Posts Tagged ‘Close Up’

1. Litany of apologies, but no humility

   Published on Wednesday, April 13th, 2011
   If you watched Close Up last night you’ll know all about the problems encountered by wheelchair-bound Tanya Black and Dan Buckingham in trying to take a Jetstar flight to the Capital.

   You see, Tanya and Dan ended up ditching their tickets and flying hassle-free with Air NZ.

   There are many aspects of this episode that deserve scrutiny, from staff training to the airline policies, but we think there’s one lesson that can be quickly learned by any aspiring spokesperson.

   Jetstar’s CEO David Hall fronted up to the programme, but despite his litany of “unreserved and absolute” apologies and admissions that his airline did not get it right, he failed to stem the flow of damage to the Jetstar brand. How come?

   Although having pretty much all day to work through with his advisor(s) how this might best be dealt with, he came on Close Up in promotional-mode, when the situation required humility.

   How much of a difference it would have made had Hall referred to Tanya and Dan by name and apologised to each as individuals, rather than referring to them as “those passengers”.

   How much of a difference it would have made if he started the interview the way it ended by saying: “where we fail, I take personal responsibility”. Unfortunately by this stage, judging by social media postings, viewers were totally enraged by his wooden performance.

   Television is an emotional medium, and in issues such as this, spokespeople have to respond emotionally, rather than as a defensive talking head.

   Frankly when two people are treated the way Tanya and Dan were by Jetstar, most of us are not remotely interested in Jetstar’s messages about their “absolute commitment to providing low fares, all-day, hassle-free travel for all our passengers, including those with wheelchairs”.

   We want to see genuine humility, but apparently, Jetstar doesn’t “do” humility. Cheap and nasty are what people are saying.

2. The revenge of the people with red hair

   Published on Thursday, May 27th, 2010
   It’s a topic that has garnered more interest than mining: hug a ginga, says The Edge.

   This polarising issue featured two nights running on Close Up, which means they’ve struck a topic that gets people engaged.

   As far as a media performance goes, on Tuesday night I tipped my hat to teacher and father of two red heads, Stephen Simpson, who gave Edge radio jock Dominic Harvey a lesson in managing your messages for television. Harvey was ill-prepared and over confident, and Simpson was not awed by the celebs. 

   Harvey’s final blunder was to call host Mark Sainbury, “Sainsso”. Another cosy radio relationship?

   Round 1 to Simpson.

   On Wednesday evening the performances were reversed. As if bolstered by the success of his previous performance, Simpson was too cocky and overbearing.  In contrast, radio jock Harvey was conciliatory and measured, and the arrogance of the previous night was gone.

   Round 2 to Harvey and The Edge.

   Lessons: when it comes to television, one success does not make you an expert; and quit while you are ahead.  Simpson would have been better to decline the studio interview on the basis that he’d said all he had to say.  Had he done so, he’d still be a winner.

   For me, the last word goes to the Wellington woman who says: my response to being hugged will be: thanks moron!

3. Another tragedy and chorus call for the Government

   Published on Wednesday, May 12th, 2010
   The nation is shocked by the death the young James Webster, caused in all probability by drinking a bottle of vodka taken from his grandmother’s cupboard.

   It is an absolute tragedy and without doubt we all feel for his grieving mother, father and sister.

   Another young person dies.  This week it was alcohol poisoning, and a few weeks ago it was a car accident.

   In these tragedies we have become used to the chorus urging the government to “do something”. Now it’s arguing the age of purchasing liquor; a few weeks ago it was about raising the driving age. And just last week, PR Matters featured Jane Dodd’s blog talking about how to encourage changes to teen drinking habits.

   It appears that if we don’t know what to do as parents or as a community, there is blind faith that the Government will solve it.  This has now become a reflex action.  In the latest case, doctor and mother of a student at the same college as the dead boy Margaret Abercrombie says: “…people look to the Government for leadership and that’s wholly appropriate.”  She goes on to say, if there were a broader change in our behaviour and attitude to alcohol that would reduce the costs to society and the likelihood of this occurring again.  This is a young man dying of alcohol poisoning, but I seriously doubt any amount of legislation could have changed the outcome for this boy, because as far as I can ascertain, teenagers have always, and will continue to, do silly things.

   Perhaps it’s worth reflecting that one reason for people’s lax behaviour and casual attitude may be that for too long we have relied on governments, not personal conviction, for our frameworks and moral compass.  In reality it might be argued that the more our government takes control of our lives, the less responsibility we feel we need to take ourselves.

