NZ First leader Winston Peters - "we took the photographs".

OPINION: Journalists are a horrible lot.

There's no hiding from it. We snoop, pry, ask awkward questions and badger people who would rather not provide the answers.

One of those people is Winston Peters.

Over his 40 year career, Peters has made a career of ignoring or belittling reporters who have the brass neck to hold him to account.

READ MORE:

* Prime Minister silent on Winston Peters covert photo controversy

* Winston Peters on photos of reporters: 'We took the photographs'

* Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters confirms, then denies involvement in photographing reporters



BLOG/THEBFD Photos of Stuff reporter Matt Shand and RNZ reporter Guyon Espiner published on the BFD blog. Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters claimed, on Magic Talk, to have been involved in the taking of the photographers. He later said this was not the case.

He exploits public mistrust in the media. And long before Donald Trump's frequent threats and hostile acts directed toward journalists, Peters made a theatrical contempt for the media part of his personal brand.

(He's also used positive coverage to his advantage: using friendly journalists to create the narrative of the barefoot boy from Northland done good and honing his maverick leader persona).

Us hacks are pretty thick-skinned and most of us would rather not be on MPs' Christmas card list. If Winston Peters likes you, you aren't doing your job properly.

But now Peters has gone a step farther than his usual tantrums. Last week he admitted NZ First was involved in the surveillance-style photos of Stuff journalist Matt Shand and RNZ reporter Guyon Espiner meeting former NZ First president Lester Gray.

In an echo of the Dirty Politics saga, the snaps ended up a right-wing political blog, which appears to be the re-incarnation of defunct attack-politics blog Whale Oil.

TOM LEE/STUFF Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on her way out of an event in Hamilton.

No doubt Peters' supporters are enjoying the irony of publishing paparazzi-style photographs of the reporters digging dirt on their party.

For reasons that are unfathomable to me, New Zealand tends to minimise Peters more outrageous behaviour. But he is no lovable rogue - and this is straight-up intimidation.

Protecting the identity of journalists' sources is an essential part of media freedom.

The threat of surveillance is chilling. It can have an intimidating and traumatising effect.

I have experience of this. In 2013, after reporting on illegal spying a log of all calls I placed to people around Parliament over three months was released to an inquiry focused on the leak of the Kitteridge report on the GCSB.

My movements around the building were also tracked, using data from my security swipe card. I still remember feeling sick as an IT staffer showed me pages of "meta-data" – a record of hundreds of calls.

For a long time afterwards it made me anxious and paranoid. I worried not only for the privacy of my professional contacts, but also for friends and family.

And that is the point.

Facebook Former NZ First Party president Lester Gray.

Snooping on journalists is an attempt to silence and shut them down. It makes you think twice about doing the work expected of you.

Back in 2013, some of my greatest defenders were Labour and Green politicians. Without dogged questioning from then-Greens leader Russel Norman, I might never have learned about the release of my records.

They now risk being accused of hypocrisy. Both parties were staunch critics of National's 'dirty politics' tactics in 2014, but have remained quiet about Peters' latest antics.

STUFF Stuff reporter Matt Shand, who broke the New Zealand First Foundation story.

We might be a troublesome and unlovable bunch, but good journalism and a free press is an essential part of a functioning democracy.

This attack on Shand and Espiner's privacy is an attack on the public's right to know about who is secretly funding their Government partner.

Both Labour and the Greens must acknowledge that and condemn it, if we are to believe their exhortations New Zealand politics should be transparent and fair.

RNZ Espiner