Communications Line Number 51 of 23 August 2007

What did Ministers know?

What is going on in officialdom? What has happened to the political judgment of senior officials? Rather than the usual criticism leveled about Wellington bureaucrats that they are supine to the whims of Ministers (particularly after eight years in power), officials are now being accused of not being sensitive enough. If communication is the oxygen of good management, then Ministers are choking to death for lack of air.

Many have wondered how such a highly professional public servant as Simon Murdoch could "forget" to brief his Minister about Air New Zealand's plans to fly Australian troops to Kuwait. It just seems implausible that he could have had such a lapse in judgment. While he has taken the blame others in the PM's Department, at Civil Aviation and in other places, also knew but didn't tell their Ministers either.

I find the explanations offered (a collective burst of amnesia or untypical laxity) unconvincing. I think Ministers did not want to know, and made sure officials understood that. They had to be able to appear shocked and outraged if, or when, the story came out (no story no problem) It's called plausible deniability. If you weren't told something, you can honestly say that you were ambushed, blindsided or whatever by being kept in the dark. You look good; officials look bad, but officials don't lose their jobs. So that's all right then? Yes Minister.

Honeymoon? Que?

Any illusion that John Key was still having a honeymoon must now be thoroughly dispelled. Labour put the hit on him over Iraq. He struck back in Parliament. Yesterday he hit out at proposed changes to election financing. Overnight Labour hit back with allegations over his residency qualifications. Whatever the validity of the charges, and whether they resonate with the public or not, there is no doubt in my mind that politics are going to get increasingly bitter, desperate and sharp over the next year or until the 2008 election decides the fate of one of the two leaders.

Erebus Mystery

The revelation that someone in Air New Zealand tried to amend the entry on Wikipedia relating to the Erebus crash recalls the many mysteries relating to the crash in 1979. I was the transport reporter for Radio New Zealand's National News at the time and worked on the night of the crash and on the story extensively after that. Without canvassing all the conspiracy theories, I'll refer to just one incident. The Captain of the fatal flight was Jim Collins and he worked on flight maps and charts at his home the night before the flight. He was meticulous like that.

The maps he was working on would have shown where he thought he was flying to. Why was that important. Because - as we subsequently learned - the plane's on board computer was set incorrectly. Seeing the plans may well have supported a construction of events other than the initial finding of pilot error. However the maps and other material Collins used that night are gone. A nice well spoken man in his mid 20s called at the Collins house the morning after the crash and asked for the maps, which Mrs Collins duly gave him. They have never been seen again and the identity of the caller is unknown.

It has long seemed to me that the only parties who might have wanted those maps were Air New Zealand or the government. If - and this is a big if - someone looked the airline's computer that night and worked out that the DC10 had been programmed to fly into a mountain both the airline and its owner would have had every incentive to cover it up, and getting rid of potentially embarrassing evidence would have been one logical step to take. So someone - from the SIS perhaps - was sent to get the Collin's material. The truth unraveled much later before the Royal Commission headed by Justice Mahon, who famously remarked that he had heard from Air New Zealand "an orchestrated litany of lies."

Weekly World News

The world's wackiest newspaper is folding. The Weekly World News, famous for headlines like Aliens ate my baby, will soon be no more, the victim of declining circulation and poor leadership. I had a salutary experience as a result of a story it published about a cannibal being hunted in the North Island bush near Taupo. The story quoted a police constable in support of the tale. There was no such constable, no cannibal and it was all fiction, but the story surfaced in the New Zealand media and several outlets rang me as the then spokesman for the Tourism Board - would such a report affect New Zealand's reputation in the USA as a tourist destination? No I said confidently, readers of that kind of publication were not our target market.

One astute reporter then quoted the circulation figures which were impressive at the time, and asked what if the story were picked up by more conventional US media. That won't happen, I asserted boldly. Fortunately for me I was right, but as I had basically winged the whole thing with little actual knowledge, research or preparation, I learned a useful lesson. I now share the wisdom (but seldom the story) in media training sessions.

Hot tips on media calls

Wait! Don't take that call yet! Thomas Collins advises in Ragan's Government Communicators Insider August 2007. He writes: "A sure remedy for disaster when dealing with the media is to shoot from the lip. Too many government media relations people just jump on the phone and began an interview that turns into a train wreck because they are not prepared to deliver their message, and so they get led down the path the reporter wants to go.
"So how do you avoid being caught off guard when you pick up the phone and a reporter is on the other end? One proven solution is to explain that you are late for an important meeting and will get back to them as soon as you are done, (and by the way, what is it that they need?) so you can help them as quickly as possible when you get back.
"Reporters will try any number of ploys to get you to respond. Remember that no matter how innocent the request might sound, a successful interview for you can only occur when you are prepared to deliver your message. Politely hang tough and give yourself time to get ready.
"Once you have delayed the interview, you are in position to control how it unfolds. My advice: Follow a simple formula no matter how innocent the reporter made the request sound. The first consideration I always looked at was what was my history with that reporter. What types of stories do they usually write, investigative or general news? Do they tend to be fair and accurate when covering stories about you? Do they know about what you do, or will it be a learning experience for them that you will have to guide them through?
"These considerations are all extremely valuable in helping you decide what material to have on hand for the discussion. Get into the habit of being totally prepared. Write out the key facts that you want to highlight and be sure to boil them down to phrases that the reporter can use. You can later place these in a talking points file that you or anyone can use again if the same issue should come up. e-mail at tcollins@collinscomm.net
US Campaign top talk topic

A survey of the topics on US talk shows reveals the most talked about topic at the moment is the 2008 Presidential election. It took up 35% of the hours available, nearly three times as much as the second placed topic, the plight of the trapped miners in Utah. Iraq was third on 10% with domestic terrorism and immigration occupying less than 5% each.

