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Whale Oil
The shocking, and completely true story of blogger Cameron Slater known as Whale Oilknown as Whale Oil, and his systematic online attack of Auckland businessman Matt Blomfield.
- GenresNonfiction
Paperback
First published May 29, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 17, 2019
Margie Thomson has written a thoroughly researched account of the massive legal battle between Cameron Slater and Matt Blomfield following untruths (concerning Matt Blomfield) which Cameron Slater posted on his Whale Oil blog. Matt Blomfield has never given up the fight to clear his name. I found it incredibly interesting but a slower read for me as there is a lot to take in in this book.
July 8, 2019
You know how you thought Cameron Slater was the biggest piece of shit to ever emerge from New Zealand? Turns out he’s way worse than you imagined.
July 19, 2019
Margie Thomson has done New Zealand an inestimable favour in producing this book.
Cameron Slater, the Whale Oil blogger, appeared to be able to say anything and everything on his blog and get away with it. Mixing fact and fiction, he stirred up his vast audience and set the cat among the pigeons time and again.
Oh, that's right - he ruined several people's lives in the process.
Thankfully one of the people whom Slater tried hard to destroy, Matt Blomfeld, wasn't the victim type, and gave Slater as good as he got, even though it took him several years of his life, with innumerable court appearances in the process, huge financial costs, and a great deal of emotional cost.
One of the most worrying things about this story are the way in which the police continually regarded Blomfeld as a nuisance - in spite of the fact that he had nearly died at the hands of a gunman who came onto the family property. Their constant stalling and putting aside of the matters of the case leave a very nasty taste in the mouth. A force that used to be trustworthy seems to be less and less so.
The other worrying thing is that three probable offenders who apparently encouraged Slater in his vendetta got off scot free. At least one of these people allegedly stole private property (hard drives full of personal emails, and a great deal of business files); the other two allegedly used the material for slanderous and often obscene purposes. The police have apparently never investigated any of this.
How Matt Blomfeld kept his sanity through all this is anyone's guess, but he did, thankfully.
Slater himself has become increasingly unwell over the last year or so, and his end in the story is ignominious.
It would have been great to have had an index to this book: there are a large number of names, and it's not always easy to keep track of them all...though Thomson does a great job of helping us to do so. And the mixed-up chronology sometimes makes it a little hard to know where we are in time, as far as the story is concerned. These are small matters; this is such a well-written book - and unusually for non-fiction, a page-turner.
Cameron Slater, the Whale Oil blogger, appeared to be able to say anything and everything on his blog and get away with it. Mixing fact and fiction, he stirred up his vast audience and set the cat among the pigeons time and again.
Oh, that's right - he ruined several people's lives in the process.
Thankfully one of the people whom Slater tried hard to destroy, Matt Blomfeld, wasn't the victim type, and gave Slater as good as he got, even though it took him several years of his life, with innumerable court appearances in the process, huge financial costs, and a great deal of emotional cost.
One of the most worrying things about this story are the way in which the police continually regarded Blomfeld as a nuisance - in spite of the fact that he had nearly died at the hands of a gunman who came onto the family property. Their constant stalling and putting aside of the matters of the case leave a very nasty taste in the mouth. A force that used to be trustworthy seems to be less and less so.
The other worrying thing is that three probable offenders who apparently encouraged Slater in his vendetta got off scot free. At least one of these people allegedly stole private property (hard drives full of personal emails, and a great deal of business files); the other two allegedly used the material for slanderous and often obscene purposes. The police have apparently never investigated any of this.
How Matt Blomfeld kept his sanity through all this is anyone's guess, but he did, thankfully.
Slater himself has become increasingly unwell over the last year or so, and his end in the story is ignominious.
It would have been great to have had an index to this book: there are a large number of names, and it's not always easy to keep track of them all...though Thomson does a great job of helping us to do so. And the mixed-up chronology sometimes makes it a little hard to know where we are in time, as far as the story is concerned. These are small matters; this is such a well-written book - and unusually for non-fiction, a page-turner.
November 11, 2019
Annoying that NZ fell for this blogger. Where's Judith C at now days?
June 19, 2019
A story of our times. Alarming. Brilliantly researched and written but alarming.
March 24, 2024
Incredible investigative journalism; gripping and infuriating. One of the very best NZ books I have read.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews