New Zealanders have yet another reason to blame the press for not recognizing New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, or as he is known in the rest of the world, the "unidentified guest."
Domestically, polls indicate that he's been a popular leader, but during each of his prominent moments on the international stage, he was unknown. The insult feeds into a wider anxiety among New Zealanders that their country just isn't noticed or taken seriously around the world, the Associated Press reported.
The most recent episode came this week when Key was photographed by the European Pressphoto Agency conversing with his British counterpart at Nelson Mandela's funeral.
The caption: "British Prime Minister David Cameron (R) laughs with an unidentified guest ..."
According to the AP, the error received plenty of media attention in this South Pacific nation of 4.5 million, especially after the photo ran on the New York Daily News website. The caption has since been updated.
There seems to be a continuous pattern of Key not being recognized.
In 2011, President Obama agreed to meet with Key in the Oval Office. At the subsequent press conference, however, Obama repeatedly referred to him as "Prime Minister Keyes." Perhaps the worst part was that nobody seemed to notice.
When he visited Queen Elizabeth II in 2013, the Daily Mail newspaper described "Kay" as a "galloping colonial clot" for breaking royal protocol by discussing his visit and releasing a photo of himself in the queen's private sitting room. Never mind that it wasn't Key, but a reporter who had taken and distributed the picture.
The problem for New Zealanders is that their country usually functions well enough not to receive the negative attention that keeps other nations in the media spotlight. Corruption, crime and unemployment are all low compared with other countries, the AP reported.
Director Peter Jackson, for one, has done his part to keep New Zealand in the international consciousness with his five films - and counting - about the fictional hobbits, elves and dragons that inhabit Middle-earth.
For the record, New Zealand is a separate country.
