Blogger declares politics-free zone

Poneke says no politics until after the election. mmm, righhht. Yeah. Sure.

I don't get it. Is it trying to be a spoof or something? Is it satire? I don't understand why everyone reads it. It doesn't make any sense.

It will be great fun to declare this blog a (New Zealand) politics free zone. And so I declare.

I declare you are an idiot - and also a liar. And since Poneke is in the habit of deleting entire posts I will reproduce it in total:
---------------------------------------------------July 3, 2008...6:20 pm
Time for a (New Zealand) politics-free zone till after the election. There is much more to life, including having some fun

The blogosphere is filling up with politics. That’s obviously because there must, by law, be a general election in New Zealand in the next four months. It’s hard for a blogger not to join the fray. I have resolved to keep right out of it, and confine this blog to the 99 per cent of other subjects that might get lost in the party politicking.

I’m a strong supporter of the democratic process and I believe we have a robust, healthy democracy in this country. I’ve also never engaged in party politics, on this blog or in real life. I am not politically partisan. I have known and liked many, many politicians of almost every party during my journalism career. I also believe that almost all of our MPs, of whatever party, seek election to work for the good of New Zealand and do their very best to live up to that. Governments and politicians must always be held to account and their activities scrutinised, but the increasing cynicism shown towards them by the media is one of the most corrosive forces in society and it is far from limited to New Zealand. The sewage pouring from some parts of the local blogosphere as the election campaign nears is a new and deeply disturbing development and far worse than anything in the mainstream media, made worse because overworked journalists are now reading blogs for their news tips and becoming influenced by what they find in the sewer, without time to ask if it stands up to scrutiny.

Time for a break from all that.

From now until the election, I am determined to have non-political fun. I still want to get into serious issues like international human rights; the Large Hadron Collider; the Peter Ellis case and other justice issues; medical and other charlatans like “psychics”; and aviation safety (which I write about because flying has never been safer). Not one late trolley bus is likely to escape my attention either. There will be a lot more about the joys of Wellington, and I will continue my critiquing of the media, hopefully not of its political coverage.

I want to continue to put current events into their historical perspective, something the media fails abysmally at, because it has lost its institutional memory as it has pursued celebrities and crime while hiring the youngest, cheapest , most inexperienced journalists it dares. I have always believed that the role of a journalist is to tell the public what is happening, not what to think. Crusading journalism that exposes wrongs in society is a powerful part of that. Facile, cynical, partisan journalism is not journalism in my book.

My aim from now on is just to do some good journalistic writing on topics that interest me, and there are many. By good writing, I mean writing that is literate, easy to read and has good spelling and grammar. Such writing has been my competitive advantage in the workplace. Judge the content how you will.

It will be great fun to declare this blog a (New Zealand) politics free zone. And so I declare.

Filed under Blogosphere, Journalism, New Zealand, Politics
Tags: 2008 general election
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What a waffly, naive, egotistical, pompous and patronising piece. I mean, did you love it:
Facile, cynical, partisan journalism is not journalism in my book.
But, Poneke - that entire sentence was facile, completely facile - as was everything else you said for that matter.

If Poneke's definition of good writing is:
writing that is literate, easy to read and has good spelling and grammar.
- then I can't think of a lower hurdle.

Such writing has been my competitive advantage in the workplace.
- really? Your being literate and having a spell check and grammar check functioning in Word has been your competitive advantage! What were you writing for - the Farmers catalogue?

Judge the content how you will.
Honestly, it is bordering on The Onion.

Not one late trolley bus is likely to escape my attention either.
- he's actually not kidding. This isn't a joke. The daily routine of catching a bus is recalled in minute detail.

The citing of inexperienced journalists is our invitation to contrast this situation (or cause of redundancy as the case may be) with Poneke the experienced journalist. An experienced journalist who would say:
From now until the election, I am determined to have non-political fun
Yeah, because, as a journo, the only time you would want to talk politics is after the election. Right.
Oh, but
I will continue my critiquing of the media, hopefully not of its political coverage.
Right. Because politicians deserve our utmost respect and all those young journos everywhere are inexperienced.

But the most beautiful line of all has to be when Poneke threatens his readers with writing:
a lot more about the joys of Wellington