FOURTH ESTATE. 25/08/1988

Tonight’s contributor Anna Cottrill joined television in 1975 as a reporter, and later became a director on the current affairs programme Close Up. In 1985 she won the Beatty Award for Television Journalism. A mother of two young children, she also currently works as a freelance journalist and director.

Anna Cottrell comments on the media issues. This week Cottrell looks at journalists becoming Public Relations consultants for politicians. She suggests that journalists should continue to be in the position where they can criticise the Government, not collude with them. She talks about Michael Laws, the PR and researcher of Winston Peters and how it has helped propel Peters high on the popularity stakes. Cottrell criticises journalists for copying press handouts masquerading as news, without questioning them.