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Design: Archi Banal
Design: Archi Banal

BooksSeptember 26, 2024

‘He’s out to get me’: When John Key and Mike Hosking left the mics on

Design: Archi Banal
Design: Archi Banal

In this excerpt from Paddy Gower’s book, This Is The F#$%ing News: My Story, it’s 2011 and Gower has just taken over from Duncan Garner as political editor at 3News, making him the target of the prime minister’s distraction tactics.

Finally, I was running the show. I started with a purge to cleanse Duncan Garner from the office. I emptied out his desk. There was a curtain next to where he sat, and behind it on the windowsill was a stack of dinner plates, each with a fork and a bit of tomato sauce — a pile he’d been building there for God knows how long. There was a red high-heel shoe under the desk, among all sorts of shit. I wanted it all gone.

On my first day at the wheel, I called a team meeting at the Ministry of Food Cafe near Parliament. We were a relatively inexperienced team: Brook Sabin, who was a young gun, real smart; and Tova O’Brien. From the get-go, Tova had so much talent and drive, and I knew early on she’d go all the way and be one of the best political journalists ever. Tova had a gift: it was almost like she had X-ray vision capable of seeing straight through politicians’ bullshit.

I told Brook and Tova: “It’s about to get real now – everyone is going to be watching us.” I was conscious that I was nowhere near Duncan’s level yet. People were waiting for me to make mistakes, for our team to fail. Both Tova and Brook just nodded. They were fucking ready. We became the best team; they really had my back when I needed it most, and I’ll always be thankful for that.

Quickly, I was into the grind of being Pol Ed. You had to have eyes in the back of your head and be super-alert to every movement of the politicians and your opponents. There were set pieces like Cabinet on a Monday, caucus on a Tuesday, and the “bridge runs” – where government MPs on their way to the House came across the bridge that links the Beehive to Parliament. Reporters would talk to them on the black and white tiles. It was an opportunity to ask questions, and listen to what everyone else was up to. If you had a story you didn’t want anyone else to know about, you snuck across to the other side of the bridge, to what we called the “secret spot”. If you saw TVNZ there, it would put a huge fright up you. Were you about to be scooped? At any time of the day or night, things could break or you’d get a tip-off. I always answered my phone, no matter the time. It was 10 o’clock on a Monday night and my phone was ringing? There was no “nah, I’m finished for the day”. I answered it.

John Key (left), Paddy Gower (right). (Photo: Supplied)

As political editor, people often wanted my ear. Even the prime minister. About ten to six, I’d be in position waiting to do a live cross at the top of the six o’clock bulletin, going through my final preparations. Quite often the phone rang right then — and it was John Key. I was busy and I didn’t want to answer, but I couldn’t afford not to because it was the prime minister. What if he wanted to give me an update? What if he had a little nugget of info? More often than not, though, he’d just be wanting to put in his two cents’ worth, a last-minute bit of spin on the big story of the day before I went live. He did the same thing to Corin Dann, who had taken over as political editor at TVNZ.

Key pulled the same trick before set-piece interviews, too. You’d be about to start, getting your head in order, thinking through what questions to ask, and he’d sit down and start yapping away and distracting you with a bit of a gossip. It was hard to resist, because you didn’t want to miss out, but I reckon it was actually a tactic to try to stop you from zoning in.

Political editors really became the focus of the politicians’ attention any time you had a poll out. They were dying to know what was in it, to get ready to dissect it. After one poll, I was listening to Mike Hosking on Newstalk ZB because he was due to interview Key. It was the early days of streaming radio and I had tuned in via my office computer. They were on an ad break, and I suddenly realised I could hear Key and Hosking talking during the break – and they were talking about the poll and my coverage. Holy shit! Hosking was saying I was a bit of a character; he was being quite nice. But Key said, “He’s out to get me.” Did he just say that? Of course I wasn’t out to get him. Like any other politician, he’d face strong reporting, but I wasn’t out to get people for no reason. I scrambled, trying to figure out how I could rewind what I’d just heard and record it because I was thinking, Fuck! This is extraordinary – the PM thinks I’m out to get him.

All of a sudden, I looked up and there was Michael Fox, Key’s press secretary, in the doorway. He’d sprinted down from the ninth floor of the Beehive to the 3News office. Fox looked at me, I looked at him; no words were exchanged but he knew I’d heard it. I wasn’t able to record it, and Fox got onto ZB and found there were only a handful of people streaming at the time, but yep, one of them was me. Key was soon on the blower to apologise, which was no doubt more of a clarification than an apology, and of course I accepted his word. I also told him I wasn’t out to get him, and asked if he’d stop telling people I was. I wasn’t too worried – it was just another morning’s work in the bubble, this bizarre world.

This Is The F#$%ing News: My Story by Paddy Gower ($38, Allen & Unwin) is available to purchase from Unity Books

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Welcome to Maiko Lenting-Lu’s neverending supply of books. Image by Archi Banal.
Welcome to Maiko Lenting-Lu’s neverending supply of books. Image by Archi Banal.

BooksSeptember 25, 2024

Reading into the future: publisher Maiko Lenting-Lu’s books confessional

Welcome to Maiko Lenting-Lu’s neverending supply of books. Image by Archi Banal.
Welcome to Maiko Lenting-Lu’s neverending supply of books. Image by Archi Banal.

Welcome to The Spinoff Bookseller Confessional, in which we get to know Aotearoa’s booksellers. This week: Maiko Lenting-Lu, product manager at Hachette NZ. 