   James Webster consciously did a very stupid thing.  He took vodka without his grandmother knowing; we’re told he was intent on doing something “naughty” that night; and he wasn’t upfront with his parents. 

   The fact is that alcohol, in some form or other, has been part of the right of passage for young people.  For young James it was a dead end.  

   Let’s stop looking to government to provide life’s behavioural and ethical framework.

4. Has our media diet become unhealthy or are we being fed what we are asking for?

   Published on Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010
   Is there a disturbing trend towards tabloid style news items taking precedence over the real news?  Just a few weeks ago the possibility that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie had broken up was in our six pm news bulletins.  Don’t get me wrong I have been known to read the odd gossip magazine but a good diet is all about balance, variety and moderation. 

   Dee Dee Myers’ piece in Vanity Fair discusses trivialisation of news as she examines the Tiger Woods story.

   The entire country stops for Tiger yet when President Obama makes more important announcements the country barely pauses for breath. Her article concludes with the fact that finally the National Enquirer has been deemed eligible for a Pulitzer Prize. Now that is real news.

   The Tiger Woods saga highlights the potential crisis we are facing in the world of news – that of tabloid style stories stopping the real news stories taking center stage. Rosemary McLeod’s column in the Sunday Star Times was right on the money.   

   Today’s Toyota story relating to their faulty vehicle accelerators is as important as the collapse of Enron, yet was second or third in the morning news items.  The bigger story was a claim that Air New Zealand has a culture of excess drinking despite facts to the contrary being communicated clearly by their CEO. (Declaration of interest here, we do provide PR support to Air New Zealand.)

   Given Tiger’s speech and Robin Brooke’s Close Up interview, is Performance Media a new art form?  For audiences this is something we can watch and critique more easily than substantive news? In Tiger’s case we seem entirely focused on how he, and his team, is handling this crisis and how genuine the apology is.  All know his speech was scripted, rehearsed and stage managed. 

   If the media and public know this, then who is to blame – why did the media cover it?  For the simple reason they knew they could get an audience because it is just the sort of thing we love to watch.  In today’s commercially competitive environment what will sell is what will make the news.

   How can we make sure our media diet is balanced without it being so boring we simply gorge on junk or become undernourished and miss out on essential news and information that could be more relevant to our lives?

5. An orchestrated litany of fables

   Published on Tuesday, July 21st, 2009
   The teenager who sold raunchy photos of his mum on TradeMe after discovering them in the family garage caused something of a kafuffle this week.

   After his TradeMe inspired notoriety, Michael Chal appeared on Close Up last Wednesday to give an account of his TradeMe experience.

   Soon after this appearance, Close Up learned that despite Chal’s assurances to the contrary, it had been duped.  The programme’s producer, Mike Valintine, seemed more than a tad miffed about the deception, and was reported as saying Chal “lied through and through”.  This behaviour was described as “despicable”, and the Chal was called a “fool”.

   After this outburst, and the headlines labelling Chal an “internet liar”, it was surprising to see him, together with his co-conspirator, again on Close Up last night.  Here we learned that Chal had not lied, he’d merely presented a fable.  Just like 20-year-old French Rugby centre Mathieu Bastareaud!

   Chal and his mate proudly told us that they’d had job offers arising from their fables. So, the end does justify the means after all, and liars do prosper.  Social media is setting new standards, but let’s be careful where this takes us, as Michael Chal’s story was nothing but an orchestrated litany of fables.

6. Mike King, Close Up and “bagging” the piper

   Published on Friday, May 22nd, 2009
   Mike King sits on Close Up and swears that he’d never heard of the issue of sow stalls in the pig industry.  And he was for seven years a front person for the pork industry.

   Mike’s flirt with the animal liberationists raises a couple of questions:  what was his “mate” saying to Mike when he was taking the Pork Board’s dollars for promoting their products and his profile; and, more importantly, what obligations do such front people have to do their own due diligence, and ask some “what ifs”?

   As sad as it is, celebrities do have credibility with consumers, and businesses and the celebs themselves trade on this.  We’ve seen it with finance companies in very stark relief, only for them to turn around and say: “we were let down as well”.

   Some events may be beyond the control of the person fronting for an industry or a product, but in my view not the matter of how pigs are raised in New Zealand.  “I didn’t know” just doesn’t wash either for Mike King or the Minister of Agriculture. Where have they been over many years when intensive farming issues have been examined and stunts like the one we saw on TV1 are pulled, time and time again?

   When endorsements are arranged, there must be clarity about “roles and responsibilities” on both sides. This should also include the period after which the paid contract ceases.  As we’ve seen, it is all too easy for these celebs to bag the piper once they have stopped paying for their tune.