Listened with interest to Jesse Mulligan's RNZ interview with Jack Vowles on how irresponsible reporting on Covid quarantining has caused needless public fear & uncertainty. One thing he didn't cover was the media's breathless relaying of scuttlebutt from the National Party. 1/

For example Nat MP Michael Woodhouse claimed a homeless man scammed his way into an Auckland isolation hotel. Supposedly that person gained access by standing in the same queue of arriving isolationists and spent the next couple of weeks living it up at the taxpayer's expense. 2/

This was widely reported in the media at the time (including RNZ), and spoke to the disorganisation & disarray in our Covid quarantining regime. 3/

At the time the Spinoff @TheSpinoffTV said "...it shows whoever was holding the clipboard at the front door didn’t know who was on the list and who wasn’t, which is a worry when you’re talking about a facility for quarantining people who might have a highly infectious disease" 4/

Except it never happened.

5/

At today's 1PM briefing Ashley Bloomfield confirmed Woodhouse's claims can't be verified "and may well be urban legend."

Bloomfield was being polite.
Woodhouse lied for party-political gain.

But here we are, five days after it was headline news, & the damage has been done. 6/

That such an incendiary claim by a politician wasn't verified BEFORE being presented as news speaks volumes about a lack of tradecraft & ethics.

But there'll be no looking back, no mea culpas, no consequences, and no lessons learned in this fast-paced infotainment world. end/

Listened with interest to Jesse Mulligan's RNZ interview with Jack Vowles on how irresponsible reporting on Covid quarantining has caused needless public fear & uncertainty. One thing he didn't cover was the media's breathless relaying of scuttlebutt from the National Party. 1/

For example Nat MP Michael Woodhouse claimed a homeless man scammed his way into an Auckland isolation hotel. Supposedly that person gained access by standing in the same queue of arriving isolationists and spent the next couple of weeks living it up at the taxpayer's expense. 2/

This was widely reported in the media at the time (including RNZ), and spoke to the disorganisation & disarray in our Covid quarantining regime. 3/

At the time the Spinoff @TheSpinoffTV said "...it shows whoever was holding the clipboard at the front door didn’t know who was on the list and who wasn’t, which is a worry when you’re talking about a facility for quarantining people who might have a highly infectious disease" 4/

Except it never happened.

5/

At today's 1PM briefing Ashley Bloomfield confirmed Woodhouse's claims can't be verified "and may well be urban legend."

Bloomfield was being polite.
Woodhouse lied for party-political gain.

But here we are, five days after it was headline news, & the damage has been done. 6/

That such an incendiary claim by a politician wasn't verified BEFORE being presented as news speaks volumes about a lack of tradecraft & ethics.

But there'll be no looking back, no mea culpas, no consequences, and no lessons learned in this fast-paced infotainment world. end/

A couple of links to Jack Vowles interviews/articles today:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/afternoons/audio/2018751865/media-over-reacting-to-new-covid-19-cases-in-nz-academic https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2020/06/23/1243845/the-media-needs-to-calm-down

https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/afternoons/audio/2018751865/media-over-reacting-to-new-covid-19-cases-in-nz-academic