Jo Galer and the 13 other Dunedin City Council by-election candidates were interviewed on the Otago Institute for the Arts and Sciences’ podcast on Otago Access Radio (OAR) in late March.
But host and institute president Dr Barbara Anderson, speaking in a personal capacity, said Ms Galer’s interview was not published with the others on April 2 after a disagreement over Ms Galer’s request to re-record an answer when the interview finished, prompting "veiled threats" from the candidate.
Following questions from the Otago Daily Times, Dr Anderson said no-one else insisted on re-recording answers and "Ms Galer’s behaviour should tell the voters of Dunedin everything they need to know about her suitability to be a Dunedin city councillor".
Ms Galer denied threats were made and disputed Dr Anderson’s comments, saying they demonstrated a left-leaning bias and Dr Anderson had seized an opportunity to discredit her campaign.
In a pre-recorded interview, it was reasonable to allow answers to be re-recorded, she said.
"I think she knows that I’m doing really well, and she’s waited for her opportunity," Ms Galer said.
"The real unspoken agenda here is dirty politics."
Dr Anderson rejected this in turn, and said her own political beliefs had no bearing on the matter - the interviews were intended to treat all candidates equally.
"I think her accusations I am doing this out of political bias are ... reprehensible, personally insulting and just factually wrong.
"What Jo Galer is trying to do is ask for special treatment and she clearly doesn’t like being told that she can’t have an extra slice of the cake just for the asking."
Candidates were asked the same questions during the interview, which were not provided in advance, and given the same amount of time to answer, a format also used in the podcast’s interviews ahead of October’s election.
The question under discussion was the candidate’s "understanding of the role of mana whenua in local governance within a Te Tiriti context". All candidates had one minute to respond.
Dr Anderson said at Ms Galer’s insistence and after deliberation with station manager Lesley Paris, she was allowed to re-record an answer.
Ultimately, OAR agreed Ms Galer could withdraw her consent for the interview, and none of it was published.
She asked for confirmation her new answer would be included in the interview.
Ms Galer said she believed she could prove the situation amounted to a breach of broadcasting standards, although she did not want to "go through all that".
However, Dr Anderson said she felt the original interview should have run as recorded and it was unfair to the 13 other candidates, who did not have the option to edit or withdraw consent for their own interview.
She had taken advice on the matter and while it did not appear to breach broadcasting standards, the Otago Institute for the Arts and Sciences and OAR did not have the funds to defend a "frivolous" complaint.
Ms Galer was campaigning, in part, on her journalism and public relations background and "if anyone should be able to nail this interview, it’s her", Dr Anderson said.
"It speaks to her character that her embarrassment over how she has answered a question causes her to make veiled threats... against a charity, which both the Otago Institute and the Otago Access Radio are.
"She had a hissy fit."
Ms Galer told the ODT Dr Anderson was a supporter of a far left-leaning council faction who wanted to "find any dirt they can".
"I can only think this means I’m doing OK with my campaign. I’m getting great moral support from Dunedin people and they don’t like it."
Ms Galer said no threats were made - she had only referred to broadcasting standard requirements on giving appropriate time for answers.
In her years working with broadcast media, she had not before encountered such a "hard-line" approach on responses during a pre-recorded interview.
"The entire situation was unprofessional and unpleasant."
Ms Paris said Ms Galer made it clear she no longer wanted her interview published.
"It goes against our station’s values to broadcast anyone’s interview against their will. For that reason, we decided not to publish Ms Galer’s interview."
