Key vs Campbell - How to Control an Interview

Posted August 2013
Media and the viewing public in New Zealand have witnessed two examples recently of politicians controlling media interviews. Firstly was a performance by Winston Peters some weeks back on current affairs programme Campbell Live. Most recently,on the same show, came a very notable example of this, when host John Campbell interviewed the New Zealand Prime Minister John Key on the pending spying legislation, loosely termed the GCSB Bill.
Using a portfolio stacked with psychological warfare, John Key basically laid waste to any arguments John Campbell attempted to win.
An examination of the methodology used by Key is useful -since this was no off the cuff performance, but a clearly media managed approach that is only fully evident once the audio transcript is taken to bits and examined for patterns.

• A big component in Key's method are strategic statements intended to disarm, undermine and remove credibility from Campbell while raising the status of Key and his party.
• The repeated use of particular statements is the give-away when unmasking the methods used to control situations like interviews. The well-known broken-record technique is identified when the same phrase or theme comes up repeatedly

 "I'm right"
"There are so many things the show's got wrong"
"You got a number of things wrong"
"Can I finish one last point in this"
"No no. Quite wrong."
"Let me come back to Kim Dotcom in a moment"
"No, no no. Don't say hello. Let me finish"
"No it's not meaningless"
"Ok we'll come back to the Law Society in a moment."
Let me finish cause it's really important people understand this"
"I'll come back to that in a moment"
"Let me finish those points"
"When your mate Kim Dotcom said..."
"You've done so many stories that are absolute nonsense and you know they are"
"None of those are factually correct and you know that.'
"No. No I'm just stating fact"
"I'm not going to answer those questions"
"It's important that you understand what we are saying"
"Let me finish. No. No. Let me finish."
"Let me finish one last point"
"I don't go into those individual points"
"You're making a very bold statement which is not correct"
"You're wrong"
"Directly or indirectly you are frightening people. Yes you are"
"You may as well read out what is on a James Bond movie"
"Look. For goodness sake"
"I don't answer those questions"
'Let me finish"

This also extends to making political comparisons with the conduct of the last government and former Prime Minister

• The second aspect involves the amount of uncontrolled time Campbell gave and Key asserted to require, to make his points, often talking over Campbell in order to steam ahead

• The third aspect involves the demeanour of the Prime Minister remaining firm on supposed facts/opinions, keeping a neutral unemotional or light and casual manner, infused with a strong sense of confidence, even superiority -to the point of smiling with pleasure at Campbell's frustration [watch section from 11m 15secs]

This contrasts with the exasperation and relative passivity of John Campbell, along with a tendency towards emotional delivery

• The fourth aspect is a frequent use of the words "OK" and "Right" by John Key -  which is also disarming to an opponent -as it implies that the speaker is on your side and agreeable to your position
• The fifth aspect is repeated use of the word "NO" to assert control

So a Master strategy was on display opposite an apparent lack of one at all -which was frankly a shocking performance from a long-standing current affairs programme hosted by an experienced journalist.

Astrological notes:

Astroblog uses the methodology of energy analysis to examine people and events and so the following notes are provided as an adjunct:

John Key, born August 9 1961 under the sign Leo in Christchurch New Zealand, time unknown.

Current age 52

John Campbell born February 10 1964, under the sign Aquarius in Wellington, New Zealand, time unknown.

Current age 49

John Key

With Sun, Mercury, Uranus, and north lunar node in Leo along with assertive Mars in Virgo connected to a well placed Saturn in Capricorn has much potential for leadership, top management and having a very high profile.

The two sides already known regarding Key's style of communication are reflected in Neptune square Mercury [potential to be seen as muddled, confused, deceitful] and Mars semisquare Mercury - an active, assertive even aggressive mind. This enables good analytical skills, added to by Neptune in Scorpio sextile Pluto in Virgo - a clear ability to sum up others, spotting their weaknesses, flaws and vulnerabilities.

The nickname applied years ago to Key - The Smiling Assassin - is well confirmed

John Campbell

Has Sun, Mars and Saturn in a close grouping 20-25 Aquarius - indicating his quirky side but also the serious mission to pursue the path of social justice. 

The serious, earnest disposition is reinforced by Mercury and north Lunar Node in Capricorn and probably the Moon too, if his exact birth time was confirmed.

Pluto is connected to Mercury by sesquiquadrate - which will give him a gnawing dog with the bone type of obsession with his perceived duties and responsibilities.
With Jupiter in Aries sextile the Sun in Aquarius he cannot escape the crusading warrior for just causes identification.

The strongest influence over his energy comes from the softening, sympathetic, empathy-generating energy of Neptune squaring Sun and Mars. This effect takes away any killer instinct. Campbell just wants us all to get along, be caring and sharing and fair. His noble beliefs but very sensitive underbelly make it a struggle for him to equal or vanquish the hard-nosed politicians made of different stuff.

This partial analysis is limited to birth-date data as a full chart cannot be constructed without an exact birth-time

Further Material

The interview

Further Reading

Astrology 101