Why Mike Hosking is wrong and why I still don’t think he understands MMP

Mike Hosking has attacked the BSA complaint against him and his stupid comments that you couldn’t vote for the Māori Party if you weren’t on the Māori roll, but in doing so, Mike has shown he still doesn’t understand how MMP works…

This concerns comments I made on Seven Sharp regarding voting for the Maori Party. I said to Toni Street “you can’t vote for the Maori Party because you are not on the Maori roll”.

This was a throwaway line, it was a flippant remark given Toni was never voting for the Maori Party. The next night, after the aggrieved had hit the roof, I clarified the comment. My point was, and is, this: the Maori Party is not a list party. It is not a party that gets above 5 per cent of the vote.

…firstly, that’s factually incorrect, and secondly, it wasn’t what he actually said.

He actually said…

“you can’t vote for the Maori Party because you are not on the Maori roll”.

…which is no where the same as…

the Maori Party is not a list party. It is not a party that gets above 5 per cent of the vote.

…but even if we accept that was what he meant, what he meant is factually wrong.

If a Party wins an electorate seat, they don’t need to get over 5% to gain a second, third or fifth MP, so their list is connected to their party vote.

The fact Mike still doesn’t understand MMP and is desperately spinning what he said into what he meant (even if what he meant is still factually incorrect) is all beside the point because the biggest issue here is that it was said on the public broadcaster.

 

Mike defends his flippancy this way…

My Christmas gift from the BSA, the Broadcasting Standards Authority, is I misled the nation. Sorry nation, I misled you.

I didn’t of course, but they don’t have a sense of humour, or indeed any understanding of the realities of broadcasting, like you shouldn’t take everything literally.

…that defence is deeply problematic because if you are stupid enough to watch Seven Sharp for your weeknight buffet of current affairs, you are probably too stupid to understand the difference between figurative and literal.

Such a factually incorrect statement wouldn’t have mattered on The Project because MediaWorks are a private company and they can be as dense and stupid as they like (look at the AM Show), but Seven Sharp is the high alter of lite entertainment on the public broadcaster.

This kind of incorrect information matters and Mike’s contempt that he has to be held to account when he gets basic information wrong during an election highlights why he should never have been there in the first place and is reminder how far TVNZ have drifted in their obligations as the Fourth Estate.

The new Government has to demand more from our National Broadcaster.