Prime Minister John Key told news media today that they should stop covering stories about death, kidnapping and murder, and instead make special effort to cover possible legislation around fishing quotas.
At a scheduled press conference this morning, Key expressed his wariness with this week’s abundance of stories about peoples’ deaths, saying it was “too morbid” and made it “really not fun” to watch the news.
Key was drawn on this point when Campbell Live reporter Rebecca Wright asked him if he had any words for the family of a 32-year-old man who died in a horrific car accident on Auckland’s southern motorway this morning.
“My advice to you would be to talk about something else, Rebecca,” Key said, “then maybe more people would watch Campbell Live, but it’s up to you.”
“But I’m not asking you about something else,” replied Wright. “I’m asking you what you have to say to this man’s family.”
“Yeah, well, I think, frankly, most New Zealanders don’t really care about this. I think, you know, there are some people who like that sort of thing, but actually, I think most kiwis are sort of sick of seeing all this depressing stuff on the telly. They’d rather talk about something fun.”
“And why is that?” asked Wright
“Because they like to catch fish,” replied Key.
The Prime Minister then launched into a lengthy explanation about why fishing was “just great,” and if there was anything New Zealanders should be concerned about, it was his Government’s plans to introduce stricter quotas on the catching of snapper.
“That’s something I’d be really worried about,” he said.
Key said he would soon offer to take the nation on a fishing trip to “get away from all our problems,” and show us just how much fun fishing could be, but there were only four spaces left on the boat, so it was “first in, first served, really.”
“Except Nathan Guy,” he added. “He’s not invited.”
Mother of the deceased 32-year-old, Margaret Bailey, said she was disappointed that the Prime Minister did not offer her any words of condolence, but acknowledged that she did “like to catch fish,” and understood where he was coming from.
Sources from TVNZ and MediaWorks have confirmed that Key has submitted a broadcasting standards complaint against both TV One and TV3 for their lack of coverage of the snapper issue, in which he also expresses his concern that it has been “some time” since either station broadcasted 1995 Bond film GoldenEye.