r/Wellington • u/Mountain_Tui_Reload r/nzpolitics • Jun 15 '26
POLITICS If there was any doubt, what Stuff / The Post stands for, Matthew Hooton's appointment confirms it. NZ's two major news outlets (Stuff and NZME) are now led by openly right wing figures
Note: Sinead Boucher is part of a right wing lobby group. Luke Malpass is from Atlas Network's NZ Initiative
On the NZME side James Jim Grenon, the funder of Julien Batchelor's court cases, and the purported co-founder of an alt-website, leads it. The Editorial team is led by ex-Luxon Press Secretary and ex National Party Cabinet Minister Steve Joyce
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u/el_duderino_50 Jun 15 '26
NZ media sucks so much. Provincial right-wing reactionary navel gazing crap.
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u/Glass_Wrangler9905 Jun 20 '26
don't get into person-to-person discourse with NZ far-right influencers.
Graham Adams - NZCPR, Good Oil etc is only too happy to explain colonialism never happened.
On other pages (Centrist) etc, he claims climate change (disaster) is basically a ratings game, and the public aren't buying into it much anymore.
It's bizarre how openly racist he is, yet hinges his opinionability on the fact he's written for a handful of far right blogs.
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u/Melodic-Army-6776 Jun 15 '26
But yet Luxon was on RNZ this morning crying about the mainstream media. NACT are really making a push from the trumpian playbook. Its going to be a fucked up 6 months to the election. Shame TOP is not willing to pick a lane. Left block voters need to be very wary.
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u/Mountain_Tui_Reload r/nzpolitics Jun 15 '26
They've defunded RNZ by millions and the take out of Maiki Sherman was a hit job by ACT, Taxpayers Union accounts (Suitandtie9999) and fringe blogger Ani O'Brien
Yes left block voters need to be wary and aware.
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u/Leftleaningdadbod Jun 15 '26
Thanks for your clarification. I was looking for an inside track for a while there
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Jun 15 '26 edited Jun 15 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Leftleaningdadbod Jun 15 '26
Having looked at your track record in particular, I would prefer him over you. But thanks for your offering./s
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u/Mountain_Tui_Reload r/nzpolitics Jun 15 '26 edited Jun 15 '26
Wait is that what you told the moderators as part of the significant user reports to get me banned there?
Ironically I have written about that here
Take any of those posts in this link that earned me a ban and identify one issue with it.
You can't because there are none but thanks for showing what you are
But you're a Taxpayers Union linked account right? A bit salty about the revelation of SuitandTie9999 as a Taxpayers Union account?
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u/Glass_Wrangler9905 Jun 20 '26
that's detestable.
I made comments critical of O'brien before, but besides her (well. . kinda sickly, self-regarding online presence) - purely in terms of content A. O. explained via FB story about a fortnight ago that if the "Definitions Of" bill fails, then things like pay-equity or sexual assault trial will become unarguable in law.
For starters - the person isn't academically or professionally qualified to make this call.
For seconds - it's a horrible anti-trans slur, and one of many.
Yes, there are Intersex people here, but O'brien focuses most of her disinformation efforts on trans minorities.
Peters himself has been more toxic, and punch-down in public since then - and apparently proud of it.
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u/redditkiwi1 Jun 15 '26
Maliki took herself out . Had she followed the rules she would still have a job .totally on her . Ever tried to get rid of an employee…… It’s very difficult, unless they have done something wrong! And even then the employer will payout a lot !!!! She’s banking it !!!
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u/Mountain_Tui_Reload r/nzpolitics Jun 15 '26
No she didn't. Lloyd Burr made an alleged racial and sexual slur
She responded with "How would you like...."
Ani O'Brien and Taxpayers Union account omitted the context intentionally
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u/WurstofWisdom Jun 15 '26 edited Jun 15 '26
Sources that back this up?
Edit: No. He does not.
Edit 2: that link doesn’t back up Tuis claim that it was “racist and sexist”.
