John McDonald-Wharry against The Spinoff

The Spinoff published an article on September 30, 2025, titled Police callouts, oddball policy, and occasional political debate in Hamilton.

This was a report on the National Party’s 2025 Hamilton mayoral debate.

John McDonald-Wharry complained it breached Media Council Principles (1) Accuracy, Fairness and Balance (4) Comment and Fact and (5) Columns, Blogs, Opinion and Letters.

He said the article misreported or garbled one of his main policies which advocated a simple city rather than a smart city.  He also complained that the article did not clearly distinguish factual reporting from the reporter’s opinion and it should have been labelled ‘opinion’.

In its response The Spinoff said it changed the wording in the piece and added a note at the bottom that made it clear what Mr McDonald-Wharry was advocating.

It added the article was a colourful and lively write-up of an event that included the writer's observations and a sprinkling of analysis; it was comfortable with it not being labelled as "opinion".

The Media Council notes this was a piece of political reporting which commonly includes elements of commentary. Candidates for political office understand and accept that jibes and criticism come with the territory.

The article included a poke at most candidates. The journalist took a dig at things that struck him as silly, but this was recognisable satirical commentary on a political debate that at times got close to farce. It was a light overview of a political debate.  It plainly contained elements of opinion as well as elements of fact and an “Opinion” label was not needed to make that clear.

The Council also noted that the reporting error was corrected and that this was acknowledged at the bottom of the article.

Decision:  No grounds to proceed.