Did you get kicked off National Radio !!!??? How and when??
Blistering crit of the show last night from Mike Kilpatrick in the DomPost:
“I’m sorry, but if this is the standard we can expect from Seven Sharp then I’m out. And I won’t waste any more words on a show which subscribes to such a one-sided profile as being somehow appropriate.”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/blogs/couch-potato/10301046/Wake-up-New-Zealand
Your call big boy. They want you there as an example of the ‘loony left’. If you decide to appear, wipe the floor with those lame shit heads.
They’ll try to portray you in a bad light whether you accept or not. I say accept, because then at least people will see your response.
Take a bodyguard. Don’t drink their inu.
Tough call… I can see both sides of the debate. But I’d have to think that overall, maybe it might be worth it; unfortunately it does provide false validation of a poor show, but at least it will break the monologue a bit. You’re savvy enough not to get used.
And I’m intrigued about being banned from Radio NZ.
Yeah do it, mahi tonu, bro. Can’t do any harm, surely?
Please go on the show, National will gain more voters!
All things considered, I say do it.
Go for it Martyn, you’re an excellent debater, I’m sure you can throw back whatever Hosking gives you twice as hard.
But only accept if they let you appear on the show, don’t give them control over a news piece about you.
Do it ONLY if they will do it live. The ask THEM the questions: where did the idea for the Slater puff piece come fromn? Duid it come from the Tory PR hacks? If you are ‘doing profiles on political bloggers, why would you wait until AFTER the Slater piece to contact me? etc etc
Whatever you decide to do, I trust your judgement. Should you go ahead with this, frankly, I would like you to, my only worry is the hatchet job these national party fanatics will do in the editing room.
After reading Bradbury’s latest post, I have just changed my mind on trusting that judgement. Im extremely disappointed.
Only do it live.
On balance, I say go for it. Bonus points if you manage to make the hosts look silly.
Yes, they will treat you like a joke but give them hell nonetheless
If they made him look like an angel, they can make you look like the devil.
Martyn, Yes I would if I were you and I would talk solely about the bias of the media towards the National Party. Them not understanding that it is not a two horse race, stop making it ‘Idol’ and make it about the policies. Good message to get out at this stage of the campaign, ‘don’t believe what the mainline media tell you’, and your good on the telly, Go for it.
Do it, Bomber. You (we) must be visible and you’ve done TV before. I would suggest as others have here to stick to the Left’s knitting, as David Cunliffe described the other day, if you have the chance. Stick to the core problems that will appeal to the centre/undecideds, poverty & education. Don’t linger on privacy intrusion too much (even though it’s important to you and to all of us), it doesn’t appear to be a big election issue for most of the people who you (we) are trying to reach. Housing crisis in AK and CHCH, energy and communication most expensive in the world, etc. It’s the worsening plight of the disenfranchised which is key here, I think. Above all, do not bite if they mention Slater. They will try to goad you with that man’s awful name in order to dramatise the interview!
I’ve never seen it (Been living abroad for 5-6 years) so I can’t speak for it or against it, but… My immediate thought was, I’d be demanding some kind of contract saying that the footage was broadcast live and unedited. Context is everything, and this is the age of decontextualised soundbites. Some prick is always gonna be looking for a sentence that can be interpreted as a double meaning when the background is removed, and they will run with that.
Yeah, I don’t think making demands will work.
A blogger with a modest following versus a highly rating show in a lucrative time slot.
Who needs who the most here…?
My vote: do it. It’s election year, and every voice counts.
As an added idea, put a bottle of cheap wine somewhere prominent and put a sign on it; “Purchased from NZ Herald for $100,000 as a ‘fund-raiser’ for the Editor’s Retirement Fund – *nudge, nudge*”
I appreciate the chance to vote on this. And yes, it is a tough question. But as someone who hasn’t once watched the show after it’s first week on air, I say no, don’t do it
Do it, but use your alloted time to list Cam Slater’s ‘crimes against humanity’ and what legitimizing his sort of ‘journalism’ means for social democracies.
Martyn, if they want you on to dice Slater then it becomes some kind of side show spectacle, where no doubt you will be set up to look the fool. If you have the opportunity to talk about the real issues, the big picture stuff like the neo liberal agenda, sovereignty, TPPA, etc, then go for it, but be prepared for an ambush, and have plenty of ammo.
As others have said above, we really appreciate that you ask us what we think first. Neither Blubberman nor David Fartarse would even dream of asking their “correspondents” first about such an opportunity, they would first and foremost make a decision based on their own bloated egos. My vote is yes, go for it Bomber and give the right what they deserve, a swift kick up the a…..le. I will be watching with anticipation.
[…] have to be honest, I had made the decision last night to accept Seven Sharp’s hastily offered opportunity to appear on their show after I savagely criticised the bullshit whitewash story they did on John Key’s favourite far […]
Go on the show brother, always better to front up than not. Best case is you’ll be able to get in his face, worse case is they’ll show their true colours.
I would watch 7 sharp for the first time if you appear on there :-).
You have an awesome blog site…profiling your values as a blogger is supported by us; we are for you and you for us who share your values and greatly appreciate your way in media.
I would be interested in listening to someone who has the interest of the people at heart rather than pushing one or the others barrow. When you push a particular barrow you do so with bias no matter what side of the fence you are on.
No, there is nothing to be gained because you know quite well they will show what they want to, and it won’t be good. David Cunliffe is making the mistake at the moment of trying to appease the media and it is a waste of time – we have seen over and over and over again how they will twist things – look at this business with the man with name suppression, having managed to make a Labour woman candidate look like the predator, with dodgy photos and headlines, they have managed to make that look like sleaze and dirt from Labour, in order to direct the attention away from the party (and the television channel) who have the most to lose if this ever became public. Even publishing filthy comments from one of Colin Craig’s candidates in all its nudge nudge wink wink glory. I and lots of others with Labour leanings just wish David would put his hand over his mouth and walk away smiling – it will drive them mad.
It is not a battle we can win I am afraid, something to fix up after the election, we just have to do the best we can with person-to-person contact. ensuring we make as many complaints to the relevant authorities as we can. So retain your dignity, they will always attempt to trip you up and think of it like this – if no-one else except Slater is profiled it will be seen for what it is – a biased love-fest with a disgusting man.
I VOTE FOR INTERNET MANA KICK OLD DONKEY OUT HE CAN GO BY SHREK&FIONA…
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