Hager’s age-old teaser tactics put journalists on high alert
OPINION: If I think of Nicky Hager, I don’t immediately think of a marketing and public relations whizz-kid but after last week I’ve had to reconsider.
Last Tuesday’s launch of Hit and Run, by Hager and co-author Jon Stephenson, was, without doubt, a public relations coup that drove the media into a frenzy.
The book explores a New Zealand SAS raid in Afghanistan in 2010 which alleges New Zealand forces were involved in the deaths of six civilians. This claim is now refuted by New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF).
Hager has a couple of advantages over most people in gaining media interest.
He’s got a certain allure for most media because he’s the kind of investigative writer most journalists hoped to be before we realised there’s not much money in upholding the Fourth Estate.
Even if there was, there’s no time to do this kind of in-depth work when you’re a jobbing journo in a newsroom constantly facing staff and budget cuts.
The fact that his books annoy and fluster the Establishment makes them all the more newsworthy.
Regardless of those factors, Hager and the team did a great job in maximising publicity and interest around the launch of Hit and Run using some age-old PR tricks and tips.
Hager’s work now has enough pull to use the kind of ‘‘teaser’’ tactics we are more used to seeing with musicians releasing new singles: the drip-feeding of small bits of information ahead of a launch to whip up interest.
Hager put out an invitation to last Tuesday’s media launch on the Sunday before, a traditionally quiet news day, but he wouldn’t say what it was about.
Hager was already well-known for dropping media firestorms on politicians in election years: Dirty Politics in 2014, Other People’s Wars in 2011 and Seeds of Distrust in 2002. So the media was on high alert for another juicy blast at the Establishment and up for a good bit of speculation during the long, quiet Sunday shift.
Hit and Run was also released just 48 hours before ex-Prime
He was already well-known for dropping media firestorms on politicians in election years.
Minister John Key’s valedictory speech, further stoking the fires of speculation.
The launch at 5pm on Tuesday gave media, particularly television, only just enough time to turn around the story in time for 6pm peak news broadcasts.
But the timing gave them no time to get in-depth comment in reply, which meant the story gained momentum as the week wore on and as third-party responses came in.
Hager’s team had jacked up more in-depth interviews immediately after the launch event, starting with a breathless interview with Radio New Zealand’s John Campbell within an hour of release.
The fact Hager’s phone link to RNZ crashed during the interview gave listeners cause to suspect a white van full of jamming gear might have been parked somewhere near Unity Books in central Wellington.
Since then, there’s been the flood of response stories all keeping the book in the news: the then Defence Minister Wayne Mapp admitting remorse over the incident; New Zealand lawyers coming forward to represent the residents of the two raided villages; and a call for an official Government investigation.
I don’t know Hager, but I’d guess he’s not making a mint out of his chosen career path, and it certainly isn’t making him popular in some circles.
So good on him for using some solid PR tactics to gain interest in a book that’s asking serious questions about New Zealand’s involvement in the death of these civilians. Questions we should all be interested in knowing the answers to.
His tight-knit support group – including his sources, his lawyers, his publisher Potten & Burton, and the printers – also deserve credit for always keeping the subject matter under wraps and thus under control until show time. Our spooks must be at their wits’ end.
Sue Allen has worked in journalism, communications, marketing and brand management for 15 years.