Political commentators Ben Thomas (left) and Neale Jones Photo: RNZ crop
They say leader of the Opposition is the toughest job in politics – but the nation’s political commentariat might have a thing or two to say about that.
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After all, they have a thing or two to say about most things.
Scrutiny of “in-the-know” commentators has reached fever pitch during the Covid-19 lockdown, drawing the ire of many who see their reckons as inflammatory, needlessly divisive, sensationalist, and counter-productive.
Media outlets have been accused of stoking the flames of national disunity; commentators who’ve taken paid work with political parties have been eviscerated online for their perceived treachery.
So what’s the point of political commentary? What contribution does it make to broader public discourse?
Earlier this year, as Simon Bridges’ leadership of the National Party was coming to an end, the right-leaning political commentator Matthew Hooton abruptly quit Twitter – a platform he used liberally and forcefully to articulate his thoughts on the state of the nation.
For the past few weeks Hooton, who was a regular guest on RNZ’s Nine to Noon politics segment, had relentlessly criticised Bridges’ leadership – going so far as to describe the decision to call a leadership vote an “extraordinary act of political hara-kiri”.
After Bridges was rolled by Bay of Plenty MP Todd Muller, it emerged Hooton – who also has a column in the New Zealand Herald and appears as a commentator on a broad cross-section of media outlets – had taken a job in Muller’s communications team.
Cue outrage among political wonks.
“Some people were worried they’d been cheated”, says political commentator, former political editor, and current Dentons Kensington Swan partner Linda Clark.
“That essentially when he had been advocating being critical of Simon Bridges, he was actually preparing the case for Muller.
“I don’t think I did any commentary in that period, but if I’d done any I would’ve been equally critical of Bridges, and probably would’ve said pretty much the same thing as Matthew did.”
Many news shows in New Zealand use partisan commentators to help analyse and translate political machinations for their audience.
Stuff political editor and current Sunday Star-Times editor Tracy Watkins says many of these commentators are intimately acquainted with the inner working of politicians and political parties and can provide valuable insight into an often murky and obtuse world.
“The point of political commentary is to analyse what is being done on the political stage, and put into the context of what you as a political reporter or journalist are aware of from behind-the-scenes conversations.
“[Partisan commentators] have an inside knowledge – they understand the inner workings. They’ve been involved in the backroom, they know what happens when political operatives are making decisions, they know what sort of conversations are being had before we see what comes out in public.
“They lift the lid – they allow us to see under the hood, and see what’s happening in the machinery of government,” says Watkins.
But Linda Clark senses a certain sensationalism creeping into some political commentary – possibly stemming from the “entertainment-ification”, to coin a neologism, of politics.
“The commentators that really grate for me are not the Matthew Hootons or the Neale Joneses – the people who are ‘in the game’.
“The commentators – and I think they are political commentators, even though they would deny it vehemently – are the Mike Hoskings, the Kate Hawkesbys. The people who know very little about the subjects they talk about.
“They take no responsibility for the damage they do on the way through … and that’s much more damaging.
“The days when those kinds of broadcasters – who are great broadcasters, by the way – were employed to engage with an audience in just an entertaining way, that’s long gone. They’re meant to be opinion pushers now. And those opinions are political commentary.”
Clark says this can lead to an undesirable situation where political opinions are so starkly polarised, and positions so staunchly defended, that people refuse to entertain any arguments that don’t align with their own views.
She says political commentators can make valuable contributions to public discourse by providing a template for respectful dialogue and consideration of others’ viewpoints.
“One of the reasons we had such a positive community response to the first wave of Covid is because we could all look out for each other and see the value of our community working as a community.
“Political debate in a whole lot of countries is deliberately trying to break up that sense of community. And we have to resist that with every fibre in our bodies.
“And the way to resist that is to avoid extremists online. To block the people who use abuse. To block people who are, frankly, vile to other people. And to actively look for those people who want to have genuine and fruitful and constructive conversations.”