Tax inequity in New Zealand

Interestingly, in Aotearoa New Zealand, the very rich don't pay much tax. 

Why do I say that? Because reports show that 19.5% is the average tax paid  and that most of us are in this tax bracket (Rashbrooke, 2023); yet the very rich ONLY pay 8.9% tax (Rashbrooke, 2023), or 9.5% (Inland Revenue Department, 2023a).  And worse, the poorest amongst us, those of us who are an income of under $14k who MUST be struggling to keep the lights on, keep enough petrol in the car, and feed the family, pay 10.5% tax (Inland Revenue Department, 2023b)... still a higher rate than the richest (Rashbrooke, 2023). 

Hell's teeth, that doesn't sound equitable, does it?! Our collective and successive governments could work harder much harder for the average Kiwi to shut tax loopholes for the very rich, and tax high income citizens the same amount as those of us who earn so very much less. 

And the bulk of our tax take "comes from individuals paying income tax - in the 2024 financial year, that was 51 percent of tax revenues. That was followed by GST, which was 25 percent of revenue, corporate tax at 16 percent and 'other' at 8 percent" (Edmunds, 2024).

Further, our richest citizens have many assets which are insufficiently taxed, such as property transactions; they can pay for the expertise and instruments to shift wealth offshore in order to avoid tax. They are also able to influence - threaten - governments to dump policy changes they see as unwelcome, in order to protect their incomes (Inland Revenue Department, 2023a; Rashbrooke, 2023). 

What rubs salt even more in that wound is it seems the wealthy in the US are taxed at roughly 23% (Loe, 2024) (though I must admit, I was pretty sure I had seen a 10% income tax for the USA wealthiest, but cannot find that source at present, so will go with the evidence). We tend to think of the US billionaires as being 'fat cats' who pay few taxes, yet they contribute more to their society than wealthy Kiwis.

Not something for us to be proud of. 

Sam

References:

Edmunds, S. (2025, March 22). Who is actually paying the tax in NZ? - Ask Susan. Radio New Zealand. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/545634/who-is-actually-paying-the-tax-in-nz-ask-susan

Inland Revenue Department. (2023a). High-Wealth Individuals Research Project [Report]. Te Tari Take. https://www.ird.govt.nz/-/media/project/ir/home/documents/about-us/high-wealth-research-project/hwi-research-project/final-report-april-2023/report-high-wealth-individuals-research-project.pdf?modified=20230423203807

Inland Revenue Department. (2023b). Tax rates for individuals | Ngā pāpātanga tāke mō te tangata. Te Tari Take. https://www.ird.govt.nz/income-tax/income-tax-for-individuals/tax-codes-and-tax-rates-for-individuals/tax-rates-for-individuals

Loe, M. (2024, March 13). No, billionaires don’t pay average of 8.2% in federal taxes. Verify. https://www.verifythis.com/article/news/verify/joe-biden/biden-billionaire-tax-rate-fact-check/536-75be1f9b-d40f-45b3-9201-82b161a4e61b

Rashbrooke, M. (2023, April 27). New Zealand’s millionaires pay lower tax rates than cashiers – it’s time to fix the system. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/27/new-zealands-millionaires-pay-lower-tax-rates-than-cashiers-its-time-to-fix-the-system#:~:text=The%20report%20shows%20that%20New,the%20average%20Kiwi%20(19.7%25).

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Some Heinlein quotes part 3

As previously mentioned (here), I have been searching for a Robert Heinlein (RAH) quote around the idea ‘make it idiot-proof and the world/universe will build a better idiot’. In undertaking this search I have been more or less doing a Heinlein retrospective. I have discovered a new collection of short stories - three of which I had not read for years - and one entirely new book ("The Pursuit of the Pankera"). I have - as I have already mentioned - been noting other quotes that I have rediscovered in the process. 

Having already posted two sets of favourite quotes (here and here), this is part 3 of RAH's notable and quotable phrases:

• Some great socialising advice: "a[nyone...] can get a reputation as a sparkling conversationalist simply by letting the other [... person] do all the talking" (Heinlein, 1956, p. 94)
  
  
• Some sound advice about going to court: "nobody ever wins a lawsuit but the lawyers" (Heinlein, 1957, p. 18). And ain't that the truth...
  
  
• A trouble-shooting strategy: "When faced with a problem you do not understand, do any part of it you do understand and then look at it again" (Heinlein, 1969, p. 368)
  
  
• Caution on mentees learning from our experience: "Son, one of the few things I’ve learned is that humans hardly ever learn from the experience of others. They learn — when they do, which isn’t often — on their own, the hard way" (Heinlein, 1981a, p. 38)
  
  
• On being realistic: "Climate is what we expect, weather is what we get" (Heinlein, 1973, p. 370)
  
  
• On being responsible: "Heredity isn't everything [...]. You aren't your parents. You're not your father, you are not your mother. [...] So be yourself, Knothead, and have the courage to make your own mess of your life. Don't imitate somebody else's mess" (Heinlein, 1953, p. 189)
  
