Is the truth important NZ Herald???

Dear Members

RE Shane Te Pou Opinion piece in the Weekend Herald and online 14 July 2024

You may have seen the online article or read it in the Herald on Sunday 14 July 2024 .  It is a trash opinion piece by Shane Te Pou and in its first release it contained two major factual errors concerning mayoral candidate Greg Brownless.  Errors which could sway voters.   To publish such a divisive article in the last week of an election is deliberate meddling by the publishers of the Herald.

The revised article can be seen at Tauranga council election: It’s a choice about what kind of a city residents want it to be - Shane Te Pou - NZ Herald OR if this does not work click here to see an offline copy.

After protests the online version was slightly modified as  you can see.  There was no correction to the printed version.

The two false statements were:

a) that Greg Brownless had been "actively calling for a commission" and 
b) that he was mayor of a council with "in-fighting last time he was running the show" 

Those comments indicate that the author is either ignorant about Tauranga and/or is intentionally trying to take votes away from Brownless. 

In a way the correction of the first false statement has made things even worse, as it's left the second false statement in the article, ie “but you would have to worry it would be more of the same given the in-fighting last time he was running the show in 2016-2019” .and that shows the Herald is actively condoning it - rather than it being a possible oversight by your editorial team.

Brownless was renowned around Tauranga for being a diplomatic and democratic mayor who presided over a relatively uneventful council on a personality level.

PRRA has written to the NZME requesting that the Herald correct this disinformation asap with a front page article.  Waiting until after the election closes is too long.

The record needs to be made correct and the baseless innuendos of this article debunked.  The print version is attached to this email. and is the same as the original online version.

Make your feelings known to the NZME editors and CEO by email. We expect the press to offer a level playing field of fairness and correct information for this election.

CEO NZME   Michael.boggs@nzme.co.nz

Editor NZ Herald   murray.kirkness@nzme.co.nz

Editor BOP Times editor@bayofplentytimes.co.nz