I guess I could become Bernard's 2nd "dickhead" but we already know of each other from Twitter and the occasional questions I've directed Bernard's way when he does public interest journalism presentations at Otago so I prefer to stay away. I certainly would not pay to read his drivel. And I cannot, for the life of me, name a single New Zealand Journalist right now who deserves anybody's respect whatsoever. Not even Nicky Hagar who fell in with the Labour Government of Ardern's.
I think that you'll find that Ardern is despised in NZ far more than she is "loved".
Thanks for your thoughts. I find it wonderfully hilarious that you think Facebook is more of a cesspool than Twitter! I don't know which of them is worse, having never been on Facebook (I am happily married so don't need to stalk exes and I don't like cat videos), and having been booted off Twitter in the past...
Keep up the great work. Some of my fondest memories are from time spent on Waiheki Island...
Thanks Christopher. Facebook is heavily used by 80% of the public, whereas twitter is more for news junkies and used by less than 20%, although it’s a 20% that’s more likely to subscribe. It’s my most effective channel after google, with Substack’s own network effect third, but rising fast.
LOVE that Mr. Hickey uses chat to source questions in the middle of a press conference. What reader could resist that level of engagement? The reader gets to play reporter!
Now I just need to know—what the heck is a "curly question"?
Imagine ?! ... a reporter asking pointed questions ... we haven't that in the U.S. for YEARS ! ( well, 22 months anyway ) ... sure glad we have no " dishonest bastards " in American politics
Thanks. We are lucky. We have virtually daily access to our Prime Minister and weekly access to most ministers in news conferences or standups, which I think are called gaggles in the US.
My brother-in-law is a KiWi 🥝. (Crazy bustards.) Sounds like Hickey fills an important vacuum. Good for him! I’m not ready as a Substack writer for the chat function; I need some reader-boundaries still. Yet I do see how helpful that can be. Interesting read!
We seem to have a ‘crisis’ in every Government department, (health, education, roading, housing , infrastructure etc etc! In my opinion there have been major distractions, e.g. Climate change and Te Rao Māori. These distractions have come about through the influence of the minor political parties, who were not a actually elected at the last election. The last elections gave a clear mandate for Labour to govern alone, they ignored that mandate. I believe they completely misunderstood what NZ. voted for. The mess we find ourselves in therefore lies solely with Labour strategists.
Traditional Labour and National governments have been reliable custodians, it is when we get ‘whacky’ minorities we get distracted, and in my opinion we have certainly been distracted from the basic’s over the last few years. Warren Buffett sticks to the basics and he has been tremendously successful.
To be fair I think that Warren Buffet has been paying some of those 'whacky minorities'. I had thought that he was free of it but I saw something recently that puts him deep in the shit (ka ka).
Thanks for this insight into your Substack. Mine is still relatively new and I’m working on developing a following before offering new options for paid subscribers, but I’ve made a note of a few great ideas to try in the future. 1. Open chat to paid subscribers. 2. Plan chats for when I’m in an interesting environment (my Substack is about Place Writing so I could be quite creative with this option). 3. Get my ass over to LinkedIn and start spreading the word over there. (I’ve got a good number of contacts there but rarely visit. Already buzzing on Twitter! And I also avoid the cesspit k/a FB.)
Thank you to the Substack team for the article! You people are doing fantastic work, and I'm glad to be standing on your enormous shoulders. https://idlebreakout.io
Please stay on-topic. We want this publication to support thoughtful discussion around writers’ work. It is not a place for irrelevant rants or off-topic digressions. https://on.substack.com/p/community-guidelines
Many thanks to the Substack team for the writeup! You guys are doing great work and I’m enjoying standing on the shoulders of your giant work.
Impressive to have your prime minister as a subscriber (!)
Not really. In New Zealand we have the "Public interest journalism fund"
The Prime Minister is therefore the employer of all NZ Journalists. Otherwise known as fascism.
I guess I could become Bernard's 2nd "dickhead" but we already know of each other from Twitter and the occasional questions I've directed Bernard's way when he does public interest journalism presentations at Otago so I prefer to stay away. I certainly would not pay to read his drivel. And I cannot, for the life of me, name a single New Zealand Journalist right now who deserves anybody's respect whatsoever. Not even Nicky Hagar who fell in with the Labour Government of Ardern's.
