A recent statement claiming that wine was cheaper than water in New Zealand showed just how easy it is to garner publicity.

In my view, it also showed just how easy it is to shred your own credibility, a result that will last longer than the sensational headline.

This headline, created by the University of Otago’s Wellington-based Department of Public Health, was a piece of "research-based” advocacy for higher taxes on alcohol, not a statement of fact. However it appears most of the media were initially duped, though to their credit TV One News got on to them pretty quickly.

Although Green MP Sue Kedgley quickly seized on the statement, adding her voice to the call for a tax hike – as did the NZ Medical Association – it’s been hard to find a considered opinion in defense of the researchers’ tactic.

What this public relations effort will do then is make this University departments next attempt to interest the media in their "research” that much more difficult. I know many companies feel their good and worthy efforts go unrecognised by the media, and complain about how hard it is to get the media’s attention, however I would advise against the questionable approach adopted by the university. Reputation is worth more than a passing headline.