Weekend Herald editorial: Mike Hosking rises to the challenge

Editorial

In the weeks before the first leaders' debate on television, moderator Mike Hosking and TVNZ came under sustained attack. The thrust of the criticism was that Hosking could not be fair-minded or even-handed in dealing with two party leaders fighting for their political future.

The howl of protest became so agitated that a petition with some 76,000 signatures was delivered to the state broadcaster demanding the removal of Hosking from the programme. TVNZ rightly resisted the pressure, reminding those clamouring for a different presenter that Hosking, who can be a polarising figure in some settings, made a thoroughly fair and balanced job of the task in 2014.

And so, unsurprisingly, it proved on Thursday night. Nit-pickers might examine the entrails of the first debate and find signs of preference. But they would struggle to convince fair-minded viewers that Hosking was anything less than an accomplished moderator who pushed the participants to defend their policies and explain their inconsistencies all the while keeping the show moving.

That is what viewers expect from the somewhat contrived arrangement where party leaders are put under the living room microscope for an hour and required to convince the audience that they are on top of their game. Hosking attracts criticism from the left. John Campbell, who performed a similar role at TV3 with equal accomplishment, got it in the ear from the right.

Both are talented broadcasters who, placed in a role where they are expected to ask the hard questions and manage an adversarial programme with skill and professionalism, have shown they can do the job. It is time for the doubters to accept that.