Telfer takes a swing at media over Veitch coverage

Tony Veitch. Photo / Herald on Sunday

One of New Zealand's top broadcasters has taken a swing at the "frenzied" media coverage of the Tony Veitch saga, describing it in his new book as a vicious war.

Broadcaster Brendan Telfer said he had spoken to experienced media insiders for his new book A Life in Sport - they had described the Veitch coverage as "the most vicious media war they'd ever seen in 30 years".

"I think everyone at work in the media was generally taken aback about some of the reporting because it was so frenzied.

"Initially ... there were some quite respectable newspapers who departed from what I considered the standard of journalism ethic when you are dealing with an alleged crime. You would always use words like allegations and alleged and that never appeared in a lot of these early stories.

"There was just this bold assertion that he had done this to his ex-partner and yet the sources they were using to basically collaborate their assertions were ... unidentified."

Veitch faces seven charges in relation to an alleged assault against his former girlfriend Kristin Dunne-Powell.

In July last year, when the allegations surfaced, Telfer described the week as the worst of Veitch's life and said he was a broken man. Telfer accused media rivals of playing a huge part in Veitch's fall from grace.

A spokeswoman for Veitch, Glenda Hughes, said yesterday: "Tony has not seen the book, he's had no input - he's had absolutely nothing to do with it."