The Herald’s headline writers are at it again! A sensible and balanced piece by Liam Dann on the battle against inflation carries a headline that suggests that NZ is doing worse than the rest of the world. Check it out and see for yourself if I am right. Is this the kind of responsible journalism we should be able to expect?

Poor Mike Hosking. He has revealed himself in his most recent diatribe to be one of those public figures who is defined, not by who he is, but by who he isn’t, or at least not by what he is for, but by what he is against.

Jacinda’s departure has left him bereft of anything distinctive to say – to the extent that he is reduced to quoting none other than his wife, Kate Hawkesby, to back up his claim to superior insight. With Jacinda gone, Hosking is nothing more than yet another of NZME’s stable of right-wing automatons, predictably and always taking a right-wing stance on whatever issue presents itself.

You need a new point of difference, Mike. You could start by acknowledging the misogyny that lay behind much of the criticism directed at Jacinda.

She gave it her all.

No New Zealand Prime Minister has ever dominated the political scene at home as she has done, or has established an international profile to match hers.

No New Zealand Prime Minister has had to confront such a sequence of domestic and international catastrophes – from the mosque killings to the Whakaari eruption, from the covid pandemic to the Ukraine war; and each one grew and multiplied in its consequences and became more difficult to resolve because of the problems created at the same time by the others.

Throughout these trials and tribulations, Jacinda (one of the few politicians to be instantly recognisable by her first name alone) has borne a huge burden of responsibility on her slim shoulders. While the voices of protest have threatened her with violence and urged us to reject her with venom and hatred, most Kiwis have recognised that she invariably approached her many tasks with good sense and calmness – qualities not always in evidence among her opponents and detractors.

It is entirely fitting that, in her valedictory message, she identified kindness as the defining characteristic of her approach to politics and to life itself. We will have less of that, sadly, in our national life and public affairs with her departure. For all you have done, thank you, Jacinda.

What is it with Prince Harry?. Most of us would probably acknowledge that he has a legitimate cause for complaint at the way he and his wife have been treated by the British media. But there is more to it than that. Harry seems to harbour resentment against the media all right but against his own family as well.

What is the basis of that resentment? If the title of his book is anything to go by, the issue that sticks in his craw is that he is the “spare” while his older brother is the “heir”.

But it is hard to see that this fact alone can really be the reason for such an obvious sense of grievance. Being the second-born, after all, is just a fact of life – an accident of birth – the same accident of birth that brought him into the royal family in the first place.

He should surely have substantial reason to celebrate the accident of birth that delivered to him all the wealth, status and privilege that he enjoys by virtue of his royal birth. Why does the grievance outweigh the celebration?

Has he thought how tough the accident of birth might have been for those many who were born into families of no-hopers, and whose life chances were blighted as a consequence? We are, after all, all accidents of birth; most of us do not stamp our feet and look around for someone to blame, merely because we did not win a top prize in the lottery.

Sad though it is to make such a judgment, Harry is nothing more than a spoilt baby – not satisfied with the large helping of ice cream he has been given, and jealous of an older brother who has more. Grow up – and suck it up, Harry!
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The Herald’s deliberate, sustained and orchestrated campaign to slant the news has gone beyond a joke – not that it was ever a joke. In virtually every issue of the Herald, the news selection, headlining, and commentary are specifically designed to show the government in a bad light or opposition parties and politicians in a good light.

Today’s issue is a case in point. There is a piece claiming to discover in Christopher Luxon qualities that are not apparent to anyone else; and there is the somewhat pathetic attempt to associate him with his “mentor”, John Key, so that he can bask in the supposed reflected glory of someone who remains the National party’s favourite son and supposed success story.

There are other headlines about issues, such as the holiday road toll and the three waters reforms, that are seen as unhelpful to the government. In each case, it is the headline that counts – in each case, the attempt is made to stimulate in the reader the perception that nothing can go right with the government in charge.

In yesterday’s edition, for instance, there was a headline to the effect that “a report” had found that the government’s bail-out of businesses during the covid lockdowns “had not been necessary”. So, the effort made to keep businesses “in business”, it seems had been beside the point, and the government deserved no credit for the successful effort that had been made.

Surprisingly, however, “the report” referred to, which was from BERL, the reputable economic analysts, had found that the bailout had been effective, and had been well worth doing. Once again, it was the headline that mattered to the Herald – so easily was a “good news” story, that reflected well on the government, transformed into one that raised doubts about the government’s competence.

With news coverage as biased as this from our leading newspaper, what chance do we have of operating an effective and working democracy?