  
• He was great with framing what the adventurous reader longs for:
  "What did I want?"
  "I wanted a Roc’s egg. I wanted a harem loaded with lovely odalisques less than the dust beneath my chariot wheels, the rust that never stained my sword. I wanted raw red gold in nuggets the size of your fist and feed that lousy claim jumper to the huskies! I wanted to get up feeling brisk and go out and break some lances, then pick a likely wench for my droit du seigneur—I wanted to stand up to the Baron and dare him to touch my wench! I wanted to hear the purple water chuckling against the skin of the 'Nancy Lee in the cool of the morning watch and not another sound, nor any movement save the slow tilting of the wings of the albatross that had been pacing us the last thousand miles.
  "I wanted the hurtling moons of Barsoom. I wanted Storisende and Poictesme, and Holmes shaking me awake to tell me, 'The game’s afoot!' I wanted to float down the Mississippi on a raft and elude a mob in company with the Duke of Bilgewater and the Lost Dauphin.
  "I wanted Prester John, and Excalibur held by a moon-white arm out of a silent lake. I wanted to sail with Ulysses and with Tros of Samothrace and eat the lotus in a land that seemed always afternoon. I wanted the feeling of romance and the sense of wonder I had known as a kid. I wanted the world to be what they had promised me it was going to be—instead of the tawdry, lousy, fouled-up mess it is." (Heinlein, 1981b, p. 28)
  
  
• On the special status of religious organisations: "My dear, religion is a null area in the law. A church can do anything any organization can do — and has no restrictions. It pays no taxes, need not publish records, is effectively immune to search, inspection, or control — and a church is anything that calls itself a church. Attempts have been made to distinguish between ‘real’ religions entitled to immunities, and ‘cults.’ It can’t be done, short of establishing a state religion... a cure worse than the disease" (Heinlein, 1961, p. 230)

Heinlein had 19th century ideals in a 20th century world, so he could be overly militaristic, sometimes had very silly ideas about women, was overly obsessed with sex, and was somewhat blind to his own privilege. But he was also a prolifically imaginative writer who created new horizons for humanity just by being alive. If you haven't read him yet, give his works a try, and see what you think.

Sam

References:

Heinlein, R. A. (1954). The Star Beast. C. P. Scribner's Sons.

Heinlein, R. A. (1956). Double Star. Signet Books (New American Library).

Heinlein, R. A. (1957). The Door Into Summer. Signet Books (New American Library).

Heinlein, R. A. (1961). Stranger in a Strange Land (third printing 1966). Berkley Books.

Heinlein, R. A. (1966). The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. G. P. Putnam's Sons.

Heinlein, R. A. (1981a). Time Enough for Love: The lives of Lazarus Long (first edition 1974). Berkley Books.

Heinlein, R. A. (1981b). Glory Road (first edition 1963). New English Library.

read more "Some Heinlein quotes part 3"

Five career theory exploration tips

When we are new to career development, how do we meaningfully explore the career development field? Are there some useful primers to help us on our way? How do we learn what we do not yet know?

I have been thinking about this for a while, and I have some ideas about a bit of a path to help guide our baby steps. They are:

1. Firstly, 'why': the grounding of our practice, Rogerian unconditional positive regard (Rogers, 1957). This focuses on our client who is "in a state of incongruence" and us as the practitioner. We are, unlike the client, "congruent" while having "unconditional positive regard for the client" (p. 96). As the practitioner we have "an empathic understanding of the client's internal frame of reference" and we let the client see our empathy and positive regard over the time of our assistance (Rogers, 1957, p. 96). We accept the client totally as they are: without judgement, and we accompany them for a part of their journey. We can get a flavour of this with a comparison of Rogerian to Eganian practice here (Young, 2025): https://www.samyoung.co.nz/2025/10/rogerian-versus-eganian-career-practice.html 
   
   
2. We next consider the 'how'. We put the client at the centre of what we do. As a practitioner we have no other concerns that of our client. It doesn't matter who pays for the service: it is the person who sits with us who we focus on. If we work within an organisation, it is not the organisation which gets our loyalty: it is the client. Everything is about doing the best we can for the client. Our professional codes of ethics (CATE, 2025; CDANZ, 2016) help us to clearly understand 'how'. 
   
   
3. Moving to the 'what', we might find it useful to understand that there are a lot of theorists in our field, but there are some great books to accompany us. I would suggest as a relatively quick read, the Yates (2024) book outlining useful career development theories for the Career Development Institute in the UK. The text talks us through the 'what', but not yet the 'who'. 
   
   
4. To understand the 'who', I would suggest Inkson et al. (2015) as a superb theory primer with loads of theories clustered around metaphors. At 400-odd pages this will take us a while to digest, but will help us understand the scope of our new field. We can also download a sample chapter of this text from https://au.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-assets/65062_book_item_65062.pdf
   
   
5. Then I would suggest we understand the 'when', and get a mental map for the time those various theorists arose in our field: Careers New Zealand created a timeline which is now on Tahatū Career Navigator at https://tahatu.govt.nz/career-practice-hub/best-practice/career-theories-and-models (2025). I have also created a theory infographic here (Young, 2013): https://www.samyoung.co.nz/2013/12/a-few-useful-career-theories_10.html 
   

I hope that helps!