Consistency in the ABs

Confused about the All Blacks? I am. Fretful about whether they are ready? Me too. Uneasy about the rotation policy? Sure am. But at least Henry and his mates are consistent? Yeah right. I looked back at the teams selected for the games against Argentina and Ireland - only 14 months ago.

Ten of the fifteen selected for Argentina are making the trip to France. Thirteen of the 25 in the Ireland squad are going (14 if you double count Oliver who was the only player in both squads). So that's 23 or 24 of 40, - 60% at best. Seven players going to France were not picked in either of the first 2006 squads. Sixty percent doesn't sound like consistency to me. I just hope that St Graham knows what he is doing. There will be no forgiveness of failure, whatever the reasons for it.

No to Shorty Street

I used to watch this regularly, just about every night really. Of course I was the wrong demographic. According to TVNZ, TV2 aims at the 18 to 39 age group and at household shoppers. Shortland Street is particularly aimed at 15 to 29 year olds with a female skew and at household shoppers with kids under 14. Frankly I am none of those things. It's my daughter's fault. She started the Bishop whānau on the show years ago, and although she's left home, we still watch - until recently that is.

The plot line involving Mark Weston, the handsome doctor who married Tanya the wildly attractive nurse was the start of it. But Mark has also fathered Maia's baby by artificial insemination. Maia is Tanya's sister and a lesbian who had broken up with her partner and was just distraught. He started behaving like a complete selfish prat and the tension just escalated and Tanya couldn't understand what was wrong. I know what was wrong - for me anyway. The plot was trivial and implausible and although I wish the show well, it's not for me anymore.

However it is interesting to observe that most people have (at least) one soap or drama series that they watch regularly. It's the cathartic effect, and some get it from Coro Street; for others it's Special Victims Unit, Cold Case, Law & Order or similar. (I'm with The Sopranos, much more my demographic.)

Age catches up

It was the thirtieth anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley on 16 August. I was arranging a meeting with a (much) younger colleague and happened to note that the occasion. She replied that she hadn't quite been born.

I remember the day in 1977 well. On 3ZB in Christchurch we had a news roundup at 5.30 each afternoon with the stunning title of News Round. That night we abandoned the usual bouncy theme music and played Hound Dog at the beginning of the show and Heartbreak Hotel at the end.
Al-Jazeera through YouTube
The new al-Jazeera English-language channel has signed up more than 20,000 subscribers in the USA to its online service, the Financial Times reports. It can't get distribution on any large US cable network, so has gone to streaming straight to subscribers' computers at about NZ$10 a month.
It's also now serving more than 70,000 video clips per week over YouTube. The FT says that several smaller broadcasters have begun to use the internet as a way around political obstacles or the high fees cable and satellite platforms charge for carriage.
Wind in Washington

Wind power has taken a new direction in Washington DC, the New York Times reports, with small businesses banding together to buy wind power energy credits.

"Individually, these businesses probably wouldn't have been able to afford to switch to wind power, but buying as a group, it works," said Gary Skulnik, co-founder of Clean Currents, a two-year-old renewable power brokerage and consulting firm that arranged the deal between the businesses (on Washington's U Street) and their electricity provider, which buys energy from wind farms in West Virginia, Pennsylvania and other mid-Atlantic states.
"With their three-year agreement, the businesses expect to save a total of about $21,000 annually, or an average of about 9 percent each. Mr Skulnik's company earns a one percent commission on the total electric bills; the commission is paid by the power provider." The businesses buy about two million kilowatt-hours of renewable energy a year. In terms of the carbon dioxide replaced, that's estimated as the equivalent of taking 185 motor vehicles off the road for a year.
McDonalds has power

Anything made by McDonald's tastes better, preschoolers said in a study that powerfully demonstrates how advertising can trick the taste buds of young children. Even carrots, milk and apple juice tasted better to the kids if it was wrapped in the familiar packaging of the Golden Arches. Study author Dr. Tom Robinson of Stanford University said the kids' perception of taste was "physically altered by the branding." (Reported in Levene Breaking News 8 August)

Published Articles

Buy Kiwi Made was launched this week - but where's the support from retailers? See http://johnbishop.co.nz/writer/articles/art100807-2.shtml

An annual report is always a significant undertaking and was once described as read more often before it is published than afterwards. But what makes a good annual report. The recent prize winning reports offer some clues. See
http://johnbishop.co.nz/writer/articles/art100807.shtml

The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority has a new boss and a new direction. See http://johnbishop.co.nz/writer/articles/art030807.shtml

And attempts to revive manufacturing industry in the Hutt Valley/Wellington area have got another injection of public money and more time to reach its goals. See http://johnbishop.co.nz/writer/articles/art100807-3.shtml

Language

I read restaurant menus as a pastime. I just can't walk past menus in a window or doorway without stopping for a quick scan of what I might choose if I were going there. It's a disease and I admit it, but menus do yield some gems of spelling and description.

At one place in Wellington I can have omelets made with three scrambled eggs and this place also serves 'cure bacon'. Perhaps it has a therapeutic character. This place also offers 'ball popper tomatoes'. A ball popper is a kid's toy. Perhaps they mean 'bell pepper', but that's not a tomato.

There is a car number plate in Wellington BLABLA. Now what story lies behind the choice of that? CARKAR, which is also around Wellington I can understand. (CARCAR was gone as a plate, or perhaps the driver doesn't do baby talk).

A Newsweek executive recently sought to explain their misleading and inaccurate coverage of a rape case at Duke University in the US with the statement that "The narrative was right but the facts were wrong".

Endnote

To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; to be credible we must be truthful." Edward R. Murrow, Journalist

ENDS

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