POWER PLAY

According to Sir Michael Cullen, television became “the arbiter of politics” in New Zealand in the early 1970s. But that began to change in the 21st century when smartphones and social media arrived, shaking up long-established practices and relationships in politics and the media.

The television of Cullen’s time had a slow start in this country. Introduced in 1960, it followed the British model by being state-owned and strait-laced. It was combined with radio and its growth was controlled by the Government. By 1973, there was still only one channel broadcasting content from regional stations in the four main centres: Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.

In a country with no national daily newspaper, the television studio quickly became the arena for politicians seeking a national audience. Voters, accustomed to choosing election candidates on their rhetoric and written policies, could add demeanour, manner and even facial tics to the judgments they carried into the polling booth.

The 1975 election was