If National wins ...

[BlackPeter]

I guess your as thick as Susan Devoy if you can't tell the difference between racism and xenophobia.

I can - Aaron. Not sure about Susan Devoy, but the real question is - can you, too?

If a caucasian guy goes through a list of names, picks the ones which sound Chinese and complains that there are too many of them, than the behaviour of this caucasian guy is racist. However - this does not exclude him being xenophobic (literally - "fearing foreigners", but in this context more "disliking or having a prejudice against foreigners") as well ... aren't our Labour MP's a multi skilled bunch ?

[Daytr]

Aaron, Mike Hosking calls himself a journalist, but I agree the title is dubious. Henry the same. At least Campbell did a substantial amount of investigative reporting. Ask yourself who is the boss of TV3, Key's right hand man on a number of occasions Mark Whelan, so its not such a leap as you suggest.

[neopoleII]

""I would have thought the likes of Mike Hosking, Paul Henry and even John Campbell would be thought of more as entertainers than journalists. ""

The sad part of this statement is that there are alot of people in NZ that think journalists ... especially in prime time news hour.... are very informed
political truth Sayers. The fact is, in our modern world of information dissemination, the masses of sheeples in NZ and for that matter the world, get
there biased / unbiased / informed / uninformed / true / untrue / factual / imaginary "news" from where they spend their one hour a day getting informed.
And this is where the media has gone from a news service in years gone by to..... political "interlopers" today.
And sadly most people dont know what is hitting them.
This is an issue for left and right wing voters and all those in between or outside of the center.

When media personalities cause left / right wing disharmony you know there is a problem.
In the old days it was called government propaganda....
In this age its called news......
Who controls the media?

[Daytr]

Yep fair comment Neopole, and everyone has a bias, although Mike Hosking I would say is extremely biased.
Another thought, how many lefties do you know own media empires?

[neopoleII]

""Another thought, how many lefties do you know own media empires?""

Im not sure what Murdocks leaning is ... but he seems to be taking an active media role in taking western politics on a joy ride
that is making waves in this country and many others.... as are other media moguls.

Either way.... political direction should not be controlled or influenced by the media.

One of the founding principals of our western society is free speech..... but when "big media" overtly make political waves for whatever reason........
then that is wrong.
Or at the very least..... they should disclose their leaning and say, why they say, what they say.
An informed society with honest facts... not skewed facts is far more healthy for all societies.

[Daytr]

Its a nice thought, but I think unfortunately they are entwined in many cases, politics bending to the media & visa versa.
Fox news probably gives you a good indication of Murdoch's political allegiance, although I'm sure he will pander to the party in power at the time.

[777]

Of course Hosking leans to the right, he is a positive thinker. To lean to the left you have to be negative. That simply is the difference in NZ politics and shows up quite clearly in this thread.

[elZorro]

Of course Hosking leans to the right, he is a positive thinker. To lean to the left you have to be negative. That simply is the difference in NZ politics and shows up quite clearly in this thread.

I don't think that's right, 777. I think perhaps if you lean to the right hard enough, you need to suspend a certain amount of inspection of data.

Take Q&A this weekend, Steven Joyce carefully stated, twice, that international debt for NZ is well lower, now, than it was five years ago. Really? Trading Economics says that's not correct. Look at the chart on the MAX setting. It's higher now, than it was, and it's likely to get worse. So in fact, the trend is going the other way from the situation Steven Joyce was implying. So if you believe him, you've got no-one else to blame if you don't check the figures. The sod just lied, to all of us.

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/new-.../external-debt

The myth around Steven Joyce. A legend in his own mind.

[Daytr]

Quite ludicrous.
Just because people critique doesn't mean they are negative, it means they want better which is positive in itself.

Of course Hosking leans to the right, he is a positive thinker. To lean to the left you have to be negative. That simply is the difference in NZ politics and shows up quite clearly in this thread.

[Aaron]

I can - Aaron. Not sure about Susan Devoy, but the real question is - can you, too?

If a caucasian guy goes through a list of names, picks the ones which sound Chinese and complains that there are too many of them, than the behaviour of this caucasian guy is racist. However - this does not exclude him being xenophobic (literally - "fearing foreigners", but in this context more "disliking or having a prejudice against foreigners") as well ... aren't our Labour MP's a multi skilled bunch ?

Depends if you think foreign ownership of NZ land is an issue. Doesn't matter if they are asian or white and english speaking. I guess the simplistic list was the easiest way to try and confirm what was being said anecdotally about foreign asian buyers driving the housing market. Anyone who says they are not racist is a liar.