Friday, June 12, 2020

A reflection on 51 years as a columnist


(First published in The Dominion Post and on Stuff.co.nz, May 11.)

I wrote my first column for The Dominion 51 years ago.

Jack Kelleher, the editor, employed me to write a twice-weekly column aimed at readers of my own age group. The late-1960s youth rebellion was in full cry and Jack hoped I could tap into a market segment that had been all but ignored by the conservative print media.

Alas, the column lasted little more than a year. It was a good idea that failed for want of someone with the know-how, confidence and energy to make it work. I hadn’t yet turned 19 when I was hired and didn’t have a clue what I was doing.  (I’ll pause here to allow my critics, who are many, to chime in with the obvious riposte).

I’ve written hundreds of columns since then, for a variety of publications. I began writing this one in 2005 and today’s is my last. There’s still gas in the tank, but in case the engine starts sputtering I’d prefer to pull over to the side rather than risk stalling in the middle of the road.

It’s a funny business, column-writing. Here are a few observations formed in the course of doing it intermittently over a half-century:

■ The first duty of columnists is to be read, which is rarely achieved by expressing milk-and-water opinions that no one disagrees with. We are lucky to live in a liberal democracy that allows free speech. How much longer that will remain the case, when ideologically driven state agencies such as the Human Rights Commission are vigorously pushing to restrict what we can say, is a moot point.  But in the meantime, not to take full advantage of that freedom would be like going into the Boulcott Street Bistro and ordering a Marmite sandwich.

■ It’s a strange quirk of human nature that readers tend to attack you in public but agree with you in private. By that I mean that those who dislike something you’ve written are more likely to disagree by way of a letter to the editor – or in recent years, an online comment – rather than confront you directly, whereas people who share your opinions will often get in touch by phone or letter. I've had many supportive phone calls over the years but never a hostile one, which is a surprise given that my columns often anger people. Make of that what you will. Perhaps New Zealanders prefer to engage in combat at a distance rather than hand-to-hand.

■ Having a public platform on which to say what you think is a great privilege. The quid pro quo is that columnists must accept that they’re fair game for criticism. But when all is said and done, a column is just one person’s opinion. It has no legal force or coercive power. No one is compelled to read it, still less agree with it.

■ Online comment sections introduced a new dimension to the business of being a columnist. I thought it wrong that while newspapers insisted (rightly, in my view) on writers of letters to the editor identifying themselves, they allowed online comments – some of them abusive to the point of being defamatory – to be made anonymously.

■ Public discourse has become infinitely more polarised and confrontational. This is partly due to the fact that the anonymity conferred by the Internet gives people the courage to express themselves far more intemperately than they might otherwise dare.  But it’s also attributable to the ideological heat generated by the so-called culture wars over such issues as race, gender identity, climate change and so-called hate speech.

■ Democracy depends on the contest of ideas, to which columnists – of both the Left and Right – contribute. One of the tragedies of the digital revolution is that it has accelerated the decline of the traditional broad-church print media, where newspaper readers were presented with a wide range of opinions moderated by editors and expressed civilly. In its place we have an overheated online echo-chamber where people shut themselves off in ideological ghettos and are exposed only to ideas they agree with.

■ Over the period I’ve been writing columns, issues have become far more complex – often too complex to explore adequately in 800 words – and events much faster moving. In the 24-hour gap between writing and publication, the landscape can change dramatically. This is a roundabout way of saying it’s got harder.

■ I have good friends who sometimes disagree vehemently with my columns, but we remain good friends. That’s as it should be in a civilised society. It would be a dull world if we all agreed with each other, and duller still if we had to choose our friends on the basis of their politics.

Footnote: To regular readers, my thanks. For the record, I’m going of my own volition and my retirement is unrelated to the recent change of ownership at Stuff.

27 comments:

JeffW said...

Will you be continuing your blog? I hope so; we need more not fewer sensible commentators and to retain the one or two who write with commonsense.If not, thanks very much and all the best.
JeffW

Karl du Fresne said...

Thanks Jeff. Yes, I intend to keep the blog going as and when the urge arises.

khrust said...

Karl, thank you for your insightful columns over the years. In the case of the Culture Wars in particular, I would like to thank you for opening my eyes to what was going on. I certainly hope you continue to find matters which deserve being written about for your blog.
Ken H

Hilary Taylor said...

Good news & bad news on a FRiday...well, at least there's a bit of each. Happy 'letting slip of the laylines'Karl...don't imagine you'll have trouble filling any gaps. And pleased the blog will live on...many thanks for the columns & obits I always make time for.

Doug Longmire said...

Wow Karl - well done !
you have summed it up in your article re the sewerage media giving all sorts of cowardly idiots the forum to bully and threaten.
Thank you for your excellent (in my opinion, the best !!) blogs over the years. You write clearly, concisely and with excellent expression of your ideas and opinions. Glad to see that you are keeping it up.
All the best Karl :-)

Doug Longmire said...

Also congratulations Karl. I personally have just reached the milestone of 50 years a pharmacist.

Karl du Fresne said...

Thank you Doug, and likewise to you on your 50 years as an apothecary.