Sam

References:

CATE. (2025). Code of Ethics. Career and Transition Educators. https://www.cate.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/CATE-Code-of-Ethics.pdf

CDANZ. (2016). Code of Ethics. Career Development Association of New Zealand. https://cdanz.org.nz/ModularPage?Action=View&ModularPage_id=26

Inkson, K., Dries, N., & Arnold, J. (2015). Understanding Careers (2nd ed.). SAGE Publications Ltd. https://au.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-assets/65062_book_item_65062.pdf

Rogers, C. R. (1957). The necessary and sufficient conditions of therapeutic personality change. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 21(2), 95-103. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0045357

Tahatū Career Navigator. (2025, November 25). Career theories and models | Ngā ariā me ngā tauira aramahi. https://tahatu.govt.nz/career-practice-hub/best-practice/career-theories-and-models

Yates, J. (2024). Career Development Theories in Practice: Real-world applications of career development models. Career Development Institute [CDI].

Young, S. (2013, December 10). A Few Useful Career Theories. https://www.samyoung.co.nz/2013/12/a-few-useful-career-theories_10.html

Young, S. (2025, October 23). Rogerian versus Eganian career practice. https://www.samyoung.co.nz/2025/10/rogerian-versus-eganian-career-practice.html

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Questions to aid IT adoption

As career practitioners, we need to stay updated with technology. Not only is this a PD requirement for being a CDANZ or CATE member under each organisation’s Code of Ethics (2016, 2025), it should also be something that we automatically do as professionals in our field. A sound understanding of trending technology will not only affect how we advise our clients, but also affect how effective we are in assisting them to navigate today’s world of work. If we are out of date, how can we advise our clients well?

In a recent article, LaFever proposed a list of questions to help us evaluate our technology adoption in three key three areas (2025), which I thought provided a helpful framework. The areas and questions were:

Time (integration effort, training, client navigation):

• "How much work does it take to integrate a technology into your program/practice?
• "How much training will you and/or colleagues need to implement the technology?
• "What does this require of the client and how will you ensure their ability to navigate it?"

Cost (practice and client costs; reassessment; dependency risk):

• "What is the upfront cost and ongoing cost to the program/ practice?
• "Is there a financial cost to clients on top or separately from program/practice cost?
• "How often will the cost be reassessed by the provider, and how will the program/practice evaluate the cost?
• "Is there a potential risk if the program/practice or client becomes dependent on the service and then the cost significantly changes?"

Data (client data requirements, storage, third-party sharing):

• "What data is required of the client for the technology to work?
• "How is the data stored, and what is it used for?
• "What risks could be associated with the information being shared with a third-party provider, whether intentionally or unintentionally?" (LaFever, 2025, p. 23)

I think this is a helpful list for us to consider.

Sam

References:

CATE. (2025). Code of Ethics. Career and Transition Educators. https://www.cate.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/CATE-Code-of-Ethics.pdf

CDANZ. (2016). Code of Ethics. Career Development Association of New Zealand. https://cdanz.org.nz/ModularPage?Action=View&ModularPage_id=26

LaFever, C. R. (2025). Ethics of Navigating Emerging Technology. Career Developments, 41(1), 22-23. https://www.ncda.org/aws/NCDA/asset_manager/get_file/436612?ver=1425

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Citing an APA call for papers

I had to ask myself a really curly referencing question, arising from a student online post. The student had found a great summary source online, and had had a crack at referencing the item, as follows:

Emerald Publishing. (2026, Dec 31). Work, Intersectionality, and Neurodiversity: Understanding and Improving Inclusion Across the Career Span​. Retrieved from: https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/calls-for-papers/work-intersectionality-and-neurodiversity-understanding-and-improving-inclusion

I thanked the student for the post, and thanked them for sharing the source. 

However, their reference didn't look right to me: particularly the December publication date. I felt some assistance would be in order, so popped the article title into GoogleScholar but got nothing at all. I tried the URL alone, which popped up a call for papers for a special edition of the Journal of Managerial Psychology. Now the call for papers itself was something that I had never needed to APA reference before!

Crikey. I looked at the publication manual (American Psychological Association, 2019), but I couldn't find anything there; nor could I find "call for abstracts", which I had thought might have had a similar structure. On drawing a blank, I decided that the best approach - in my ignorance - was to treat it a bit like pre-print, or online first article (read more on that particular beast here). Looking at the page, the editors for the special issue were listed, as was the closing date for the call for papers. I could see the journal name. As a result, I thought the best approach would be as follows:

Gottardello, D., Quigley, N. R. Bruyère, S. M. (2026). Work, Intersectionality, and Neurodiversity: Understanding and Improving Inclusion Across the Career Span [special issue]​. Journal of Managerial Psychology [call for papers; 2026, December 31]. https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/calls-for-papers/work-intersectionality-and-neurodiversity-understanding-and-improving-inclusion

I went back to the student and said:

"Thanks so much for sharing that call for papers piece! I think you picked an INCREDIBLY difficult source to reference and cite! I had to wrack my brain for how I would cite/reference this myself... but I think it would be as follows (Gottardello et al., 2026)" and gave them the reference I had compiled.

Tricky stuff, eh?!

Sam

References:

American Psychological Association. (2019). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association: The official guide to APA style (7th ed.). Author.

Gottardello, D., Quigley, N. R. Bruyère, S. M. (2026). Work, Intersectionality, and Neurodiversity: Understanding and Improving Inclusion Across the Career Span [special issue]. Journal of Managerial Psychology [call for papers; 2026, December 31]. https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/calls-for-papers/work-intersectionality-and-neurodiversity-understanding-and-improving-inclusion

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The ethics of LLMs

AI seems to be becoming more and more pervasive, but really 'AI' is the increased use of large language models, or LLMs, as a writing and communication tool. LLMs such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and Microsoft Copilot are becoming a standard tool in workplaces. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, it seems that employees are being required to more consistently use digital skills, and - when seeking work - to show evidence of how digitally-able they are. 

