Wednesday, March 07, 2007

R.I.P. Frank Haden

Sad news that veteran journalist Frank Haden has died, aged 77, in Wellington. I loved his Sunday Star Times columns for their exacting pedantry and willingness to question lazy, bullying orthodoxy. Frank embodied 'old school' reportage when journalists had prestige and actually challenged agitprop and institutionalised dogma.

Most of today's propagandists scribes are mere stooges for various lobbyists, mindlessly echoing the falsities and fraudulence of special interest groups and spin doctors. The pursuit of truth has long been abandoned, replaced by social activism and lurid sensationalism.

Who are Frank's heirs? Where are today's brave columnists who question contemporary nonsenses such as global warming, the obesity epidemic, male violence or the 'rape culture' of NZ police? We may never see his like again and we are all poorer for it.

Condolences to his family, friends and colleagues.

No comments: