This is edition 2025/220 of the Ten@10 newsletter.
Hi all,
This is the Ten@10, where I collate and summarise ten news items you generally won't see in the mainstream media.
Enjoy!
1. Dirty Politics 2.0: Labour’s covert influencer says what Chris Hipkins can’t
Ani O'Brien
- 📰 Dirty Politics 2.0: Jordan Rivers, employed by Labour since January 2025, functions like a modern version of Cameron Slater, acting as a partisan influencer while presenting as independent.
- 💰 Taxpayer funding concern: Rivers is paid by the Leader of the Opposition’s office, meaning taxpayers indirectly fund aggressive political attacks.
- 🤐 Loss of independence: Working for Labour, Rivers’ content cannot be credibly called “independent”; his posts reflect the party’s messaging and reinforce the leader’s public image.
- 📱 Influencer amplification: Rivers uses TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook to translate Labour talking points into viral, youth-friendly, high-emotion content, often mocking and attacking opposition politicians personally.
- 🎯 Message alignment: Rivers mirrors Labour press releases, speeches, and official communications, repeating core slogans and policy frames with added snark, humour, and character attacks that official channels cannot produce without credibility risks.
- ⚖️ Legal and ethical issues: His undisclosed employment breaches Advertising Standards Authority rules, Electoral Law, and social media policies, raising questions about transparency and regulatory compliance.
- 🕵️ Broader network risk: Rivers may be part of a wider, unofficial network of influencers amplifying Labour messaging, echoing the outsourced attack model of the original Dirty Politics.
- ❓ Unanswered questions: Labour must clarify whether influencer outputs are coordinated with staff, declared as campaign expenses, reviewed by regulatory authorities, and compliant with political advertising rules.
- 🚨 Public trust at stake: Without transparency, voters cannot distinguish between genuine independent commentary and taxpayer-funded partisan messaging.