That means that we, as career practitioners, must also be familiar with the skill sets our clients are likely to need in the workplace. As practitioners we also face some ethical dilemmas: firstly, about responsible AI tools use; and secondly how to support clients using these tools (Sedeeq & LaFever, 2025).

While younger workers seem less worried about adopting LLM tools, and less worried about their use; older workers worry more about who actually owns the words we are pulling from the ether, and what the End User Licence Agreement (EULA) says. Meanwhile the research shows that regular use of LLMs negatively affects our brain development (Kosmyna et al., 2025); and there are institutional disputes over LLM tool authenticity, security, and accountability (Sedeeq & LaFever, 2025). The question arises: who owns these LLM-generated products?

Further, if we - or our clients - are studying and use the LLM analysis and synthesis tools, does that actually count as 'genuine learning' (Sedeeq & LaFever, 2025)? A Pew study reported "13% of 13-17 years olds had used ChatGPT to complete schoolwork", growing by early 2025 to 26% (Sedeeq & LaFever, 2025, p. 22, citing Sidoti & Gottfried, 2023). How does outsourcing of education sit with us ethically?

Then we have bias, which is apparently endemic within LLMs (Sedeeq & LaFever, 2025) simply due to the WEIRD pool of material sourced to underpin it: Western, educated, industrialised, rich and democratic (Henrich et al., 2010; read more here). Oh, and culturally? Mainly North American and middle class (Sedeeq & LaFever, 2025). So how does that sit with cultural diversity within our practice?

Sedeeq and LaFever point out that "Using AI as a complementary tool such as to identify trends in a dataset or simplify language in a difficult text is an appropriate extension of traditional learning aids like a dictionary", but warn that "if [our] clients are relying on AI to generate content that they submit as their own with limited to no modification, they have crossed an ethical line" (2025, p. 23). But is that our problem as practitioners?

I guess it is if we are doing it. I am less certain it is our gig, if it is our clients who are doing it. 

We need to think about the intent of the LLM ownership. Anthropic, owner of ChatGPT guided the missiles and drones bombing Iran (Bregman, 2026): should we use a tool which is used to attack sovereign nations?

So, to summarise: who owns the words; can education be outsourced; is cultural homogeneity what we want; can we contract out our work; and who owns the model and what is their intent? I am sure there will be many more questions which need answering, but this is starting to look like a bit of a can of worms.

Actually, this is starting to remind me of Developer Bob (Young, 2013).

Sam

References:

Bregman, R. (2026, March 4). Quit ChatGPT: right now! Your subscription is bankrolling authoritarianism. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/04/quit-chatgpt-subscription-boycott-silicon-valley

Henrich, J., Heine, S. J., & Norenzayan, A. (2010). The weirdest people in the world?. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 33(2-3), 61-83. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X0999152X

Kosmyna, N., Hauptmann, E., Yuan, Y. T., Situ, J., Liao, X. H., Beresnitzky, A. V., ... & Maes, P. (2025). Your brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of cognitive debt when using an AI assistant for essay writing task. arXiv. Advance online publication. https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.08872

Sedeeq, R., & LaFever, C. (2025). Balancing Innovation and Integrity: Ethical Considerations for Using AI in Career Development. Career Developments, 41(2), 22-23. https://associationdatabase.com/aws/NCDA/asset_manager/get_file/436612?ver=1426&tcs-token=c5d672670ffda7c9af250c94151f65ab7cc8f66578ef1b7f03a4fc33f7a58f82

Young, D. (2013, February 20). Developer Bob - Outsourcing Your Job. https://www.samyoung.co.nz/2013/02/developer-bob-outsourcing-your-job.html

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Two ways to digitally upskill

It is expected today by employers that all workers are digitally competent. There has been an "accelerated technological development in the labour market [which] has resulted in digital competences and skills being seen as basic and essential" (Buhl et al., 2023, p. 14), "on par with reading and writing". 

In the USA, "92 percent of all job ads requir[e] definitely digital or likely digital skills" (Bergson-Shilcock et al., 2023, p. 92). According to the OECD, those with good digital skills have a greater chances "of being employed and, if employed, of earning higher wages” (OECD, 2016, p. 26), with “New Zealand stands out as the one [nation] whose adults use almost all information-processing skills the most frequently at work” (p. 116). For most roles – 90% - in New Zealand, digital competence above Level 3 is expected; which is undertaking "tasks [...requiring] generic and more specific technology applications [with] navigation across pages and applications [and] The use of tools [possibly] involv[ing] multiple steps". Users define goals and troubleshoot both structured and unstructured problems, with "Unexpected outcomes and impasses [being] likely to occur [and] information [requiring evaluation] in order to discard distractors. Integration and inferential reasoning may be needed to a large extent" (p. 53). That is a pretty steep set of requirements. 

However, a number of workers in Aotearoa are not yet digitally competent. One issue is that we no longer have any formal tertiary teaching of digital skills. Digital technologies have been integrated into primary, secondary and tertiary education, so if we are someone who graduated some years ago and missed out on digital technologies, we have now missed the educative boat. There are no longer formal training courses because there are few needing it.

