Could do better

Steve Maharey appeared on Close Up on Monday evening. Paul Henry discussed the issue of dyslexic children with the Minister of Education. You can see the interview here.

Yesterday, it triggered a storm of calls to talkback which persisted from 8.30 to midday. People were very angry with Mr Maharey who they felt was "arrogant" and "out of touch". He was maintaining support for dyslexic children was quite adequate whereas parents calling Justin du Fresne's show described quite a different situation.

At about 3 minutes to twelve Mr Maharey rang in. What he said went something like, You know I come from an academic background, my trade is as a sociologist. I want people to be reassured that I might be a new Minister for Education but I am very familiar with the subject of dyslexia. And on it went in this vein.

The impression created was Mr Maharey's ego had been dented and he had rung in to defend it. Given he had barely a couple of minutes airtime that is what was most important.

What he should have done is acknowledge the callers concerns and the lack of time to properly address them. Then he should have asked the host if he could come on air the next day, possibly to do an extended session during which people could ring in and speak with him. As it was he only made a bad situation worse.

It's not about you Steve.