The secret diary of ... Smalleygate

Rachel Smalley - Mike Hosking's junior colleague at Newstalk ZB. Photo / Dean Purcell

Mike Hosking

Well, it's fair to say that my junior colleague at Newstalk ZB, Rachel Smalley, who does a brilliant job of making the tea, has really set the cat among the pigeons this week. And by that I mean Rachel revealed herself as someone very catty.

It's possible it was that time of month because there was more than a tinge of hysteria in her comments. Rachel says that New Zealand broadcasting news is dominated by middle-aged males. But that doesn't add up. She's got her sums wrong. What about Jack Tame? He's not middle-aged.

I get that she's ambitious and wants out of her graveyard shift. I've been there. I was the co-host of Morning Report, listened to by 17 people in Kelburn. Dark days. So here's some free advice for Rachel. Work hard, pay your dues, and get a job in the Prime Minister's office. It's worked for me.

Steve Hansen

I can tell you that the boys were actually pretty upset about Rachel Smalley's newspaper column last week. I wouldn't want to say that it put them off their game but we sat down after the loss to Australia and talked about where things went wrong, and it's fair to say that Rachel's column was a factor.

The boys were deeply divided in their response to the things Rachel was saying. Some agreed with her, and others disagreed. Tension and conflict has its place - on the field. Not in the dressing room.

We've tried to thrash it out this week before the game kicks off on Saturday night. It's not easy. What you have to realise is that some of the boys have very strong opinions about broadcasting issues. You can see that in their performance on the new Air New Zealand safety video.

There will be other things to blame if we don't get a positive result at Saturday's game, but right now it's important to acknowledge that Rachel is a very dangerous woman.

John Key

At the end of the day I think the majority of New Zealanders don't give any thought to the gender mix in television and radio news. It's really a Beltway issue, like the Saudi sheep scandal and the dairy crisis. My government doesn't pay those matters any mind to be completely honest and I think our performance in the polls tells you that most people are all good with that.

It's fair to say that most New Zealanders would rather pay attention to the important things, like what's for dinner and where will we spend our Christmas holidays. The majority of New Zealanders will head for Maui and to be completely honest that's what we'll do, too.

But I think Rachel should remember the old saying, "Be careful what you wish for." I was interviewed by Susie Ferguson on National Radio this week and I didn't enjoy the experience one bit. She tried to get me to answer questions on the Saudi sheep scandal in a way that I thought wasn't very feminine. The worst thing about it is that she wanted me to be completely honest.

Eleanor Catton

In a sense all women are newsreaders. We report on experience, and also bring back news of our intellectual preoccupations, such as astrology, which featured heavily in my award-winning book The Luminaries. It won the Man Booker Prize and was feted by critics in England - but not in New Zealand, where a kind of bullying culture exists to put down women who dare to think deeply.

We are seeing the same forces at work with Rachel Smalley, who has merely expressed an opinion which happens to be fact. Most news presenters are middle-aged males, just as the really mean reviews for my prize-winning book The Luminaries came from men over 45.

In a sense, I think every man over 45 turns into Sean Plunket.