11 Nov 2018

Possible push polling polarises Porirua

From Mediawatch, 9:11 am on 11 November 2018
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Photo: RNZ

Last Wednesday the Dominion-Post splashed a story across its front page under the headline: "Mayor's family 432km  away." Mediawatch suggests the real story was far closer to home: a poll asking questions about the living arrangement of Porirua mayor Mike Tana that could well be a case of dirty politics.

Wednesday's  lead story in the Dominion Post began: "Two years after he won the Porirua mayoralty, Mike Tana’s family still lives 432 kilometres away in Rotorua."

But that was just plain wrong. Mike Tana’s family home in Titahi Bay is actually 438.5 kilometres from the Western Heights house in Rotorua where his wife and six kids are currently living.

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Photo: Google: screenshot

But more seriously, why was it front page news? As the story points out Mike Tana says a change in circumstances - his dad having a stroke - has delayed the relocation of his family.

It's true that some councillors aren't satisfied with that answer. Cr Anita Baker told the Dominion Post it was "a bloody disgrace."

"He's told us from the beginning they would move here and every year they don't.It's not satisfactory and I've heard people in the community say if it's not good enough for his family why should it be good enough for theirs?"

But it wasn't that dissatisfaction that sparked the story - it was the fact that word had got out of a poll being conducted that included a question about the mayor's travel to see his family in Rotorua. And that was the one element of the story that elevated it above petty political bickering.

The paper said it was not known who had commissioned the phone poll and that Mike Tana said it had asked "loaded questions motivated by political manoeuvring."

So who was behind the poll? What types of questions were being asked? And could it be that the purpose of the poll was to try and turn Mike Tana’s domestic life into a political football?

The Dominion Post article didn’t answer or even pose any of those questions.

A woman who was rung by the pollsters told Mediawatch the question about Mike Tana’s family living in Rotorua left her with the impression that he was commuting between the two cities if not on a daily basis more than once a week –  a far cry from the once a month Mike Tana claims he’s headed north to see his family

Mediawatch spoke to two professional pollster who both said if they had to guess they would say the poll had been commissioned by someone thinking about making a run in next year’s mayoral race.

They said it wasn’t uncommon for political candidates or parties to do so-called message testing polls that seek to find out how the public responds to particular issues.

And the pollsters agreed it that it wasn't technically a push poll – the practice of using a negative poll to push rumours about a political candidate. Push polls usually involve phoning large numbers of people and spread rumours rather than verifiable facts.

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Photo: STUFF: screenshot

But if the aim of whoever commissioned the poll was to get people talking about the mayor’s family’s living arrangement then you’d have to say a front page lead in the Dominion Post wasn’t a bad start.

The  absence of some key facts from the story - such as Mike Tana living in his family home of 17 years in Titahi Bay where a number of his children were born - could have left some readers with the impression that he was just an ambitious outsider who had moved to the city to kick start a life in politics.

Newstalk ZB and Radio Live both had Mike Tana on their Wellington morning shows as a result of the Dominion Post story.

The question of dirty politics was mentioned by both Mark Sainsbury on Radio Live and Heather du Plessis Alan on Newstalk ZB but the focus on both interviews was very much on the rights of wrongs of Mike Tana's family continuing to live in Rotorua.

But if the Porirua Facebook page – with its 30,000 plus members – is anything to go by many locals weren'’t impressed with the media focus on Mike Tana's family.  Comments in support of the mayor were running nine to one in his favour with one post in support of him attracting more than 400 likes.

Many of the posts questioned the decision to run the story and the attitudes of those criticising the mayor. One woman wrote: "Ultimately, he can't order or demand his wife and family join him here in Porirua,.... anymore than he can order his father not to have a stroke.... it’s not the 1940s. It’s a low blow and most people in Porirua will see it as such. You don't go for the family."

And that’s a bit of advice we in the media should take to heart.