David Cunliffe vs John Key selfies with Heather du Plessis Allan

matthew

In the last two days Heather du Plessis Allan has sent two selfies. One with David Cunliffe and one with John Key:

Heath_duPlessisAllan_on_Twitter__Pushing_up__DavidCunliffeMP_s_selfie_count_http___t_co_DO21z9r6Ue_and_Edit_Post_‹_Social_Media___the_2014_General_Election_—_WordPress
Banners_and_Alerts_and_Heath_duPlessisAllan_on_Twitter__Duck_face_was__johnkeypm_s_idea_http___t_co_jVgRcuXUKd

Now I don’t really get the whole duck face thing, but apparently it is a thing. But what has been interesting is the reaction on Twitter. Firstly the reaction in the last 20 hours to her selfie with David Cunliffe:

Heath_duPlessisAllan_on_Twitter__Pushing_up__DavidCunliffeMP_s_selfie_count_http___t_co_DO21z9r6Ue2

Not a lot of reaction, all of it focusing on the content of the selfie itself. But when it comes to the selfie with John Key:

Banners_and_Alerts_and_Heath_duPlessisAllan_on_Twitter__Duck_face_was__johnkeypm_s_idea_http___t_co_jVgRcuXUKd2

Banners_and_Alerts_and_Heath_duPlessisAllan_on_Twitter__Duck_face_was__johnkeypm_s_idea_http___t_co_jVgRcuXUKd_and_Edit_Post_‹_Social_Media___the_2014_General_Election_—_WordPress3

I am not the only one to see the disproportionate reaction:

Banners_and_Alerts_and_Colvin_on_Twitter__No_Twitter_reaction_to__hdpaNEWS_selfie_with_David_Cunliffe_yesterday__much_outrage_about_her_selfie_today_with_John_Key_

In the space of less than an hour there has already been more reaction to her selife with John Key than there has been in nearly 24 hours to her selfie with David Cunliffe. But the most interesting reactions are the ones calling into question the journalistic standing of Heather, and the show she works for, just because she posted this. If this tweet calls that standing into question, does the one with David Cunliffe call that into question as well? Or is it just because he is the leader of the National party?

 

UPDATE 1:

The questions around the selfies is still on going. Ana Samways from Sideswipe has been asking questions:

Banners_and_Alerts_and_Brodie_Kane_on_Twitter___hdpaNEWS__AnaSamways__katieabradford_this_guy_is__and_as_far_as_I_m_aware_he_s_a_pretty_handy_gallery_journalist__http___t_co_PIP2Fzq15u

Brodie Kane counters the press gallery element with:

Brodie_Kane_on_Twitter___hdpaNEWS__AnaSamways__katieabradford_this_guy_is__and_as_far_as_I_m_aware_he_s_a_pretty_handy_gallery_journalist__http___t_co_PIP2Fzq15u2

It still seems that the issue is with the fact that it is the Prime Minister in the selfie concerned. It is clear that there was not the same reaction to her selfie with David Cunliffe yesterday. Though when the exsistance of the selfie with David was pointed out to him, Giovanni said the following:

Banners_and_Alerts_and_Giovanni_Tiso_on_Twitter___hdpaNEWS_Didn_t_catch_it__but_balance_in_being_unprofessional_is_not_what_I_d_call_a_crowning_achievement___DavidCunliffeMP

Now the question of if it is acceptable behaviour for a reporter to take a selfie with a politician on the campaign trail is one worth discussing. But the focus so far has been on calling Heather’s status as a journalist into question because of the one particular selfie with the PM. I can understand the arguments about reporters and politicians retaining a distance, especially during the campaign. But I am uncertain as to if posting a selfie breaches that.

 

matthew

More Posts