Heather du Plessis-Allan: The fine line between advice and instruction

OPINION

On day two of the parliamentary protest, an anti-vaxxer gave me grief while I was walking into a building on the other side of town. He'd hassled other media staff already. At first, I tried to ignore him calling me an arsehole and giving me advice on getting the booster jab while pregnant.

But, I have little patience for this nonsense so by about the fourth quip I stormed back out of the building and sorted him out verbally. It didn't take long. He stuck some stickers on the glass doors and left.

Judge for yourself the threat he really posed if it took only a few four-letter words to dispatch him. Now consider the approach taken by Parliament's Speaker.

Trevor Mallard is essentially preventing members of the press gallery from going anywhere near the protesters.

There's no dispute the protest was ugly and disruptive. Few of us will have sympathy for assaults on police officers, selfish disruption to businesses from cars parked across Wellington's Molesworth St, or the hassling of passers-by for wearing masks.

Few of us will applaud placards calling for the execution of politicians and members of the media.

But we also know those are fringe elements. Not everyone there was violent or disruptive. And there were dozens of police keeping watch. In normal, pre-pandemic conditions press gallery members would regularly and freely interview demonstrators.

And yet, this is at least the third pandemic protest where most members of the press gallery have got no closer to the protest than standing on the Speaker's balcony, watching the scene from a floor above.

Apparently, Mallard did not instruct media to stay on the balcony. It was a "request" based on health and safety concerns. But again, judge for yourself.

A member of the press gallery did venture out in spite of this "request". Disclaimer: it was NewstalkZB's Political Editor Barry Soper. He's both my colleague and my husband so I freely admit my bias here.

After spotting Barry out among the protesters on Wednesday, Mallard called the press gallery's deputy chair to remind him of the "request" that media not use the forecourt to meet the protesters. This request was repeated to Barry, who ignored it and went out a second time that afternoon. Mallard then called the press gallery's chair to remind her of the "request". Again, it was passed on to Barry. If a "request" is repeatedly given without solicitation, it starts to look like an instruction.

Mallard should consider the chilling effect he may be having on members of the media, given the power he wields in that building, including the ability to withdraw permission to work in the gallery. It is notable that at least one newsroom dispatched reporters who don't work in Parliament to cover the protest on the ground, while their press gallery colleagues stayed on the balcony.

Mallard should also consider that the duty of care for the safety of members of the media actually lies with the editors those media report to, not with him.

Finally – and most importantly - he should consider the message this sends to the protesters. TVNZ reporter Kristin Hall observed and tweeted that "protesters are resentful of media standing above them on the parly balcony". Many of them are already so steeped in conspiracies that they believe the mainstream media are censoring their views and are paid off by the Government. It's hardly helpful for Mallard to reinforce the conspiracy nonsense by essentially restricting media movement.

Absolutely, there is a fine line in media coverage of protests like this. No one wants to give oxygen to lunatic fringe theories. But we should want to understand the motivations for the protest.

Some of these protesters had valid reasons for being upset. One was protesting the vaccine mandate and its effects on children. He claims his 13-year-old daughter was the national 100m sprint champion last year. This year he won't vaccinate her so she can't compete. Isn't that a fair debate for us to have? Whether enforcing a vaccine mandate on teenagers is proportionate?

We're currently witnessing a breakdown in the country's social cohesion. The pandemic is widening divisions. The passion behind this protest is proof. We all know the only way to avoid that getting worse is to understand each other. But we won't understand each other unless we talk to each other.

That's the role of the media. Reporters are meant to report. In order to report, they need to talk to people.

As angry and disruptive as some of those protesters were, they're still our fellow Kiwis. As Speaker, Mallard should be doing everything to try to help heal divisions, not make them worse.

● In response to a question from the Herald this week, Mallard said his wish for media to stay on the balcony amounted to a request rather than advice or a rule. He said he'd had a discussion with a number of journalists about safety fears and the balcony was made available for coverage. Asked what the concerns were, he said "because threats were being made to journalists, including death threats".