Bill Ralston blogs at Business Day
Adam does not know if many have come across it yet, but Bill Ralston now has a blog at Fairfax’s Business Day site. It is called Bill Ralston’s Media Scrum. Adam came across it when looking for an online version of material in the print edition of the DomPost business section.
One of his initial posts is called Outed by Winston in reference to Winston’s comments about Ralston in the House.
Ralston writes:-
He claims he is being persecuted by a media conspiracy. In the House, referring to the time when I headed news and current affairs, he alleged: “TVNZ have had two private investigators, detectives, sniffing around since they were sued for defamation some years ago, an action which is still alive today.”
This is completely untrue. In my time at TVNZ we never hired any private detectives to investigate him. Winston is fond of calling people ‘liars”. I will simply call him “mistaken”.
I am unsure which defamation action he refers to, because he has a few on the go, but if he is referring to his attempted legal action against TVNZ for 2006 stories we ran about him receiving financial donations, to the best of my knowledge that action has been struck out of the courts several times. Although his lawyers appear to have a bottomless pit of funds and keep lodging statements of claim so that action could still theoretically be termed “alive”.
Interesting to know what the name of the pit is?
Ralston suggests that Peters might have made a mistake in slagging off Phil Kitchin because of Kitchin’s investigative skills, noting:-
In fact Kitchin’s investigations in various TV and print stories have put several people behind bars, including the murderer of a small baby, and sparked those things Winston once loved – police investigations and Commissions of Inquiry.
It was Kitchin who broke the news of the disappearing $25,000 Bob Jones donation to the mysterious Spencer Trust. He has gone on to reveal another $20,000 donation to NZ First that does not appear on its register of declared donations.
Kitchin is tenacious, methodical and not easily intimidated in his investigative approach. Winston is a little unwise to try and dismiss him, as reported in the Dom Post, hanging up on him saying: “Phil I told you I’m not talking to a lying wanker like you. See you.”
Ralston concludes:-
It is hard to avoid the impression that Peters is becoming increasingly desperate and hysterical as Kitchin and the rest of the media pack close in. There is no “media conspiracy”, just a good story to be had. However, Winston should never think he’s paranoid.
They really are out to get him this time.
Adam hopes they succeed and have the patience to persevere.
It will be interesting to see how the blog goes and what sort of audience it attracts.
