There is a stark difference between Jacinda Ardern refusing to be interviewed by NewstalkZB’s Mike Hosking, and Judith Collins deciding to pull out of interviews with Radio NZ (Susie Ferguson) and Newshub (Tova O’Brien).

In the case of Ardern she is the Prime Minister, not the leader of the opposition. She therefore has to be much more accountable. Secondly, the reason the PM preferred not to be interviewed by Hosking was obviously because he asked her hard questions about policy.

After refusing to appear with Hosking, Ardern turned up on other shows answering questions about her Trade Me purchases and playing infantile games, making it clear what the real reason was for ending a twenty year tradition. (see video)

Judith Collins on the other hand is complaining because Ferguson and O’Brien will not talk about policy but are intent on driving the narrative that she must resign or that a leadership challenge is imminent, and this is all they can talk about. They’ve badgered her on this for all of the year.

Anyone foolish enough to listen to Radio NZ and the Scottish Communist Susie Ferguson knows that she has never interviewed the opposition leader without her political bias and open contempt for Collins being the most standout feature of every such discussion. Ferguson’s lack of professional objectivity is more annoying because she’s being paid by the taxpayer, and therefore has an increased responsibility to be impartial.

Tova O’Brien is much the same with the small difference that her animus against Collins is more personal than political. She also works for a private company, and therefore is not under quite the same degree of obligation to be objective as Ferguson. Nevertheless her company has accepted generous grants from the Ardern govt, so on a moral basis, this should make O’Brien a little more circumspect in her behaviour. It doesn’t though.

O’Brien is now arguing that Collins won’t talk about the things that matter. Yet in yesterday’s presser, Tova was heard screeching endlessly over the rest of the press gallery. While they were asking questions about policy, all Tova wanted to ask about was a challenge by Simon Bridges.

Ferguson too said she wanted to ask Collins about personnel changes among her staff. Again, this is not a matter pressing to the multitude of NZers reeling under Covid restrictions and losing their jobs, income and businesses through vaguely substantiated lockdowns.

Ferguson and O’Brien both obsessively want to see Collins replaced as leader of the opposition, (each for slightly different reasons) but are both being completely unprofessional in allowing this neurosis to over ride any presumption of journalistic objectivity.

Collins has every right to refuse to be interviewed by psychoneurotic bitchy lefty fake newsers if she wants to, and she should do it more often.

If news media management hadn’t been completely infiltrated by the left, neither Tova O’Brien or Susie Ferguson would ever measure up as real journalists, and if said management ever decided to return to responsible, balanced and objective reporting, these two would be the first to lose their jobs.

Video below (from a couple of years ago) shows Tova O’Brien’s obsessive two year campaign to undermine Simon Bridges as National Party leader. She’s now doing the same with Judith Collins, and working with the same destabilising left wing forces within National. (Ms Collins should deal with left media confident Erica Stanford as she dealt with Todd Muller.)