But, in my experience as a career practitioner, there is still a digital competence gap 'tail'. And that tail is formed largely middle-aged men. This worker group has held blue collar roles: perhaps heavy machinery drivers, crane drivers, construction workers, agricultural contractors, quarry work, mining, drilling, and heavy industries. They may not have been academically comfortable at school and see classroom learning as forming significant barriers. They may have struggled within the school system when they were forced to participate in it; until they could 'escape' at the leaving age ...or before, in some cases. They do not see themselves as able to be successful in learning something as difficult as computing.

This group has been largely left behind, digitally speaking. However, there are a couple of avenues we can explore for our older clients who are not digitally savvy. 

1. Firstly, there is a group called SeniorNet. This is a New Zealand not for profit where volunteers teach those who need to learn digital skills. It is usually free, but providing some quid pro quo of hours, skills or similar wouldn't go astray. Providing we can persuade our clients to accept that they need to upskill, then I have found this group to be very supportive. This group works well with new learners, who are completely at sea.
   
   
2. Secondly, there is a series of courses, collectively termed the Digital Passport, developed by the Ministry of Social Development and academyEX - the latter being a private IT training provider (Digital Passport, 2026). While we have to create a log in, once we have done that, access to the course material is free for all New Zealanders. We can work through the available courses as we feel like it, there being a range of video, text and image content. Currently there is a job search course; a digital skills course, and an AI course; with all courses having three levels (Digital Passport, 2026). It is organised in a bite-sized way. I have personally completed a couple of the courses and have also provided some feedback where I felt the material could be improved. This resource works well for those who already have some familiarity with the online environment, and have developed a level of digital problem solving skills. 

However, the most difficult aspect I have found in working with this client group is to get them to see that, by not participating in using digital technologies, they are opting out of society; and how dangerous a place that is. 

Sam

References:

Bergson-Shilcock, A., Taylor, R., Hodge, N. (2023, February 06). Closing the Digital Skill Divide. National Skills Coalition. https://nationalskillscoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/NSC-DigitalDivide_report_Feb2023.pdf

Buhl, M., Dille, M. H. B., & Kårstein, A. (2023). The role of lifelong learning for inclusion in the digital transformation – Work life of tomorrow. Nordic Network for Adult Learning/Aalborg University. https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1811339/FULLTEXT01.pdf

Digital Passport. (2026). Intro to Digital Passport. Ministry of Social Development  & academyEX. https://www.digitalpassport.co.nz/

OECD (2016). Skills Matter: Further results from the survey of adult skills. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264258051-en

SeniorNet. (2026). SeniorNet Digital Courses For Seniors And Older Adults. https://seniornet.nz/about-us/seniornet-digital-courses/

read more "Two ways to digitally upskill"

If it bleeds, it leads

I had always thought that the saying, "if it bleeds, it leads" was the brainchild of legendary US newsman, William Randolph Hearst. However, when I went looking for the source of the quote, I was unable to find conclusive proof of Hearst's 'ownership', and Wikiquote has nothing. For a phrase that famous, it would have been documented, so I think I can safely assume it was NOT Hearst's coinage. 

The phrase is embedded in newspaper or possibly TV news jargon — "the 'lead' is the first paragraph or so of a newspaper story, or the first story to be shown on the news show. Leads (sometimes spelled as “ledes” to clarify pronunciation) are carefully crafted to grab the reader’s or viewer’s attention and pull [them] into the story" (Scandling, 2018). Hendrickson notes that the phrase is "Recent" and that it is an "instruction for tabloid broadcasting and newspaper journalists, referring to the need for emphasizing bloody sensational stories in their coverage of the news, specifically leading off the first page or the program with such stories. Such coverage is, however, older than the tabloids themselves" (2008, p. 430). But is it?

It doesn't look older than tabloids. In having a scurry around the interweb, many attribute the saying to Pooley (1989) who mentions the phrase in passing: "even the best work can be hard to pick out of the dross. The thoughtful report is buried because sensational stories must launch the broadcast: If it bleeds, it leads" (p. 37).

However, I also found an anonymous writer on Answers.com who said that they had found the phrase in a trade magazine, "Broadcasting" from 1982, as follows:

"An article entitled 'Preparing for a Boston news war' describ[ing] the relaunch of channel 7 in Boston". The station "was being relaunched" and included "the following: 'Asked whether WNEV-TV would continue its predecessor's policy, described as "If it bleeds, it leads," [news director Bill] Applegate said...' " (Answers.Com, 2011).

The writer goes on to note that, following that first quote: 

the phrase appears in TV Guide in 1983, but after that there's nothing for 6 years. Then in 1989 New York magazine ran an article entitled 'Grins, Gore, and Videotape - The Trouble with Local TV News' by Eric Pooley. In a scathing indictment of local newscasts, Pooley writes that, 'The thoughtful report is buried because sensational stories must launch the broadcast: If it bleeds, it leads.' The phrase was reprinted (with credit to Pooley) in the Washington Post in October of '89 in an article called "Bodybag Journalism" by Eleanor Randolph. Within a few months it was popping up in letters and op-eds in papers all around the country (Answers.Com, 2011).