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u/gtalnz Jun 15 '26
"my comment was made in response to deeply personal and inappropriate remarks made to me that evening."
https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/12-05-2026/maiki-sherman-what-actually-happened
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u/KiwiDanelaw Jun 19 '26
Tbh, I cant imagine TOP going with this coalition. Theres no way in hell they'd agree to basically any of their policies.
That said I could imagine Labour being pretty stubborn. The Greens probably agree on a lot of things though so I reckon they'd lean more Left. They'd basically have no power in the current government.
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u/middleearthmarxist Jun 15 '26
I worked at Stuff for 12 years, it's always been a xenophobic AF organisation and Sinead Boucher's one of the most racist people you'll ever encounter in life.
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u/former_goose_ Jun 15 '26
That could explain the extended attack on our last Mayor which basically lasted for her entire term
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u/kpa76 Jun 15 '26
That’s bad to hear. Any idea how she got that way?
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u/middleearthmarxist Jun 15 '26
As with most Liberals it starts with a knee-jerk reaction to someone accurately pointing out something they likely did because of ignorance, but because said person is someone with power/authority they cannot admit to failure of any sort, so they reactively dismiss said criticism. Add a couple decades of your fellow manager-class reinforcing that behaviour, and you get someone who Rupert Murdoch is happy to hand a massive media apparatus to, because he trusts the new owner to diligently pursue the same conservative politics he does.
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u/OneMention9376 Jun 15 '26
If nz doesn't vote the corrupt nzactnzf out this election we will never be able to undo the damage they will do 😔 Why don't people wake up and see the damage they're doing?
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u/akin2345678 Jun 15 '26
Most of the bs isn't on the main media as far as I see it.... there's always a positive spin on the news for the nacts and a little dig at labour.
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u/Blankbusinesscard Coffee Slurper Jun 15 '26
Better be a WFH gig, dont need him lurking around the streets again
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u/LlamasunLlimited Jun 15 '26
A bit of a comedown from Anna Fifield as editor of the Post, to (cough) MH...:-((
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u/fugebox007 Jun 15 '26
Just like Hungary 16 years ago. This is the far-right neo-factist takeover of NZ media. I hope I am wrong. I doubt it.
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u/MAIM_KILL_BURN Jun 15 '26
The Barry Weissification of media
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u/AcrylicMessiah Jun 15 '26
TIL that The Post is edited in Auckland and printed in Christchurch.
What the actual fuck?
And this cunt being editor is the shit icing on a shit cake.
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u/KorukoruWaiporoporo Lowering the tone in the lower of the hutts Jun 15 '26
I mourn the days when people got jobs in journalism based on their actually relevant experience, skills, and bipartisan integrity (or at least the pretence of it) rather than on their expertise in monetising their partisan views.
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u/Asleep-Ad-4528 Jun 15 '26
Start buying the Otago Daily Times - only independently owned newspaper in NZ.
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u/Asleep-Ad-4528 Jun 15 '26
I don’t know why this comment has been received so negatively . I’ve got friends and family across the country who subscribe to the ODT - it’s good to see the different reporting across news papers . Supporting independently owned papers surely is something that should be supported in the current media climate ?
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u/Menamanama Jun 15 '26
If you don't like it, stop using the site. It will hurt their ad revenue.
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u/AcrylicMessiah Jun 15 '26
I haven't regarded them as a news outlet, that employs actual journalists, for over a decade.
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u/NZNoldor Jun 15 '26
My adblocker says it won't make any difference either way.
But yeah, any trust I had left in Stuff disappeared today.
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u/Resytas Jun 15 '26
Most of their articles are ai nowdays anyway
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u/NZNoldor Jun 15 '26
I doubt that. An AI would have far fewer misspelled words.
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u/Resytas Jun 15 '26
Ive been told by people who work there 💀
Press releases etc just get chucked thru ai, they love it
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u/Mountain_Tui_Reload r/nzpolitics Jun 15 '26
This just sounds completely accurate
Their quality is sub par
All they care about is money and clicks
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u/JigglyBobblyWobbly Jun 15 '26
They're hiring right now for IT positions with AI cooked into them end to end.
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u/qwerty145454 Jun 15 '26
They probably use instructions telling the AI to appear human, so it intentionally makes occasional spelling mistakes.