Neil Keating said...

Karl. You've turned 70 eh? Or you're about to. Time for a break. Well deserved.

Karl du Fresne said...

About to, Neil (to my astonishment - I never envisaged myself as a septuagenarian). Thank you.

hughvane said...

Septuagenarian - one who can swear in seventy different languages.

Good to read that you're to continue your blog. In the words of George W (Dubya) Bush .... "bring it on!"

monty said...

So pleased to hear you are keeping your blog going Karl. Greatly admire your ability to steer a sensible course between the crazy extremes of current online discourse.

Brendan McNeill said...

Congratulations Karl on completing the race, or at least passing this finish line. We are much more than the sum of our ideas, even our very best ones. I'm indeed pleased you intend to keep your blog running.

Homepaddock said...

You've earned your retirement from column writing but I'm pleased to see you plan to continue blogging as and when the urge strikes. There are too few reasoned voices, I wouldn't want to lose yours. Ele Ludemann

Odysseus said...

It's heartening to hear you will keep the blog going Karl. I enjoy your reasoned columns greatly - so rare to find these days. What has happened to our country?

Peter2715626 said...

Please continue this blog, your opinion is very important to me.
Thanks. Peter from Poland.

Doug Longmire said...

Well deserved words of thanks for your excellent blogs Karl. I totally agree with them all.

On a lighter note:- Since the removal of the statue of Captain Hamilton, I have heard a rumor that it will be replaced by a more culturally appropriate statue, of that iconic Maori figure Billy T. James

Damien Grover said...

Hi Karl. I've often wondered if you go on neo-marxist rants at home, and your wife (I assume you are married) sighs, thinks "here he goes again", and says "Yes dear". Are you able to confirm?

cheers, Damien Grover

MarkJ said...

Thanks Karl. I was concerned you might give up posting here as well. Good to see you will continue.

Karl du Fresne said...

Damien,
Wrong, wrong, wrong - in fact about as wrong as you possibly could be when you speculate that my wife sighs and says "yes, dear". As anyone who knows her will attest, my wife isn't exactly a "yes, dear" type. And I don't think she's ever sighed in her life. But good on you for signing your name.

Damien Grover said...

Well there you go. Thanks for replying! Damien

Doug Longmire said...

Recent events (since this post was published) demonstrate to us all that YES -we are in the throes of moving to a totalitarian state, where the political correct mindset is going to be enforced. We already have seen that the universities will not tolerate any open discussion from any different perspective (Massey banning Lauren Southern etc because the Pro Vice C was concerned at what she "might say")
Medical students and practitioners are now forced to engage in "cultural safety" courses. These are simply politically correct under another name.

hughvane said...

Hang about - I know this isn't pertinent to this particular column, but whatever happened to your item about Lotta Dann talking with Kim Hill about the alcohol issue? One minute there, nek minit gone!

Karl du Fresne said...

Very sharp of you to notice that, Hughvane. I had second thoughts about that post and took it down. It was only up for a matter of minutes and there was nothing sinister about its removal. Sometimes I just reconsider things.

Lindsay Mitchell said...

I got lucky and read it. Came up as a link on my blog:-) Can't think why you took it down. I found it thoughtful. Made me think about my drinking. From memory all you were saying is that alcohol can be bad but it can be good. It's what we make of it. And you were fair to the 'participants' in the post. I thought you could get freer in your posts no longer bearing the mantle of DomPost columnist:-) A mystery.

Karl du Fresne said...

Thanks for giving me a prod, Lindsay. I've now reinstated that post in a slightly amended form.

Karl du Fresne said...

Thanks for giving me a prod, Lindsay. I've now reinstated that post in a slightly amended form.

David McLoughlin said...

Democracy depends on the contest of ideas, to which columnists – of both the Left and Right – contribute. One of the tragedies of the digital revolution is that it has accelerated the decline of the traditional broad-church print media, where newspaper readers were presented with a wide range of opinions moderated by editors and expressed civilly.

There are an ever-increasing range of issues where only the One True View is allowed. Climate Change is the most obvious (most of NZ's media are signatories to the Guardian-Columbia Journalism Review pact that ensures only the Alarmist view on this issue is heard, see https://www.coveringclimatenow.org/ ).

Bruce Kohn has written today about how other-than-Climate views contrary to the new woke gospel are increasingly not allowed and how journos in newsrooms are demanding non-woke pieces be removed and even threatening or destroying the jobs and careers of colleagues who allow through views they deem unworthy.

Among several such cases Bruce cited was the NY Times Opinion Page editor forced to resign a week or so back after the paper's reporters were enraged by his letting through a column by a Trump-supporting Republican US senator.

Bruce wrote: "Decisions to hold back on publication of a straight and factual news item because it does not fit with the sensitivities of members of the reporting staff introduces a whole new ball game. The thoughts of former Dominion deputy editor Frank Haden​ on such a possibility would not be suitable for publication in a family newspaper."

https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/donald-trumps-america/121889451/pillars-of-journalism-undermined-in-us-debate


I'm surprised Stuff published the piece, but then I'm surprised they kept publishing you Karl, and I do hope your "retirement" really was voluntary.