Relations between politicians and media have always been a tricky thing to manage. Politicians have to fashion an understanding with reporters if they want their pearls of wisdom reported, and journalists have to cultivate MPs, mayors and councillors as contacts for stories, but must also avoid being captured by them and becoming nothing more than their stenographer. The tension often leads to rancour; politicians in trouble will almost always blame the media for their woes as a defensive reflex. Occasional ruptures in the relationship are an inevitability of each side having a completely different job. While both are communicating to voters, one is doing it from a partisan perspective while the other — if they are doing their job professionally — is not. Historically New Zealand media — unlike the UK or US, where owners’ political beliefs are well known and frequently demonstrated — strives to keep itself unaligned in the battle for power.…