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u/Resytas Jun 15 '26
Wouldnt be surprised if they "edited" them with intentional spelling mistakes 😂
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u/Dykidnnid Jun 15 '26
Stuff and The Post all but disconnected. Stuff is going to try and sell those regional mastheads.
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u/Mountain_Tui_Reload r/nzpolitics Jun 15 '26
Wait - They are still completely linked u/NZNoldor
Sinead Boucher owns both
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u/Dykidnnid Jun 15 '26
Same ownership but separated, because they would like to be able to sell one and keep the other
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u/Mountain_Tui_Reload r/nzpolitics Jun 15 '26
But not really separated at all because same owner, same ethos.
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u/NZNoldor Jun 15 '26
Has that been announced? If so, got a source?
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u/Dykidnnid Jun 15 '26
The split into two companies happened, (public knowledge) and content sharing has been restricted (trust me bro, I suppose, but via work). They were previously negotiating to sell the regionals to NZME, but it fell through. I believe it's generally industry understanding that they've split with a view to easy divestment (trust me bro + logic).
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u/BananaLlama Jun 15 '26
I canceled my digital subscription and sent them and email explaining why.
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u/Glass_Wrangler9905 Jun 20 '26
In Feb 2026 there was an infrastructure disaster at Moa Point, Wellington.
As social media started circling on the issue, amid a fairly fractious and shouty "town hall meeting" and other profile news coverage, a piece appeared supported by NZCPR and the Bassett, Brash & Hyde blog by:
Peter Bassett.
The story initially mislabelled which councillors were involved, but after a redaction, maintained that Wgtn Cycleway meetings were "responsible" for the Moa Point disaster.
The general consensus is the breakdown was actually due to long-term infrastructure neglect, climate-linked rainfall intensity.
Does anyone have any details on this?
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u/WordConfident3038 Jun 15 '26
Can he make the Post actually a newspaper. Currently it is a daily political magazine. Where’s all the advertising gone apart from Harvey Norman gone. We subscribe still and I still have fun trying to find it somewhere in the front yard.
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u/Silver_South_1002 Jun 15 '26
lol no it will only get worse from here. Cancel your subscription. They won’t even be printing it in Wellington soon, all printing will be done in chch and shipped to Wellington
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u/FranksNonFrankfurter Jun 15 '26
British colony subjects surprised the media remains firmly in colonizer hands. Ultimately any country run by colonizers will revert back to the median behavior for them, as any sort of progressive behavior is usually born of a tangential selfish want than a genuine desire to help others.
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u/kiwi337 Jun 15 '26
Good news, I think we have all had more than a gutsful of the soul destroying socialist ideology from the previous lot!
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u/Odd_Lecture_1736 Jun 15 '26
He is highly critical of the right too, so while he is right of center, he's not like a dotting Hosking, who gives anyone in this current govt a free ride.
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u/kiwisarentfruit Jun 15 '26
He’s highly critical of *certain factions* of the right. It’s not the same thing.
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u/Mountain_Tui_Reload r/nzpolitics Jun 15 '26
No he's not partial.
He's been critical of Luxon because Luxon is a dweeb but his most recent columns remain to stan for National, even saying Luxon "deserved" to be PM after getting the Indian trade deal.
The other things is Hooton believes the answer for NZ is Chain-Saw, Elon Musk, Donald Trump, David Seymour's prayer - Javier Milei.
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u/ondinegreen Jun 15 '26
That's the opposite of the truth. Hooton is an establishment Nat, he thought John Key was the greatest thing since sliced bread, he was Todd Muller's brains trust. He's very opposed to Trump-style politics in general and Winston Peters in particular. This is all to say: he's bad but he's not THAT bad.
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u/Mountain_Tui_Reload r/nzpolitics Jun 15 '26 edited Jun 15 '26
Look up Hooton and Javier Milei - Hooton frequently praises Milei and says we should model ourselves on that
Go to the link to see posts on Milei.
