Election media insights: the first absolute clanger

It didn't take long, did it?

Just one day into the 2013 Federal election campaign and it had claimed its first victim.

The little-known Liberal candidate for the critical federal seat of Greenway in Western Sydney is a man named Jaymes Diaz.

Well, he was little-known, until this:



It's hard not to feel sorry for the guy.  In the words of my mate Steve, this is 'a hilarious product of over management and force feeding of slogans by party head offices."

I couldn't agree more.  It also has a whiff of the Libs taking both journalists and the general public for fools.  Thinking they can arm a guy with a few slogans and send him out into the media's lions den; especially in a battleground seat like Greenway.

It didn't help Diaz's cause that the interviewer, John Hill, is a veteran journalist who's covered politics, coups, and national affairs for over a decade.

Diaz never stood a chance.  And now the above clip of Diaz looking like a muppet has exploded over social media and mainstream media.

Every news channel this morning had copies of the interview and forced Diaz to relive his moment of truth.  Oh the humanity!

It goes to show, media training can help, but if you don't know what you're talking about, you're definitely going to be found out sooner rather than later.

So the first clanger of the campaign goes to Jaymes Diaz - congrats mate!

I wait with interest to see who'll next step up to the plate.  Feel free to make a nomination in the comments.

UPDATE

Abbott's weighed in on Diaz's interview.  According to ABC:

"I think all of us can get a bit flustered sometimes and as I said he's a relatively young bloke.

"He's in his early 30s, he's got a lot of potential, he's quite smart, he's very well connected in the area and I think he'd make a great, great local member."


 There's not much else he could say, really.  You can't throw the guy under a bus, and it may have been his first media interview so asking for some compassion is a good reply.

That said, I'd loved to have been a fly on the wall in Abbott's office when he saw the interview for the first time!

Comments

JS said…
Oh the humanity indeed...makes one want to run for politics!