Turning Ardern into a celebrity to sell Covid to us was precisely what television, as a mechanism of state power, was established to do. You need at least a Silver membership plan to access Insight articles. Username or E-mail Password Remember Me Forgot Password Nathan Smith Nathan Smith is a former business journalist and columnist at the NBR. He also worked as the chief editor at the New Zealand Initiative policy think tank. He is now a freelance writer and copy editor. More by Nathan Smith