John Key's manufactured interview

PM's office accused of censor
The office of Prime Minister John Key has been accused of censoring a talkback radio show after a staff member stopped a caller from questioning Mr Key about Muslim jokes made by Building Minister Maurice Williamson.

Victoria University student William Findlay said he was cleared by a producer to speak to Mr Key on October 13 during Justin Du Fresne's Newstalk ZB programme but a woman from Mr Key's office intervened.

Mr Findlay wanted to challenge the "inconsistency" between Mr Key's criticism of TVNZ host Paul Henry's lampooning of Governor-General Sir Anand Satyanand and his response to Muslim jokes made at a building industry dinner by Mr Williamson.

Mr Findlay said that several minutes after the producer cleared him to go on air, the woman from Mr Key's office came on the line and said the issue was being discussed with the Muslim community, and he could not speak to Mr Key.

"I said, `So I'm not going to get to ask the question?' and she said, `No, that's all we have to say."'

Quietly John Key has been shutting down all media interviews he can't directly control, RDU, bFM and Kiwi FM have all had their weekly interviews cut off so the chances to be able to hold the PM to account get fewer and fewer, why the National Party decided to censure questions about John Key's double standards when it comes to racism makes sense when Key himself has busted out cannibal jokes about Maori.

William Findley had every reason to ask about the "inconsistency" of how Key handed Paul Henry and his own Ministers comments yet he was simply cut off and told he couldn't ask that question. Being told which questions you ask and which ones you can't isn't really the point of offering up opportunities to question the PM and ZB should be ashamed of themselves for allowing that censorship to have gone ahead.

Not content to manufacture a crises at the Hobbit, John Key now wants to manufacture his interviews as well.