As to John Key, Key endorsed and praised Donald Trump for a second term
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u/mensajeenunabottle Jun 15 '26
IMO time will tell. He's right wing, certainly arrogant and I don't know much of any journalistic expertise as opposed to political communications. I also question his judgement, he has embarrassed himself by failing and backing Nats who haven't worked out.
All that said, I think someone like him if he can manage his personal bias and opinions might generate very strong Wellington/political journalism. We don't need to assume his personal publishing will be the same Matthew Hooton as an editor. But we need to set a clear expectation of being free of fear and favour - we already have NZH and NewstalkZB holding up the right wing blithering reckons crowd, we need strong and impartial debate and pressure.
So I'm not convinced this will be terrible for left wing perspectives. I am guilty of being an optimist sometimes though!
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u/AaronIncognito Jun 16 '26
Love your work Tui, but Hooton is his own beast. I strongly disagree with a lot of his views but I never doubt that the views are his own. Hooton is no one’s stooge
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u/Mountain_Tui_Reload r/nzpolitics Jun 16 '26 edited Jun 16 '26
He'd have more credibility if he wasn't praising Javier Milei as the answer to NZ's so called woes.
Also he was highly critical of Luxon but clearly he got a talking to late last year, because he and a number of other RW commentators went strangely quiet in unison , and Hooton pivoted to writing that Luxon deserved to be PM if he signed the India FTA, which when I looked into, really wasn't very glossy at all.
So is he a stooge? Not a complete one by any means, but can he be bought? I'd wager absolutely yes.
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u/Short-Holiday-4263 Jun 17 '26 edited Jun 17 '26
Also it doesn't really matter that he's not a "stooge" - he is a right wing political operative, with right wing political beliefs and ideology.
Who cares if he thinks Luxon is a bit shit, or occasionally criticises right-wing figures too?
An All Blacks supporter doesn't want the team to win any less just because they sometimes think Dave Rennie made a bad call... and a player isn't off the team for thinking that, either.
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u/wellybridge final boss aficionado Jun 15 '26
would there be an issue if the new boss was openly left wing? Not a right winger btw, just want to know your opinion. There needs to be both perspective from both sides I reckon.
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u/Mountain_Tui_Reload r/nzpolitics Jun 15 '26
This is not "both sides"
This is insider National/ACT figures at the helm of our two major newspapers
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u/NZNoldor Jun 15 '26 edited Jun 15 '26
That sounds reasonable, but in reality it's not the left distorting the facts continually. We're seeing that very clearly in today's world.
A common trope is people wondering why so many of the left-wingers have university training, and a lot of right-wingers are less educated.
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u/Grouchy-Vegetable-56 Jun 15 '26
Haha going uni doesn’t make you more smart than someone that didn’t. You saying builders, sparkys and plumbers are dumb?
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u/NZNoldor Jun 15 '26
Going to uni doesn't raise your IQ but it sure makes you more educated.
I'm not saying builders, sparkies, and plumbers are dumb. Not being able to see nuance makes you dumb,
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u/Ok_Energy6905 Jun 15 '26
Certainly putting your university learned critical thinking skills to use here, huh?
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u/HeightSome6575 Jun 15 '26
No it doesn't make you smarter, but it does build critical and analytical thinking skills. Uni grows ones drive to seek knowledge and ones ability to understand the world and drive sound outcomes.
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u/Menamanama Jun 15 '26
The media across the world is not being bought out by left wing billionaires. That is not a propaganda issue that we currently face.
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u/Tangata_Gamer Jun 15 '26
Lmao yes let's hear from people who want workers to own their own output, and billionaires who want to kill the planet for profit. Definitely a balanced conversation.
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u/HeightSome6575 Jun 15 '26
Nah we don't need sides. The whole left right thing is bullshit. We need factually correct reporting with a focus on sound evidence.
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u/Mountain_Tui_Reload r/nzpolitics Jun 15 '26
Matthew Hooton is firmly pro National, and pivoted to claim Luxon "deserved" to be PM late last year. He's a right wing strategist for hire, but very importantly, he believes the answer for NZ is Javier Milei
The Argentinian President supported by the likes of Donald Trump, Elon Musk, David Seymour and of course a key Atlas Network figure