However, it is possible that the phrase was common earlier than 1982, as in 2016 Campbell et al. note the following:

By the mid-1970s, the public’s fascination with the Watergate scandal, combined with the improved quality of TV journalism, helped local news departments realize profits. In an effort to retain high ratings, stations began hiring consultants, who advised news directors to invest in national prepackaged formats, such as Action News or Eyewitness News. Traveling the country, viewers noticed similar theme music and opening graphic visuals from market to market. Consultants also suggested that stations lead their newscasts with crime blocks: a group of TV stories that recount the worst local criminal transgressions of the day. A cynical slogan soon developed in the industry: “If it bleeds, it leads.” This crime-block practice continues today at most local TV news stations (Campbell et al., 2016, p. 496).

Interesting. So let's assume Pooley until we find that elusive 1982 source. 

Sam

References:

Answers.Com (2012, December 30). Who coined the phrase if it bleeds it leads? [Anonymous]. https://www.answers.com/english-language-arts/Who_coined_the_phrase_if_it_bleeds_it_leads

Campbell, R., Martin, C. R., & Fabos, B. (2016). Media & Culture: Mass communication in a digital age (10th ed.). Bedford/St. Martin's.

Hendrickson, R. (2008). The Facts on File Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins: Definitions and origins of more than 15,000 words and expressions (4th ed.). Facts On File, Inc.

Pooley, E. (1989, October 9). Grins, Gore, and Videotape: The Trouble with Local TV News. The New York Magazine, 22(40), 36-44. https://books.google.co.nz/books?id=_OcCAAAAMBAJ&printsec=frontcover&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

Scandling, M. (2018, February 27). If It Bleeds, It Leads. No Matter Whose Blood It Is. StandLeague. https://www.standleague.org/newsroom/blog/if-it-bleeds-it-leads-no-matter-whose-blood-it-is.html

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Born, made, or both?

The born versus made question is an incredibly complex question to answer. There is scientific evidence that the split is around 40% DNA and 60% development (Jackson & Parry, 2018). However, there is also a "developmental concept of interaction" which "arises from the combination of a particular hereditary constitution with a particular kind of environment” (Tabery, 2014, p. 134, citing Hogben, 1932, p. 98), which is a fascinating idea in itself. When we bring together nature and nurture, we get different outcomes. Sliding doors moments, effectively. Pretty much the entire premise of all science fiction books and films.

Building on that idea, researchers sorted "the Dunedin Study research participants (n = 847) [into groups] based on the serotonin transporter gene variant they carried: s/s (17%), s/l (51%) and l/l (31%). On the environmental side, they divided up the research participants based on the number of stressful life events they had encountered so far in life: none (30%), one event (25%), two events (20%), three events (11%), and four or more events (15%). The combined genetic and environmental difference makers made for a much stronger predictor of depression than either of the difference makers alone" (Tabery, 2014, p. 139). 

I used to think we were entirely 'made'. My personal 'belief' was overturned by the evidence of a family situation (and yes, I know n only equals 1, that I am very much a layperson in this field, and that I am not necessarily an objective observer). But the story goes like this.

My sister had two children (same dad), but the second child was adopted. The adoption was a 'modern' one where all parties were aware and could connect. However, within our family we decided not to overwhelm the 'new' family, and after an all-party discussion, nominated my mother to be the sole contact person. She organised check-ins, presents etc. However, when the siblings were seven/eight they wanted to meet: they had never met before but both were interested in now doing so. They had both had a very different upbringing from each other and had had quite different experiences. They had been educated differently, and had lived in different places. 

I was tasked with organising the meeting, and took them both to the beach in the city where the adopted child was living. These two were like peas in a pod. They had the same mannerisms. They said the same things; they moved the same way, they had the same intonation and pauses in their speech. I was absolutely staggered by how THE SAME they were. Yes, they came from largely the same genetic pool, so it was logical that their voices would be similar, and they would move in a similar fashion because they were structurally alike, but the similarity of two youngsters who were - effectively - two complete strangers meeting each other for the first time shocked me. My beliefs were overturned about nurture being the primary actor, because the evidence of my eyes showed me that nature was playing a far more significant role with these two than I had previously suspected. 

This finding has been replicated in a number of twin studies (Segal, 2021). My sister's children are not twins, but I feel the genetic similarity is definitely a consideration in their case. 

Additionally, someone - and, sorry, I have no recollection who it was - pointed out a number of years ago that when we are born, we can only cry, gurgle, excrete, sleep and drink. EVERYTHING is development from the point of our birth onwards. 

While I know that comment is slightly beside the point, it also illustrates the futility of the argument itself!

Sam

References:

Jackson, B. & Parry, K. (2018). A Very Short, Fairly Interesting and Reasonably Cheap Book about Studying Leadership (3rd ed.). SAGE Publications Ltd.

Segal, N. L. (2021). Deliberately divided: Inside the controversial study of twins and triplets adopted apart. Rowman & Littlefield Publishing.

Tabery, J. (2014). Beyond Versus: The struggle to understand the interaction of nature and nurture. The MIT Press.

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The Victorian ideal of rational recreation

There is apparently a ideal of self-improvement called "rational recreation" (Beaven, 2005; Harrison, 2022), which looks like it arose out of that very Victorian and Edwardian do-gooding streak that we would get into mischief if we weren't kept busy, and the Protestant work ethic of making every minute of our lives count towards something.

