David Seymour blasts TVNZ reporter, attacks media industry
Act Party leader David Seymour has attacked the media industry – and singled out TVNZ political reporter Benedict Collins – implying it is hypocritical to ask for government money while criticising politicians.
Seymour spoke with Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking following criticism of his proposed public sector cuts.
But the conversation shifted when Hosking asked Seymour whether the downfall of some media organisations recently was their own fault.
“That’s not quite true, the media landscape is changing,” Seymour said, detailing how advertisers aren’t spending as much money through media.
But Seymour implied it was hypocritical for the media to ask the Government for money while at the same time criticising them and celebrating slip-ups.
“But it’s also true, I saw a report on 1News, Benedict Collins grinning down the camera about Chris Luxon’s apartment costs.
“These are the people that cry, ‘Oh you’ve got to give us sympathy, and you’re inhumane and you should be kinder to us’.”
It is the third time in the last two days that Seymour has taken a swipe at TVNZ’s coverage of the news.
The Television New Zealand Act stipulates TVNZ’s editorial independence from the Government, saying no shareholding minister, or any minister, can give a direction to TVNZ in respect of its programmes, content, or any complaints about its content, or “the gathering or presentation of news or the preparation or presentation of any current affairs programme or content”.
Earlier in the week, he posted some previous social media comments about him made by the co-chair of Health Coalition Aotearoa, Professor Lisa Te Morenga, and noted: “@1NewsNZ was shown this before it ran a story at 6pm quoting [the HCA], but chose not to inform its viewers.”
He then also noted that TVNZ’s columnist, John Campbell, was “quoting and linking to a left-wing blog that is promoting wealth tax-supporting David Parker for Labour leader.”
His comments come the same day as TVNZ signalled dozens of job cuts and possible changes to some of its biggest news and current affairs programmes.
As 68nTVNZ staff and whanau get kicked in the guts right after Newshubs 300 staff and whanau get kicked in the guts, Seymour is starting a war with TVNZ.
There is a vested political interest in killing off Fourth Estate Journalism for the Right, less journalism = less accountability.
Fast tracking Trans National Mining Interests to raze our Environment.
Throwing the homeless off emergency waiting lists to make the emergency waiting lists look better.
More meth precursor drug access.
More sub machine guns.
8000 tobacco deaths for tax cuts.
13000 more children in poverty for tax cuts.
Disability benefit cut by $2300 per year for tax cuts.
Getting us involved in a new American war.
Ramming through laws misusing urgency.
Gang Patch bans that are against the Bill of Rights.
Attacking worker right, renter rights and environmental rights.
Taking free lunches away from poor children.
This is what we have become in just 100 days and National/ACT and NZ First do not want any scrutiny of the things they’ve rammed through and they certainly don’t want any scrutiny of the pro-donor hand outs they are about to push through as economic policy.
Seymour is starting a war with TVNZ because he will want to amputate TV2 and sell it off as a permanent mutilation of Public Broadcasting that he can point to as a great achievement for Free Market cruelty.
Aotearoa New Zealand is better than this Government is making us.
Comrades.
As much as we are collectively shocked and horrified at the brutal right wing draconian madness that is being rammed through Parliament with bugger all over sight, can I assure you all, it’s about to get waaaaaaaaay worse once the lobbyists have fleshed their election talking points into actual policy.
I do not think we are ready for this jelly.
There needs to be an urgent political summit of the Left to work out how we are going to collectively resist this.
The Washington Post byline is ‘Democracy Dies In Darkness’, and in NZ, David Seymour is the one turning out the light.
The irony of the Political Right blinding the Fourth Estate Guard dogs of Democracy while cookers scream Labour bribed the media would be inanely funny if it weren’t such a dangerous slide into Kiwi Settler Fascism.
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Seymour is a fascist little twerp. He is so “owned” by neoliberal thinking that he is unable to conceptualise the world through any other lens – his way or the highway – should I say Ayn Rand, Milton Friedman, etc. way or the highway. He actually believes that the private sector can manage countries and/or large societies without any government interference – Laissez-faire is an accurate descriptor.
I find it ironic that Seymour, and those of his ilk, are always banging on about political machinations being driven by dogmatic ideology, yet he and his friends are all totally ‘captured’ (to coin a Friedman concept) by neoliberalism.
Good stuff @ Bob.
I well remember the day Lange quit as he’d promised if labours caucus invited roger douglas back.
I’ve just found this on RNZ. Enjoy it while we still have it.
