How to prevent a potential scandal

Helen Clark this morning on Morning Report was accusing TV3 of running a "sting operation". Considering that she knew about the allegations long before they were raised in the House, she only has herself to blame for allowing David Benson-Pope to be caught.

What could have Helen done to prevent the scandal? Get the government's story out first. When David Benson-Pope became Minister of Education, all he had to do was to give an interview to a tame hack and say something like "As a teacher, I used to be in favour of corporal punishment until I realized that I was getting off on beating little boys". That, instead of stupidly "refuting" the allegations, would have taking the heat out of any explicit accusation and allowed for some closure.