#Ponytailgate: Key gets off relatively lightly with international media

John Key's behaviour toward an Auckland waitress might have been "weird and totally unbecoming of the Prime Minister," as Labour leader Andrew Little put it.

But the international embarrassment factor isn't as bad as some had feared.

There is a fair splash of coverage but most is not that prominent. It has not, as has been reported elsewhere, "made headlines around the world."

The PM's pony tail pull has made the New York Times and Washington Post websites. But he doesn't make the home page of either paper. The Post goes to town in its "Morning Mix" section, while the Times has a straightforward wire story buried its Asia Pacific section.

NBR had thought the UK tablets would go nuts and was awaiting a sea of bad puns (ex-pat and one-time tabloid scribe Bill Bennett suggested "Hair today, gone tomorrow").

But in the event it's the same deal as the US papers, with a mix of news agency accounts and straightforward summaries.

It's a far cry from when the PM headlined The Sun with his observation that David Beckham is "as thick as bats**t."

Mr Key does make the endless home page of Daily Mail but only more than 25 scrolls or more around 250 stories down.

Among the higher brow UK papers, The Times has a story in its Australia and NZ section, authored by a reporter in Sydney. 

The Guardian is the only paper that really picks up and runs with #ponytailgate. As of early this morning NZ time, it featured a story top right of its home page, "New Zealand prime minister John Key apologises for pulling waitress's hair."

The story is authored by former Guardian reporter Toby Manhire (now with the NZ Herald and Listener) but it's a straight-down-the-line piece, lacking his usual mischievous tone. It does link the its Australian sister site's article from yesterday, John Key: New Zealand prime minister's weirdest moments (so far) – a compilation that aims to be cruel but that in a way does Mr Key a favour by diluting his creepier episodes with the merely goofy and everyman, such as the three-handed World Cup handshake.

[UPDATE: Mr Manhire tells NBR, "For what it's worth, the Key story was the most viewed story on the Guardian worldwide for most of yesterday afternoon-overnight."]

The PM has failed to make the home page of The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age or The Australian this morning. The SMH and The Age run a story from an agency and their Fairfax stablemate Stuff. On SMH, as NBR types, it does have the distinction of being the most popular World section story.

At home, #ponytailgate could have have serious consequences, especially if the waitress chooses to press charges.

Matthew Hooton suggests it will prompt Mr Key to reassess whether he has the heart for the job. And whether you think the controversy is overblown, or his actions bullying and creepy, I think you have to accept it is a probable that if it lingers, #ponytailgate will diminish his enthusiasm for a fourth term.

Immediate signs haven't been encouraging. Aaron Gilmore, elbowed out of Parliament for his boorish behaviour toward a waiter, has chosen to remain silent. But Judith Collins has used the opportunity to extract a little utu, saying most women would find the PM's actions inappropriate.

And on Seven Sharp, Mike Hosking used his end-of-show homily not to defend the PM but call the episode an example of third-term malaise.

NBR's Rob Hosking says #ponytailgate will hurt National because "One of the most important reasons Mr Key keeps winning elections is his strong appeal, unlike previous National Party leaders, with women voters."  

Domestic complications could lie ahead. 

But internationally, it's already fish-and-chip paper.