RNZ
“Life with Jeya Wilson: Sri Lanka to Whanganui and almost everything in between
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/511133/life-with-jeya-wilson-sri-lanka-to-whanganui-and-almost-everything-in-between
“The then-president jokingly said, ‘Jeya, can you get the New Zealand Prime Minister to come?’ And I said, ‘Maybe.’ And so I wrote a letter to him. Now, I had known him before through the anti-apartheid movement, and so I wrote to him and said, you know, ‘Would you consider coming?’ And he wrote back and said yes…
“It’s to his eternal credit that he was willing to take that risk and come and debate, not knowing how the debate would go. Because when I was president – and this is quite important – I won’t name the country, but another prime minister wanted to come… and I said, of course, will you be very welcome and we’d love to have you here. But he said, the person who wrote on his behalf, can you guarantee that he will win the debate? I said, no, I can’t.
“And so then I realised, you know, what a risk David Lange was taking coming there. You know, he could have lost the whole debate which was broadcast all over, live broadcast.”
She was the first speaker in the infamous debate, on the motion “that nuclear weapons are morally indefensible”. The rumour was that Ronald Reagan himself was watching.
“The atmosphere was electric because there was quite a lot at stake in the sense of, you know, you don’t often get a prime minister coming and debating – they come and speak and there have been lots of them. But debate? That’s a different story…
“David Lange got a standing ovation like, in my time there, I’d never seen a standing ovation like that… he wasn’t expected to win because he was against, you know, a lot of Americans and the way he handled it… He held that whole audience in the palm of his hand throughout.”
The current Three Stooges are neo-liberal rogerclones.
The only thing left to be held after that was the knife roger he used to stab Lange in the back.
We’ve had to endure 40 years of rogers hopes and schemes. Roger Douglas is the mist scurrilous scum bag to have ever infected our politics and in seymour, peters and that halfwit luxon are happily carrying his tiny little stumpy batton.
I find it hypocritical of Seymour telling us a journalist is smiling and smirking down the camera on the Luxon 52,000 scandal when that’s what Seymour does himself every time he speaks. He speaks with such arrogance and distain, forgetting he only ever had a job by default.
Previous countries like Eastern Europe ruled by central government were a disaster,very sad places to live.
The introduction of capitalism saw the economy surge and an incredible improvement in living standards.
May I ask Bob what economic system is he promoting?
well bob the last as we live in the land of monopolies and cartels we arn’t doing nearly so well as those scandi commies…oh yea russia surged after putin purged the neo-con free market capitalists who bought yeltsin and impoverished the average russian…so strong central govt ‘saved’ russia….kinda pisses on your assertion doesn’t it
ps ‘eastern europe’ isn’t a country
Wasn’t aware Eastern Europe was a country. You can probably find examples at either end of the spectrum. America ( “f yeah”) would probably be classed as capitalist Bob. We appear to be in very real danger of that great experiment consuming itself, and all because living standards for at least half the population are plummeting.
Wasn’t aware Eastern Europe was a country. You can probably find examples at either end of the spectrum. America ( “f yeah”) would probably be classed as capitalist Bob. We appear to be in very real danger of that great experiment consuming itself, and all because living standards for at least half the population are plummeting.
Not one whereby the rich can pay to get a psycophantic, naive, clueless clown into power!!
it’s interesting that whenever challenged to name a privatisation that’s actually worked for the customers they never can
kowtowing to shareholders is bleeding the country dry the main reason for privatisations
So……
I’d wholeheartedly support a sale of TV2 if it allowed for a rebuilding of TV One into an advert-free or low commercial-content public broadcaster again.
In all honesty TV 2 is one asset I wouldn’t miss at all.
After all, TV2 currently serves up a swill of reality-TV level content.
It’s of little to no cultural value except for being a revenue source.
But we all know that creating a quality non-commercial public broadcaster is the last thing on Seymour’s mind.
TVNZ is going the way of the Labour party. Same result. Same reason.
That reason is crass commercialism which, I guess with a stretch, could be applied to the use of focus group politics.
Its millennial tv production to boomers.
Deserted by the punters with the advertisers following.
Yes they are both very much behind the times Jack,evidenced by the remarks on this site.
^
Bob’s second ever thought.
Given Bob TF makes so many comments on this site, one can only conclude he is talking about how far behind the times he is.
The only thing on seymour’s little mind is of being aware of how immensely grand he thinks he is.
Only 42% trust the media and its dropping.
Maybe if there was a range of views on MSM instead of John Campbell and his acolytes that might change
If the MSM thinks it’s going to get any favours from the government then it’s fantasizing as much as it’s stories
How many trust the new government bet some who were foolhardy to vote for this lot wish they didn’t now it’s too late we all have to suffer for three years before we flick them again.
