The debate over who is right and wrong in the Cathay Pacific dispute has been overtaken by the question of who sounds best on television.
As the fight wears on, the argument that started it all is mattering less. What matters now, in the battle for public sympathy, is how each side presents its message and who produces the most quotable quote.
In the Cathay corner is Tony Tyler, the articulate and dapper law graduate the airline wheels out in a crisis.
A veteran of media training and master of the sound bite, he is smooth and calm, with a talent for talking at length without actually saying anything, much less answering a question.
In the pilots' corner is career unionist John Findlay, a confident speaker who knows how to work the media but comes across as less slick and rehearsed than Mr Tyler.
Media-watcher Tim Hamlett, a lecturer in journalism at Baptist University, said both sides had problems getting their cases across.
