Posts Tagged ‘Paul Holmes’

1. A beautiful advocacy campaign to behold…

   Published on Wednesday, July 15th, 2009
   As a communicator, I’m always impressed when I see the roll out of a good campaign which ‘works’. And I’d rate the current efforts by the anti folic acid advocates as an A+ effort.

   Putting aside that we’ve been adding folic acid to breakfast cereal for years without any fuss (came as a complete surprise to me too) and that we went through the whole shall we/shan’t we debate under a previous Government with barely a protest banner in sight, a month before Folic Acid day looms traditional and social media is alive with for and against arguments.

   First casualty was naturally those who know the true facts. Now we’re really on to the serious stuff which us lay people can understand.

   These are the sound bytes about you needing to eat 11 slices of bread a day for it to be effective (is that thick or thin slices by the way?); children will be getting a quarter more than recommended ‘safe’ levels; and let’s not forget the perennial ‘high doses have been shown to increase the prevalence of cancer among laboratory mice’.

   Even that most astute media personality Paul Holmes referred to the folic acid debate twice within three days on his ZB comments slot.

   If nothing else the campaign has shown how slow the Government is to react to lightening rod issues. It didn’t see the train coming, and when it did it stood there paralysed in with indecision.

   I don’t pretend to understand the rights and wrongs of this issue. However, I’m inclined to the view that we should proceed while the ‘experts’ work it out. After all, the chance of me ending up with cancer is a very minute ‘maybe’ (probably less than from second hand smoke), while we know that it’s a certainty some children will be born with spina bifida if we put it off.

   If subsequent research shows the cancer risk is too high, then let’s pull it then. Until then my vote goes for the yet to be born generation.

2. Not my cup of mea culpa

   Published on Tuesday, May 19th, 2009
   “I’m sorry,” said Auckland Mayor John Banks yesterday, “It was a mistake for me to suggest that up to 40 percent of the city’s staff could lose their jobs.”  Oh, he really didn’t mean it that 2700 council employees will be tossed out when the new Auckland super city is formed? It’s possible that the apology goes some way towards erasing this intentional or otherwise slip of tongue, but try as he might Mayor Banks can’t really take it back. This is because true or not the perception that mass redundancies will follow the seven council merger is now firmly on the agenda.

   It’s just not that easy to retract words spoken in the media, as Paul Holmes knows only too well. The veteran broadcaster will be haunted by that ‘cheeky darkie’ reference to the United Nations head Kofi Annan until the end of his days. Christine Rankin too is bearing the brunt of the over-disclosure of her personal affairs. The Prime Minister has effectively put her on notice to stick to the issues of families and child abuse – not her private life. “That’s what I want to hear her talking about and nothing else,” Mr Key said at his post-cabinet press conference yesterday. No grey-area there.

   Grey-areas further afield are causing the scandalous unravelling of the British parliament. The situation of MP’s spending has reached crisis point with Commons Speaker Michael Martin becoming the figurehead for the rancour. He has been described as the one “who has been dragging his feet on transparency and greater accountability in the way MP’s receive their expenses.”  There are calls for Michael Martin to resign over excessive claiming; even the Queen has expressed disquiet. Not since the 17th century has a Speaker of the House of Westminster been forced out. It appears that the institution and the way its MP’s behave inside it has not kept pace with the current demands of accountability.

   Our very own expenditure watchdog Rodney Hide would have a field day with the MP who claimed taxpayer’s coin to have the moat around his castle cleaned.

   There are lessons to be learnt here, although long-gone are days of ivory towers and of men-only clubs. Westminster it appears is stuck in a time-warp. It needs to wake up, open the books and allow the public the level of scrutiny it demands. Because simply saying sorry no longer cuts the mustard.

3. Is democracy as we know it a realistic expectation for Fiji?

   Published on Friday, April 17th, 2009
   In a recent interview with Paul Holmes, Helen Clark posed the question whether it was always necessarily appropriate to expect to be able to drop a developed country’s model on a developing one?*

   While Fiji has long had a tradition of democracy, are the regular coups a sign that the democratic model needs some adaptation?