Yes Matthew
Had they either humility, or self awareness or even some degree of intelligence, they should know choosing to be partisan will make at least half the country hate you and sometimes that half is in power.
New Zealand doesn’t need 2 tv stations giving us CNN talking points and propaganda.
The only use for TVNZ news would be for balanced local and NZ news and that is something we simply don’t get offered.
People like John Campbell are the problem very much not the solution.
Yeah, but all those free Mandarin channels… kowtow, peasants!!!
TV2 is fucking terrible. Last night their prime time show was “My Massive Cock”. Let’s not pretend TV2 is worth a single cent.
That’s bang on.
Wow, ACT donors have their own show??
Other than websites like this one (on various parts of the political spectrum) there is no credible NZ fourth estate. TVNZ and 3 News have a holiday when there is a Labour government and focus on trivia under National. They sadly deserve what they get and I doubt the majority of voters will notice they are gone, save for the incessant crying of how they are so special and deserve my taxes.
If that is the sum of your observations on the media over the last 15 years then you are a special kind of ignorant in that you obviously only see & hear what you want to think.
First, who said 15 years? TVNZ and 3 News have always been mediocre. Unfortunately journalism in NZ is not a career anymore with good grades would aspire to. The rest of your comment suggests I am ignorant. I have two first class honours degrees. I am not the brightest person in New Zealand but I suspect I am not completely „ignorant“ .
TVNZ is worthless and wouldn’t attract a buyer.
Well your neo-liberal pro Natzo mates lured it down a dark ally then murdered it so if anyone would know, you would.
Fuck off. Im working class Labour
Keep telling yourself that Jack. It might be better to hop over to Bowalley Road though/
Jack off you are!
I usually ignore Countryboy‘s posts because they are not succinct. At least this one is.
It’s a liability so no buyers.
How many trust the new government bet some who were foolhardy to vote for this lot wish they didn’t now it’s too late we all have to suffer for three years before we flick them again.
Or we request a royal commission of inquiry into the last 40 years of neo-liberalism with an emphasis on the collusions between big little kiwi multi-billion dollar business doers and our politicians.
‘we all have to suffer’….nope!
Only you Labour/Green/maori party voters.
Rest of us (majority) are very happy with this new Govt and it’s actually doing what it campaigned on (an anathema to the left I know, political parties actually doing stuff campaigned on!)
I missed the bit in the lead up to the election where they campaigned on gutting the media. Can you supply quotes or links where the current Government said they would do this?
Rubbish labour campaigned on Kiwibuild and that…oh that’s right.
We now have a Government in the Coalition something that’s been missing for 6 years.Worst Prime Ministers in history Ardern and the Chipster.
We now have a future.
Although Ardern had severe challenges doing anything useful in her time, Muldoon was certainly the worst prime minister in NZ history in my view.
we dont have a government .We have a gang of chain smoking gun toteing red necks led by a skin head gang member
TV 2 has turned itself off. Good Nite Kiwi.
Yes I agree Marco albeit I don’t watch New Zealand television I prefer to watch the foreign alternatives.
So that explains your NZ political illiteracy.
If it is hypocritical to ask for government money while criticising politicians. The it must be OK to ask the government for money while saying how wonderful they are. I think he is confusing the media with his opaque financial backers or right wing thinktanks.
well bob the last as we live in the land of monopolies and cartels we arn’t doing nearly so well as those scandi commies…oh yea russia surged after putin purged the neo-con free market capitalists who bought yeltsin and impoverished the average russian…so strong central govt ‘saved’ russia….kinda pisses on your assertion doesn’t it
ps ‘eastern europe’ isn’t a country
I’ve been wondering for years how the work Roger and Ruth started would be completed. It’s always been the true National agenda except that to date they haven’t had the balls to do it. Now they have the perfect vehicle to deflect the blame, that stunted weasel Seymour.
Make no bones though, this is National, dirty scum.
Does anyone actually watch TV2?
Capitalism and marketing executive imperatives have cooked the television goose.
What was regarded in the 1950s to be a new and promising horizon for the elevation of public discourse and culture has been well murdered.
Public broadcasting values have long been reduced to requiring life support.
Karma in action.
Stopped watching NZ TV five years ago. Its demise has been a long time coming unfortunately.
Stopped watching NZ TV five years ago. Its demise has been a long time coming unfortunately.
Do people still watch broadcast TV?’ Anyone under age of 60 still sit down to watch the 6 o’clock news? Maybe there’s a reason why their business model is failing. Oh no, let’s just blame the government, or get them to throw money at us, while we lie & criticize.