The Victorian era and the lead-up to the first World War seems to have benefitted young working men with a significant amount of spare time due to changes in legislation, and a bewildering array things to take that time up with, such as "the traditional ‘spit and sawdust’ public house to the new and lavish music hall" and created "Britain’s mass ‘pleasure seekers’" (Beaven, 2005, p. 16). When we stop to think about it: we have only had these entertainments for a bit over a century, along with the wherewithal to pay to participate. How quickly the world has changed in just four short generations! 

As we got more time off work, those Victorian do-gooders I mentioned earlier - "urban and rural elites of social reformers and philanthropists - started organising our time off, creating "civilising recreation for the masses" (Beaven, 2005, p. 16), by way of "clubs, societies and leisure activities", "known collectively as rational recreation".

Even more judgy were the do-gooders that thought "that young working-class women’s recreation was ‘work of supreme importance both for the present and for the future welfare of [the] nation’, [...with] the ‘leisure problem ha[ving] become a national problem’, stressing that ‘the absence of opportunity and reasonable means for recreation and innocent amusement’ was responsible for young people’s ‘indulgence in low forms of amusement and the various grades of human animalism’" (Harrison, 2022, p. 64). No drama there, then. Obviously the working classes will be seduced into gambling, drink and other vices unless we fill up their plebeian time with worthy pursuits, eh.

Because, you know, "leisure activities should promote moral values and teach good character", like going along to those moralising quasi-religious groups such as the "uniformed youth movements". Just imagine growing veg in your allotment, raising pigeons, or climbing: "trivial at best, and at worst, damaging to both individual and society" (p. 64). Those "moral reformers, religious groups and other commentators who argued that young working people were not using their leisure time profitably" really were focused on "‘rescue work’ to [..] inculcate [young people] with particular morals" (p. 65); and probably to encourage them to be happy with their lot, and to not riot for better wages.

Creating a docile body of workers. 

Sam

References:

Beaven, B. (2005). Chapter 1 Rational recreation and the creation of the model citizen, c. 1850–1914. In Leisure, citizenship and working–class men in Britain, 1850-1975 (pp. 16-43). Manchester University Press.

Harrison, L. (2022). Chapter 2 ‘The need for wholesome influences is great’: Rational recreation. In Dangerous Amusements: Leisure, the young working class and urban space in Britain, c. 1870-1939 (pp. 64-96). Manchester University Press.

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Sky blue pink with a finny hanny border analysis

On page 91 of “Last Tram to Lime Street”, a romance novel set in Liverpool, one of the main characters, Nellie, says “yer’d end up buying paper in sky-blue pink with a finny-haddy border” (Jonker, 1995. p. 91). Gorgeous! 

I have written about this - possibly - Geordie saying in 2017, posting a piece on the potential origins of this UK riposte to unanswerable questions from children (here). When asked about “sky blue pink”, Oxford English Dictionary reader, Michael Quinion related that the phrase “was well known to my mother in London in the 1940s and also to my wife’s mother" with several versions, including "sky-blue pink with purple dots, sky-blue pink with yellow spots on, and sky-blue pink with a heavenly border. A form once popular in northern England was sky-blue pink with a finny addy border, in which finny addy is a corruption of finnan haddock, a type of cold-cured smoked fish, named after Findon in Scotland” (2009, p. 279).

The original post generated variant feedback, with kind readers leaving comments on the original post, which I also compiled and posted. And at last, it is time to analyse the feedback, with the most common saying being the straightforward version as noted mostly by Liverpudlians: Sky blue pink with a finny [h]addy border. From a simple count (see table below), I felt that “haddy”, “addy”, “handy” and “anny” are likely to all be “addy” with a dropped ‘h’ or “haddy” and – as Michael Quinion (2009, p. 279) states – all referencing Findon smoked haddock. Collectively these four entries come to a 75%. And, as I had so many scousers commenting - of the 24 respondents, 13 (54%) were from Liverpool - this saying seems to have been strongly adopted by Liverpudlians (also evidenced by the saying’s inclusion in Crowley’s 2017 dictionary).

Quinion seems to think this entire phrase dates from the 1930s or earlier, noting the "sky blue pink" element was an American story phrase from 1881 (2009, p. 280). My maternal grandparents moved from Gateshead to London in the 1930s, so for my mother to have known it so completely and transplanted this saying to Aotearoa New Zealand, I think it may be 'earlier' - perhaps from the 1920s. That's to provide enough time for it to have been linga franca for my grandparents (to mix a metaphor).

While this has been thought of as a fobbing off phrase, Crowley’s dictionary of Liverpudlianisms suggests that it may be morphing into a flash-Harry phrase. The definition is given as “Sky-blue pink wit’ a finny-addy border (phr.): the acme. ‘Sky-blue pink wit’ a finny-addy border: said of something regarded as having everything, such as an imposing mansion or a Rolls-Royce car’ (Lane 1966: 54). *NR; derivation unclear” (2017, p. 213).

Users	24	Consensus
Sky	24	100%
Blue	24	100%
Pink	23	96%
Purple	1	4%
With	23	96%
Yellow	4	17%
Dots	3	13%
Spots	1	4%
On	2	8%
And	1	4%
A	21	88%
Finny	18	75%
Haddy	7	29%
Anny	3	13%
Handy	1	4%
Addy	7	29%
Misc	0	0%
Border	21	88%

Unfortunately I only had 24 individual data points, so not only is my analysis very simple, because n is less than 30, the results cannot be statistically significant. But it is interesting. 