Weirdest question you’ve ever been asked at work

My two favourite phone calls to the office have both been about maps. The first was someone who was lost in the South Island who called us (the publisher of the map) to complain that there were roads that weren’t in the book. I asked for the ISBN, looked it up and discovered the book was rather old, and then found myself trying to help direct this man without having a clue where he was. He found his way … eventually. The second was a query about ordering a road map of the UK, not for a physical trip to the UK, but as a guide to the streets that were mentioned in this couple’s favourite crime TV series.

Funniest thing you’ve overheard in the office

Every one of us has a story where you’ve told someone that you work in publishing and immediately (and I mean immediately) the person you are talking to pitches you a book. My most memorable was someone pitching a guide to grieving a pet. It came with a rather long story of how their own pet had just passed away.

Best thing about being a publisher

The genuinely endless supply of books. I’ve been in publishing for 10 years and have never been without something to read. I also still feel a burst of joy whenever I open a box containing new books. You know you’re in the right place when you can’t help but run your hand over foil and cover finishes in a reverent fashion.

‘He mea tautoko nā ngā mema atawhai. Supported by our generous members.’
Liam Rātana
— Ātea editor

Worst thing about being a publisher

Telling friends that I’m reading a book that is SO good, but they can’t read it for another six months. OK, sorry, that’s a real humble brag. But, it is also a problem because you’re always reading into the future and it’s hard to get to all the books that are out now as well as read ahead.

What you’d recommend to someone seeking escapism

I’ve gone on a real romance journey recently, so if you’re looking for saucy escapism then pick up a Christina Lauren (preferably Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating), or the less saucy option is David Nicholls’ You Are Here, which is about two content-but-lost souls talking to one another as they walk across the Lake District in England. Nicholls is one of the best at dialogue and this one is just beautiful.

What you’d recommend to someone looking for comedy

Look no further than the hilarious and super fun Miles and Jones: Anaconda Attack by Sam Smith. It’s a graphic novel for upper primary school kids (and anyone who is still a kid at heart). I would also recommend Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe which is an absolutely mad book about a single mum starting an OnlyFans to make money to raise her kid. It’s brilliant, whip-smart and utterly hilarious.

From left to right: a book Maiko Lenting-Lu would suggest for those needing some comedy; a book she’d suggest for an Aotearoa read; and the book she wishes she’d written.

What you’d recommend to someone looking for an Aotearoa read

Definitely pick up Airana Ngarewa’s The Bone Tree or Pātea Boys. I would also recommend Shilo Kino’s All That We Know. I’d also say they’re in luck because New Zealand’s writers are an incredibly talented bunch!

What you’d recommend to someone who hardly ever reads

I would suggest getting into audiobooks: you can read as you walk or vacuum or do the dishes! If you find podcasts a bit too overwhelming because there are hundreds of episodes out already, then go for an audiobook. If regular paperbacks are more your thing, then try Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros and escape into a world of danger and dragons. It’ll capture you on the first page!

The book I wish I’d written

Ooof, I am in awe of anyone who can write a book – not an easy feat! Much easier to read all that person’s hard work (and heart and soul). I wish I could write something as effortlessly brilliant as Emily St John Mandel’s The Sea of Tranquility

Everyone should read

The Beach by Alex Garland. It’s a really, really good book. I feel it’s been forgotten as a book due to the Leonardo DiCaprio movie which feels wrong! Go find it! Go read it! The audiobook is read by Alfie Allen (Theon Greyjoy) and is super compelling. 

The book I want to be buried with

Tamora Pierce’s Song of the Lioness quartet. I re-read it every year and now I see it is having a resurgence. It will be the book I buy for all my friends’ kids when they hit nine or 10.

The first book I remember reading by myself

I don’t remember the first one I read by myself, but I very clearly remember choosing to read Philip Pullman’s Northern Lights (only because it had a polar bear on it). It became one of my favourites (still is), and I remember arguing with my siblings who said it was boring. They’re boring. The book is brilliant.

The book I wish I’d never read

The Neverending Story was recommended to me by a family friend and though I finished it, it was the book that taught me that it’s OK not to finish things you aren’t enjoying. One third is brilliant, the other two thirds are … there.  

From left to right: one of the four books (in a series) that Maiko Lenting-Lu would be buried with; the book she wishes she hadn’t read; and the forthcoming novel she’s currently reading.

Dystopia or utopia

Dystopia. Though I have found a new love of romance books, my heart remains with the darker, more messed-up books. 

Fiction or nonfiction

Fiction. I find my mind wandering with nonfiction, though listening to audiobooks has helped immensely with this. There’s nothing quite like listening to a memoir voiced by the author themselves.

The book I never admit I’ve read

Oh, I don’t stand for this – never feel guilty about what you read! I was once reading at the pub waiting for a friend and the waiter saw me reading. He told me he was reading Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace whilst I was reading book one in one of Nora Roberts’ magical trilogies with a witch, mermaid, werewolf and time traveller taking on an evil goddess in the Greek Islands. We may not have had much to say to one another after this … Nora writes a great book though so – his loss!

What are you reading right now

I’m reading into 2025 with an utterly amazing book called The Names by Florence Knapp. It’s told in three arcs, with each arc following the same family, centring on the son and the name that his mother has given him: Bear, Julian or Gordon, depending on the arc. It is a book about choices and consequences and is an absolute stunner.

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