Happy days! Former TVNZ presenter Liz Gunn spills the beans on Mike Hosking. Perfectly.

I'VE HAD NOTHING TO SAY about the dismal Mike Hosking for several weeks. That's because I simply no longer watch 7 Sharp. I don't need to be insulted every night at 7pm by TVNZ who allow a neoliberal nutter like Hosking a platform for his extremist views.

My television viewing is entirely Hosking free but it is also entirely Duncan Garner and Heather du Plessis Allan free as well. I've basically given up on what both TVNZ and TV3 serve up as 'news and current affairs'.

Apparently there is a petition circulating to have Hosking removed from 7 Sharp. Fair enough. But I also think his co-host, Toni Street, should be shown the door too. She is guilty of being one of Hosking's 'enablers' - like those pathetic creatures on Newstalk ZB who suck up to Hosking everyday.

It's made the news that a former TVNZ staffer, Liz Gunn, has endorsed the petition. Gunn was 'lucky' to co-host Breakfast with Hosking. She quit - on air - in November 2001 and she has written about her 'Hosking experience' on Facebook. Here it is, in full:

"I remember when I worked with him, he maintained as his mantra, with his now usual level of inordinate pride, the intended-to-be sardonic saying of Gordon Gecko in the original ” Wall St ” movie – namely, that ” Greed Is Good”. He often repeated it off air, with that faux air of Great Authority. We all thought he was joking at first, but he was serious. I started to feel nauseous as I heard it repeated on many days, and as I saw the results of such a perspective in his approach to interviewees, and in his manipulative media pronouncements -now foisted on viewers each evening at peak time, and always aimed at endorsing Neo Liberal ideology.

 He has maintained that dire stance throughout his career, admiring those who exhibit the most greed and reviling those who struggle under the weight and demands of the greedy few. When I left TVNZ, I left with the most profound pity for such a desiccated human, so bereft of empathy or compassion for his fellow Kiwis, especially those who are facing difficulty or, God forbid, failure .

The year I did Breakfast with him, he went out of his way to undermine me in every way he could find. My goal became a very simple one…to get in early and sit quietly in that darkened studio and say a quiet resolution – a whispered prayer -asking for help so that I would never react and never sink to his level. That I would maintain my own dignity and never let the hurts show in any overt reaction to his many attempts to humiliate and belittle. It was a year of teeth-gritting, white knuckle survival. A quiet triumph. Every day. Over the passive and overt bullying .

I have never spoken of it in public until now, when it is relevant here, to the issue of the sort of man whom TVNZ have placed in such a position of influence. I used to wonder if he would ever find that point where his lust for money or power could be satiated? If he would ever find authentic, not trumped -up happiness, on that heavy path of the pursuit of “still-more money “? And I wondered too what had shaped a man so lacking in human kindness ? I hope he can one day turn this around.

He always wanted to be Paul Holmes but he never could emulate the real Paul. In spite of Paul’s self -admitted human fallibilities, Paul genuinely cared for people when he saw them suffering . He had a huge heart for Kiwis . Paul himself knew suffering. I wonder if Mike has ever allowed himself to feel that vulnerability? Do those who won’t open to their own pain , risk becoming in-suffer-able? I do not think he is a healthy touchstone for NZ broadcasting. I hope with time and perhaps some of the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, himself, he can find a more real place, a more human face , a more caring heart for his fellow Kiwis . Until then, I wish for a far more empathetic nightly host to take his place at 7 pm . I endorse this petition ". Liz Gunn

Gunn's Facebook criticisms made it to the Stuff news website.  It published a story under the headline 'Former colleague accuses Mike Hosking of "overt" workplace bullying". But less than two hours later and without explanation, it pulled the story down. It hasn't reappeared.








34 comments:

  1. Thanks Liz! Honest and to the point.

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  2. Spot on. Neither network has any credible midweek current affairs (beyond the news, which is also lightweight). The only regular, reasonable current affairs is buried on sat and sun mornings.
    Contrast this to the offerings from organisations such as the BBC. ABC and SBS. We need a true public broadcaster with objective current affairs coverage.

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  3. Thanks ....I have never watched 7 sharp and never will while he is fronting it

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    1. Or tv1 - I avoid it in case a promo for Seven Sharp pops in... just no - not at all, ever if can possibly be avoided.

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  4. This whole enigmatic white male figure that is doted upon by the ever agreeing and submissive female co-host is tvnews101. Toni street is cringeworthy in her role as the lesser presenter. Heather Du Plessis Allan was equally tragic in her role as suck up to Duncan Garner. The tragedy being that both Toni and Heather are smart people who must know the role they play is little more than a forced narrative written purely to ensure the Male leads ego is stroked the entire time they are onscreen. WHY?. Because white male fragility, duh. Also. Because white men have the power to do whatever the f*ck they want.

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  5. too much Liz hes a pathetic worthless human if you can call him that I don't watch anything with him or those other muppets that envy him thankyou for your honesty and I hope everyone sees him for what he really is a WANKER!!!

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  6. I started watching him but quickly stopped when I realised how unfeeling,racist and self centred he was. I watch SBS and ABC online now. And rarely watch NZ TV as anyone of any real substance no longer is on anymore. I have watched Jack Tame with some interest and think he is also turning to "the dark side"

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  7. A true insight into his character,or rather lack of.

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  8. Yep the guy needs to crawl under a rock and lose his opportunity to spout forth his bullshit. I'm all for brutal honesty if it comes from a place of fact, however brutal honesty driven from a place of self-serving egotism and opinion is just as bad as what is happening with Trump in the US at the moment. People applying for a platform such as is afforeded Hosking should have to undergo some form of pysch testing and continual review. We should no longer accept his BS and get him off air.

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  9. I was twice interviewed by Mike Hosking and Liz Gunn for the breakfast TV show. What stood out most is the banter in the commercial break as they are preparing for the interview after the ads. Liz was a complete charming empathetic professional..... and Mike was an even more amplified version of the fucktard we already know.
    Intetesting to read Liz's version of it here

    She is spot on

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  10. Thanks and well said to Liz Gunn.
    Mike Hosking at 7pm is the reason I became a Shortland St fan!

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  11. very brave, thanks for speaking out. I am enjoying The Project - first interesting TV at 7pm for ages.

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  12. As well as signing the latest petition to remove the arrogant, narcissistic, sardonic Hosking, I have personally written to TVNZ senior management to ask that he be ditched as moderator for the upcoming political debates. As well as his blatant bias, he is scientifically illiterate about such important matters as climate disruption.

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  13. Hosking is arrogant, self-centred, sardonic and scientifically illiterate.

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  14. wow I had seen this before but thank you for saying what many thousands of Honest kiwis think of this excuse for a man & the News the controlled media spews out night after night . remember that word 'investigative reporting ' what ever happened to it.(we all no)

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  15. Can't stand Mike Hosking. He is a narcissistic pompous creep and I stopped watching Channel one at 7 from the time he took a place on it uuuuugh!

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  16. Thanks Liz..I stopped watching & Sharp when I got really tired of Mike pulling everyone & everything down..wondering if he has such a low self-esteem that makes him act this way..when your putting some-one down your lifting yourself up :0)

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  17. He's on another planet. Planet $$$$$$...

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  18. Well put. I agree that the news is appalling (how many times can you repeat the same thing in one program (3 x times weather, what's coming up, 15 second news bite then a summary of what has been covered, and then more time spent about sport than news). the news and Hoskings 7 gossip show really is the ultimate dumbing down of NZ intellect....

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  19. I vomit a little in my mouth each time I hear that narcissist

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  20. Couldn't agree more with what Liz has said. The nightly appearances of MH and the demise of John Campbell have resulted in my no longer watching current affairs at 7pm. I prefer to watch selected pieces of Checkpoint with JC when something piques my interest.

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  21. Ka pai.honesty and humility always prevails.

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  22. The man is a complete ARSE

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  23. Very interesting reading.....everyone dislikes a bully. I never watch Sharp and tell others not to as well. I actually find him quite repulsive.

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  24. Anyone with empathy, soul, or social conscience need not apply. Our household has voted with our feet and flicked over to TV 3 - "The project" , at least we get to laugh at ourselves and it show cases some new talent. something we have been lacking.

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  25. The man is appalling, and should not be allowed on television period. He's a ghastly specimen of humanity, and frankly a disgrace to it.

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  26. its not a boycott.. Its a choice. Simple [-(

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  27. Seven Sharp and the hosts are cringe material

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  28. somebody drug test him..he talks like he is on crack/meth...ton ten

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  29. I constantly meet wonderful people who share the same view of hosking, and yet he is still on air... fortunately we don't have to subjected to his influence. I hope the current viewers can read a book or learn to Google and educate themselves...

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  30. Thank you Liz - a light in the darkness!

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