   Bainimarama comes to the current situation – of his own making – from quite a different cultural background to most of us, one that’s somewhat feudal and patriarchal. Is this the nub of the issue?

   Until now we have gone to Fiji for our family’s annual winter warm-ups, and felt entirely comfortable that the coup-phase was a transition stage and because I did not want the people at the resort we visit to suffer the consequence of tourists not going. But what now?  Is my presence helping or hindering them?

   The other dimension of Fiji’s current situation is that it is a text book case of how not to communicate.  As one of my colleagues said not one of the parties is listening to or acknowledging the other. There will therefore be no movement unless someone is able to offer a compromise.

   There are some who say that Bainimarama is being backed into a corner and the media have had a role to play in this. In order to give him some room to move don’t we need to offer an alternative solution, and perhaps in doing so, acknowledge that our model of democracy may need some serious adaptation for Fiji?

   That said, the Pacific still supports a monarchy. New Zealand recently participated in the Tongan King’s birthday celebrations, a man who is said to be out of touch with the needs of his people and lives his life at the cost to others, quite literally.

   Why do the Australian and NZ governments not offer some appropriately credentialed expert to assist Fiji to work out a realistic solution? And maybe we can step back from the stand over tactics and threats in favour of agreeing on an acceptable timeframe to help them develop a solution.

   But then I have been known to be called Pollyanna. And no I am not trying to find a reason to justify this year’s trip to Fiji.

   *See six minutes into this interview http://tinyurl.com/crarhg

4. Dear Mr Holmes, thank you for the memories

   Published on Thursday, December 18th, 2008
   With tomorrow being your last day as the voice of Newstalk ZB morning radio it seemed appropriate to dedicate this, the last posting on the Network PR blog for 2008, to you.

   You have not only made a huge impact in your field but overseen tremendous growth and change in our nation.  As one of my colleagues said, “Holmes was NZ’s first celebrity broadcaster.  He heralded a whole new era in New Zealand broadcasting and – for better or worse – the birth of celebrity culture in NZ.”

   I imagine there are very few PR consultants in New Zealand who have not had reason to deal with you over the years and undoubtedly opinions will vary as to how “satisfactory” this experience was.  But I am sure that each and every one of them would agree that you are a true star in your field.

   As a seasoned listener of ZB I must confess that I have waxed and waned in my affection for you.  But the retrospective discussions during the past few weeks have reminded me of the reasons that make you so special.  On occasion I’ve considered that your musings have ranged from arrogant and to downright sentimental.  But through it all you clearly made an impact.  I often talked about what you had said to others and although I might have been tempted at times to switch off or change channels, I didn’t.  Because for every moment of irritation there were many, many more moments of sheer genius.

   You will likely agree that your job is not to be universally liked, but behind the broadcaster there has always been the man who really did just want to be appreciated.  So it might interest you to read some of the comments my PR colleagues had to make about you.

   “Paul Holmes was a controversial, loveable and hateable character – to me he embodies that ‘old school’ sense of the media.”

   “It’s testament to his talent that, despite a number of high profile ‘incidents’, Paul Holmes has had such a successful broadcasting career. He is certainly a fighter – he is frank and intelligent – and while his departure from Newstalk ZB tomorrow will be a loss for the station, and no doubt many loyal listeners, it opens the door for other emerging talent to follow in his footsteps.”

   I am particularly pleased that you are around to hear this praise being heaped on you.  You deserve to hear it.  Too often in New Zealand the only time we say nice things about people is at their wedding or funeral!  I sincerely hope this is the start of another long and significant phase in your life.

   The oldest child in the family breaks down the barriers, and as NZ’s first true media celebrity you did that in spades.  You weathered criticism along the way – some warranted and some not – but you always remained true to your own style.

   So Mr Holmes, thanks for the memories and for the many special moments you have shared with us.