Return of Muldoon Era?

When people started circulating images a few months back of Muldoon looking like John Key it was a bit of a laugh. Slight physical appearance similarities and being a National Party Prime Minister seemed to be about all they had in common. However John Key trying to muscle the media brought on a twinge.

Today the news is more serious:

TVNZ and Radio New Zealand were among media contacted yesterday by police investigating a complaint from Key over the recording.
Neither organisation has handed over any material at this stage and TVNZ is considering its legal position after it was sent the search warrant this afternoon.
TVNZ has not heard the tape, but has been told by police that they are interested in obtaining raw field vision of the cup of tea meeting.

This is a infringement of the ability of the media to freely report on current events. The Police issuing a search warrant on the media is an incredibly serious event and is something that should never be done lightly. What is worse the Police are not just trying to seize the tape. They are looking to seize footage the TVNZ and Radio New Zealand clearly legally shot. Even if they were to seize the tape for what benefit would this be? The larger damage to Key's reputation has already happened and people are more concerned by his reaction to the recording than what was actually on the tape as evidenced by Goff urging people to stop talking about it and focus on policy. There is no reason the Police cannot wait for Court hearings to finish and Key can seek damages. The International Federation of Journalists has condemned the actions of the Police, something normally reserved for corrupt third world countries.

It is bizarre Key would push the Police into doing this. That I know of legally filmed material by journalists has never been taken before and this case really does not seem one where they should.

At a press conference the other day a journalist asked Key if he was at war with the media. It certainly seems to be the case.