Jim Mora’s off work today, but don’t get your hopes up: his replacement is Megan Whelan (March 7, 2018)

7 March 2018 at 4:46 pm

Jim Mora’s off work today, but don’t get your hopes up: his
replacement is the perky but shallow Megan Whelan
The Panel, RNZ National, Wednesday 7 March 2018
Megan Whelan, Scott Campbell, Holly Walker, Julie Moffett

MEGAN WHELAN: Do you say “daylight saving” or “daylight savings”?
HOLLY WALKER: I’ve always said “daylight saving.”
MEGAN WHELAN: Scott?
SCOTT CAMPBELL: Uh, I’m a daylight savings guy.

Scott Campbell is a National Party activist, and has stood out on this show for many years now as a particularly complacent and smug commentator on all manner of topics. On today’sPanel he distinguished himself by mouthing some less than intelligent sub-thoughts, with the worst being an incoherent attempt at explaining how Fijians living in poverty are all “happy” because “they don’t know they’re living in poverty”, and “they live in a nice place, so they’re lucky that people go over there and help them.”

Unbelievably, however, the confused ramblings of this National Party stooge were not the low point of today’s show. That came from the stand-in host Megan Whelan, who without a trace of irony moved smoothly from discussing the Trump regime’s internal shenanigans to North Korea, which she called “the rogue state”. Obviously this had been written down for her, and she hadn’t given it more than a second’s thought, but I thought it was worth drawing her attention to her lack of professionalism. I sent her the following email…..

Is North Korea the only “rogue state”?

Dear Megan,

You casually used the term “the rogue state” for North Korea. That is of course a reasonable descriptor for that state; however, it’s even more appropriate to describe the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. I have yet to hear you or anyone else on RNZ National use such highly prejudicial and charged language against those other, far more destructive, rogue states.

Yours in concern at journalistic standards and integrity,

Morrissey Breen
Northcote Point

More Megan Whelan mediocrity, for those who can bear it….
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-12-01-2018/#comment-1435304