AUCKLAND (Pacific Media Watch): The voice of outspoken Radio Live host Michael Laws has gone silent on air over the last two days, following his inflammatory comments about journalists reporting on the "teapot tapes".
Laws took aim at fellow media workers from the Herald on Sunday last week, saying: "If I had a gun I'd shoot them - put them out of their misery - because they have gone rabid and they may infect others."
Laws then said he didn’t know “why somebody hasn't taken the shotgun there and just cleaned out the entire newsroom”.
While it may not shock many that those words were from the former mayor of Wanganui, they are extreme even for his standards, and this week listeners found he was off the air.
Mediaworks have declined to comment on Laws and his comments, and couldn’t confirm whether the show had received complaints.
The Broadcasting Standards Authority said most complaints of this nature would be classified under the normal codes and referred on to Mediaworks, and they are only dealing immediately with special election complaints such as party advertising.
Alex Perrottet
