Last week, we looked at how Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking had contradicted himself on Covid-19 nearly every week in March.
Heather Du Plessis-Allan on Friday vs Heather Du Plessis-Allan on Tuesday Photo: NZME
Hear Hayden's weekly catch-up with Bryan Crump here: Midweek Mediawatch
The talkback host argued the reaction to Covid-19 was hysterical and also that we should’ve shut down the country over the virus sooner. He urged the government not to be too hasty intervening in the economy, then criticised it for being too slow to deliver economic stimulus.
He seemed like a man plagued by a kind of amnesia, unable to remember what he’d said the day before. Sadly, his affliction appears to be spreading in the Newstalk offices.
On Friday, the station’s Drive host Heather du Plessis-Allan argued strongly for Health Minister David Clark to be sacked for driving to a Dunedin cycle track to ride his mountain bike.
Her article, headlined ‘The Health Minister should be fired’ was published on Friday, April 3.
Heather Du Plessis-Allan on Friday Photo: Supplied
On Tuesday, du Plessis-Allan came out with another editorial. It was headlined ‘Firing David Clark would have done more harm than good’.
Heather Du Plessis-Allan on Tuesday Photo: Supplied
There are some similarities in the facts asserted by Friday du Plessis-Allan and Tuesday du Plessis-Allan, but they appear to have used them to draw opposing conclusions.
Friday du Plessis-Allan argued that firing Ardern would make her seem strong.
“It'll show she does have some standards in her cabinet. It'll show she does have some of the strength required to fire someone,” she said.
In Friday du Plessis-Allan’s eyes, Clark was irrelevant and expendable anyway.
“The fact that he's in Dunedin when the country's response to the biggest health crisis in 102 years is being run out of Wellington tells you everything.”
Tuesday du Plessis-Allan argued that Ardern didn’t need to fire Clark to look strong.
“Everything she’s doing at the moment with every twist of this pandemic response makes her look strong,” she said.
Firing Clark would be a bad move because it would show Clark is irrelevant, Tuesday du Plessis-Allan claimed.
“Admitting that would be admitting the calibre of the cabinet is so weak this was the best they could do for a crucial ministry like health,” she said.
Both these debaters have justifiable positions, but it’s hard to reconcile the fact that their arguments are emerging from the same mind.
Maybe the recurring amnesia afflicting Hosking has claimed another high-profile personality in the same office.
There is another possible explanation though.
Last week NZME shut down Radio Sport, let go several regular columnists, and signalled further redundancies were coming, citing a huge hit to its advertising revenue during the Covid-19 crisis.
Perhaps it’s rationalising talkback costs as well by urging its on-air staff to hold every possible opinion at the same time.