I think that you'll find that Ardern is despised in NZ far more than she is "loved".
Thanks for your thoughts. I find it wonderfully hilarious that you think Facebook is more of a cesspool than Twitter! I don't know which of them is worse, having never been on Facebook (I am happily married so don't need to stalk exes and I don't like cat videos), and having been booted off Twitter in the past...
Keep up the great work. Some of my fondest memories are from time spent on Waiheki Island...
Thanks Christopher. Facebook is heavily used by 80% of the public, whereas twitter is more for news junkies and used by less than 20%, although it’s a 20% that’s more likely to subscribe. It’s my most effective channel after google, with Substack’s own network effect third, but rising fast.
The kaka is a funny title... 😏
Thanks! A double meaning. The Kaka is a rare native parrot in New Zealand, but it’s making a comeback. Does a lot of screeching and swooping.
Cool. 😎
LOVE that Mr. Hickey uses chat to source questions in the middle of a press conference. What reader could resist that level of engagement? The reader gets to play reporter!
Now I just need to know—what the heck is a "curly question"?
Hi Anne, I'll steal the Collins dictionary answer: in NZ and Australia 'curly' can mean "difficult to counter or answer"
Ah that is very satisfying. Thank you!
Imagine ?! ... a reporter asking pointed questions ... we haven't that in the U.S. for YEARS ! ( well, 22 months anyway ) ... sure glad we have no " dishonest bastards " in American politics
Very inspiring, Bernard - - Congratulations
Thanks. We are lucky. We have virtually daily access to our Prime Minister and weekly access to most ministers in news conferences or standups, which I think are called gaggles in the US.
My brother-in-law is a KiWi 🥝. (Crazy bustards.) Sounds like Hickey fills an important vacuum. Good for him! I’m not ready as a Substack writer for the chat function; I need some reader-boundaries still. Yet I do see how helpful that can be. Interesting read!
Michael Mohr
‘Sincere American Writing’
https://michaelmohr.substack.com/
Thanks Michael. I’ve found limiting the chat to paying subscribers only really improves the tone and quality
Thank you Bernard, many to learn! 🙏
We seem to have a ‘crisis’ in every Government department, (health, education, roading, housing , infrastructure etc etc! In my opinion there have been major distractions, e.g. Climate change and Te Rao Māori. These distractions have come about through the influence of the minor political parties, who were not a actually elected at the last election. The last elections gave a clear mandate for Labour to govern alone, they ignored that mandate. I believe they completely misunderstood what NZ. voted for. The mess we find ourselves in therefore lies solely with Labour strategists.
Traditional Labour and National governments have been reliable custodians, it is when we get ‘whacky’ minorities we get distracted, and in my opinion we have certainly been distracted from the basic’s over the last few years. Warren Buffett sticks to the basics and he has been tremendously successful.
Ian Collie
Te Anau
To be fair I think that Warren Buffet has been paying some of those 'whacky minorities'. I had thought that he was free of it but I saw something recently that puts him deep in the shit (ka ka).
Thanks for this insight into your Substack. Mine is still relatively new and I’m working on developing a following before offering new options for paid subscribers, but I’ve made a note of a few great ideas to try in the future. 1. Open chat to paid subscribers. 2. Plan chats for when I’m in an interesting environment (my Substack is about Place Writing so I could be quite creative with this option). 3. Get my ass over to LinkedIn and start spreading the word over there. (I’ve got a good number of contacts there but rarely visit. Already buzzing on Twitter! And I also avoid the cesspit k/a FB.)
Thanks again!
Thank you to the Substack team for the article! You people are doing fantastic work, and I'm glad to be standing on your enormous shoulders. https://idlebreakout.io
Please stay on-topic. We want this publication to support thoughtful discussion around writers’ work. It is not a place for irrelevant rants or off-topic digressions. https://on.substack.com/p/community-guidelines
One thing that I've liked about Substack is that there is very little censorship.