And now I think I can finally put this one to bed.

Sam

References:

Crowley, T. (2017). The Liverpool English Dictionary: A Record of the Language of Liverpool 1850–2015 on Historical Principles. Liverpool University Press.

Greasley, R. (2023, November 5). 50 sayings you heard growing up in Liverpool: How many of these do you remember?. Echo. https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/50-sayings-phrases-come-backs-28032769

Ice-Maiden. (2007, September 24). What colour?. The Answer Bank. https://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Phrases-and-Sayings/Question459921.html

Jonker, J. (1995). Last Tram to Lime Street. Headline Book Publishing.

Quinion, M. (2009). Why is Q Always Followed by U: Word-perfect answers to the most-asked questions about language. Particular Books.

Young, S. (2017, January 2). Sky-blue pink with a Finny Haddy Border. https://www.samyoung.co.nz/2017/01/sky-blue-pink-with-finny-haddy-border.html

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Eight ethical practice questions

I am a member of the US National Career Development Association, which has three regular publications: the web-based Career Convergence; a magazine called Career Developments, and a journal called The Career Development Quarterly. Both the volunteer-run Career Convergence and Career Developments have some regular columns with content from member contributors. One column I ensure I read in each issue of Career Developments is the "Ethics in a Nutshell" column, where a member will write a piece exploring some aspect of ethics in the career development profession.

Two relatively recent issues of the magazine had a couple of superbly practical ethical pieces which I felt together posed some great ethical questions. I thought I would accumulate them and share those questions here.

Firstly, some guiding questions which we practitioners can ask ourselves to help to stay ethically sound within our practice (Bucher, 2025):

1. Are my client’s ideas of success at the centre of the mahi we are doing? Or is it MY goals for the client we are focusing on?
2. "Have I created space for the client [to feel safe to] name their limits, constraints, and fears without judgment?" (now isn't that a powerful question to ask??)
3. Have we together explored the "structural barriers [our] client may face, and explored what support systems are (or are not) in place?" (there is nothing like a reality check)
4. Can I be sure that I am not in any way "pressuring the client into a version of transformation that may be costly, unsustainable, or unaligned?" (Bucher, 2025, p. 23)

As Bucher says, these are questions we must keep asking ourselves as we continue our work together, to ensure our client "remain[s] rooted in [our "unconditional positive regard",] care, advocacy, and humility (2025, p. 23; Rogers, 1957, p. 96).

And secondly, I found a check-list of guard rails for our practice. An article by LaFever was divided into sections which could be posed as practitioner questions to double-check whether our mahi is within our expertise; or whether we should host our client into a referral with a more experienced practitioner (2025). Those questions are:

1. Are there practice limits we must consider? Is our scope of practice being pushed too far? It is easy when we are career practitioners to have clients come to us who present as being well, but seeking work alternatives, that once we get further into a session, we begin to encounter what we think may be mental health issues. This is an area where - rather than doing good, or beneficence - we run the risk of inadvertently doing the client harm through our own ignorance (LaFever, 2025). Here we must refer on. 
2. Are there field experience limits we must consider? Is this client a type we have limited experience with or exposure to (LaFever, 2025)? For example, my private practice is centred on adult clients in mid-life; while I might see a school leaver client due to geographic scarcity, I would preface accepting an appointment booking by explaining that this was outside my normal field, and perhaps we could have a joint-discovery session; I would also not usually charge for such a session because we were learning together.
3. Have we had enough training to deliver a practice assessment tool which we think the client needs? For example, we may think Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, or CBT, will aid our client. We might have some CBT familiarity through reading; but do we really know the tool? We should probably refer on to an experienced practitioner. As LaFever says "competent professionals should have the skills to mitigate, manage, and minimize the risk of harm" and our "scope of practice and competence [must be supported] by professional training" (2025, p. 23) if we are to act as a true professional within our practice. However, in saying that, before referring on, we would explore CBT alongside our client, both as beginners, to determine whether the client feels the tool will suit them to lower the client's financial, sustainability and alignment risks with the referral.
4. How current are our skills in this area? When going to use a tool with a client, we should check when we last did some training. We should all be keeping a PD log, so should be able to check when we last did a refresher. It might be time for a brush-up before we use an old favourite. 

These eight questions are very useful to ask: even if we decide the session should go ahead. It is the thinking about these factors that allows us to minimise potential harm. 

Sam

References:

Bucher, J. (2025). Between Empowerment and Realism: Ethics in Supporting Career Mobility. Career Developments, 41(3), 22-23. https://associationdatabase.com/aws/NCDA/asset_manager/get_file/436612?ver=1427&tcs-token=c5d672670ffda7c9af250c94151f65ab7cc8f66578ef1b7f03a4fc33f7a58f82

LaFever, C. R. (2025). Competence Counts: Considering Ethical Scope of Practice. Career Developments, 41(4), 22-23. https://associationdatabase.com/aws/NCDA/asset_manager/get_file/436612?ver=1428&tcs-token=c5d672670ffda7c9af250c94151f65ab7cc8f66578ef1b7f03a4fc33f7a58f82

Rogers, C. R. (1957). The necessary and sufficient conditions of therapeutic personality change. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 21(2), 95-103. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0045357

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