My 2015 media award goes to James Shaw My media communicator of the year award goes to Greens co-leader James Shaw. He gets the award for the most consistent message and one I believe his whole party should follow. His entire focus is Environmental. He never comments on social issues. Admittedly, his spokesperson responsibilities as a Green MP are in this area, but as co-leader he has the ability to comment on any number of issues. Metiria Turei does this, but...

The big issue in yesterday’s debate in the race to become the Republican nominee for President was security. Most of the candidates clearly see this as the defining issue in who will win the race and subsequently the presidency. Donald Trump has focused on this for some time, culminating in his plan to ban Muslims entering Amercia. Yesterday most other candidates had a security focus, sometimes accusing their competitors of being weak on the issue. For example, Ted Cruz accused Marco...

Time will tell how damaging the three food recalls in the last two weeks will be to those involved, but it does highlight the need for any company to be ready for bad news. First it was frozen berries, then smoked ham and now suspected under-cookedsmoked chicken. The responses from the companies at the forefront have been mixed. Some important lessons can be learnt from these incidents. Firstly, it’s important to be prepared for them. It’s always a possibility, no matter...

There’s an old Mark Twain quote that says, “Never pick a fight with people who buy ink by the barrel”. This is relevant in Heather du Plessis-Allan’s gun saga with Police. The saying basically says ‘don’t pick a fight with the media because you’ll lose’. I must qualify this. I’m not saying Police shouldn’t investigate a case involving the media. But what I am saying is that if they do, they must be ready to respond immediately and defend their position....

Taylor Swift’s media mistake The failure of Taylor Swift to front up and acknowledge that too many vehicles were on Bethells Beach on Monday for her photo shoot has guaranteed that all media coverage around the issue is negative. Her crew were permitted to have two vehicles on the beach, but arrived in 12. The restriction is in place to protect the endangered dotterel birds that live on the beach. The issue has blown up on social media and that anger...

Jonah Loma was a great example to leading sportspeople about how to express themselves through the media. He was a bit raw when he first played for the All Blacks, but soon developed into an expert in front of the camera. What was his secret? He was always himself. People didn’t just like him for his rugby ability, but how he wore his heart on his sleeve. He let us into his life. He shared his feelings with us. He didn’t...

The comment John Key made in Parliament yesterday about rapists and child molesters has been taken out of context to make it sound worse than it was. This post is not written to debate the rights or wrongs of the comment, but to point out what it actually meant in context. I was in the public gallery at the time. The Prime Minister was asked what the Government was doing for the detainees. His response what that the best support was...

Labour have a great opportunity this weekend to launch a fresh party message and policies to back that up. But instead it appears they are going to fall into what I call ‘the Colin Craig trap.’ Let me explain. When media are either interviewing you or covering your conference, they will produce interesting stories. That’s their job. They’d get fired if they didn’t. So when Colin Craig responds to the question, “do you think chemtrails are a government conspiracy,” with, “I...

It’s rare for political parties with one MP to get much media attention. They get very few opportunities in Parliamentary Question Time, and few resources and time to devote to it. However, Act’s David Seymour has received his fair share over recent weeks. While media attention is par for the course for government’s and major oppositions, smaller parties need extra effort to stay on the media stage. It’s vital they remain in the minds of potential voters, otherwise many will not...

It’s well known that John Key is a natural when it comes to media interviews. He comes across as natural and in control. But what the novice may not realise is his ability to get his points through media gatekeepers and into news stories. Unless interviews are live, reporters will only take little snippets from interviews and place them in the final story. This is the same for TV, radio and print media. John Key is well aware of this so...