Patrick Gower Explained

Patrick Gower
Birth Date:[1]
Birth Place:New Plymouth, New Zealand
Alma Mater:BA Hons from Victoria University of Wellington
Education:Francis Douglas Memorial College
Occupation:Political journalist
Employer:Stuff
Children:2

Patrick "Paddy"[2] Gower (born 1976/1977) is a New Zealand political journalist for Stuff. Prior to his current role he was political editor and then national correspondent for Newshub (formerly called 3 News).

Early life

Gower grew up in New Plymouth where his father was a fitter and turner at a power station, and his mother was a doctor's receptionist.[3] He had a Roman Catholic upbringing and schooling, having attended St Joseph's Catholic School and Francis Douglas Memorial College.[3]

He has a BA with honours in politics from Victoria University of Wellington, choosing the university because it was near Parliament. While he attended Victoria University he got involved in Salient magazine.[4] After finishing his politics degree, he studied journalism at Auckland University of Technology.[3]

Journalism career

Gower started his journalism career working the graveyard shift (6pm–1:30am) at The New Zealand Herald,[3] [5] later becoming one of the newspaper's two police reporters. He subsequently moved to the UK and worked at Jane's Police Review.[3] Once back in New Zealand he worked again at the Herald, covering politics and working under Audrey Young.[3]

Later he made a move to television journalism and began working at 3 News, where he was initially a political reporter. He has said that the transition involved a big change in reporting styles:

He took over as political editor of 3 News from Duncan Garner in November 2012.[6]

Despite controversy about political bias on social networking sites, Gower claims to be a non-voter on the grounds of impartiality, stating:[7] In 2018, after five years as Newshub's political editor, he shifted roles to become its national correspondent.[8] He maintained this role until Newshub’s closure in 2024.

On 20 August 2024, Stuff announced the hiring of Gower for their news operations.[9]

Viral skit

On 18 August 2014, Gower appeared in a skit by the University of Auckland Law School’s comedy revue, presenting a live report for 3 News in the campus’s library. In the skit, a library-goer stands up and says, "This is a fucking library!", to which Gower replies, "This is the fuckin' news."[10] A remix of the video posted in December later went viral.[11] [12] He recreated the video in the same location as part of the announcement of his hiring by Stuff ten years later, with the profanity bleeped out.

Cannabis documentary

In 2019, Gower featured in a two part documentary series Patrick Gower: On Weed where he explored issues related to medicinal and recreational cannabis before the 2020 New Zealand cannabis referendum. The documentary, produced by Three and funded by NZ on Air, was filmed in New Zealand and the United States.[13] [14] A final third episode was released in September 2020,[15] [16] in advance of the referendum which had been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[17] [18]

They Are Us script

In July 2021, Gower broke the story on a leaked draft script of the controversial They Are Us movie, which was based on the Christchurch mosque shootings. The proposed script was criticised by members of the New Zealand Muslim community as well as several politicians including National Party leader Simon Bridges, ACT Party David Seymour, and former Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters for its depiction of graphic violence, exploitation of the tragedy for commercial gain, and historical inaccuracies of the events relating to the mosque shootings.[19] [20] [21] Gower was emotionally affected by the script and called upon the film's director and writer Andrew Niccol to withdraw from the film production.[22]

Personal life

Gower lives in Wellington[1] and has two children.[23]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Daniell. Sarah. Twelve Questions with Patrick Gower. 11 October 2014. The New Zealand Herald. 22 November 2012.
  2. Web site: Paddy Gower Has Issues CURRENT-AFFAIRS ThreeNow . 2023-09-27 . www.threenow.co.nz.
  3. News: Gower Power. New Zealand Listener. 8 May 2014. Du Fresne, Karl. 22–26.
  4. Web site: An Hour With Gower. Salient magazine. 29 July 2013. 8 May 2014. McCarthy, Molly. Blake-Kelly, Stella. amp.
  5. Web site: Gower power. The New Zealand Listener. 9 May 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160303235557/http://www.listener.co.nz/current-affairs/gower-power/ . 3 March 2016.
  6. Web site: Patrick Gower profile at. LinkedIn. 8 May 2014. dead. https://archive.today/20140628231928/http://nz.linkedin.com/pub/patrick-gower-new-zealand/24/496/a47. 28 June 2014.
  7. News: Asking the Right Questions: Patrick Gower. Gavin Bertram. The Pantograph Punch. 9 September 2014.
  8. Web site: Patrick Gower to Take on National Correspondent Role in 2018 Scoop News. www.scoop.co.nz. 11 August 2018.
  9. Web site: Fenwick . Janine . Paddy Gower has finally got a job doing the f...ing news . www.stuff.co.nz . Stuff . 21 August 2024 . 20 August 2024.
  10. Web site: Auckland Law Revue . The Campaign [Revue Plot Parody] "The Law Society Campaign" ]. YouTube . 21 August 2024 . 18 August 2014.
  11. Web site: Reporter's F-Bomb Retort Goes Viral, Reminds Us It Really is All About "Location, Location, Location". Independent Journal Review. 7 April 2016.
  12. News: Patrick Gower's 'thug life' goes viral. 22 December 2014. Stuff.
  13. Web site: Patrick Gower uses marijuana in the name of research for On Weed doco. 2019-09-18. Stuff. en. 2020-05-29.
  14. Web site: Paddy Gower's weed documentary was fun but severely flawed. 2019-09-20. The Spinoff. 2020-05-29.
  15. News: Cannabis referendum: Patrick Gower says final On Weed doco shows yes vote can 'change things for people'. en. Newshub. 2020-09-21.
  16. Web site: Patrick Gower to do more Weed next year. 2019-12-05. Stuff. en. 2020-05-29.
  17. News: 2020-08-17. New Zealand delays election over coronavirus fears. en-GB. BBC News. 2020-09-21.
  18. Web site: 2020-08-17. Jacinda Ardern delays New Zealand 'Covid election' by four weeks. 2020-09-21. The Spinoff.
  19. Web site: Leaked They Are Us draft script graphically depicts Christchurch terror attack, families say it's 'worse than the livestream' . 11 July 2021 . Newshub . Patrick . Gower . Patrick Gower.
  20. News: Christchurch mosque attacks movie: Leaked 'They Are Us' script rewrites NZ history . 15 July 2021 . . 13 July 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210713211848/https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/christchurch-mosque-attacks-movie-leaked-they-are-us-script-rewrites-nz-history/V522T5KULKIIV3Y27LYJRWXAVI/ . 13 July 2021. live.
  21. News: Andelane . Lana . They Are Us: Winston Peters calls on producers of Christchurch terror attack film to 'quit while they're behind' after viewing draft script . 15 July 2021 . . 14 July 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210713225352/https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2021/07/they-are-us-winston-peters-calls-on-producers-of-christchurch-terror-attack-film-to-quit-while-they-re-behind-after-viewing-draft-script.html. 13 July 2021. live.
  22. News: Andelane . Lana . They Are Us: Patrick Gower issues emotional plea to Kiwi director Andrew Niccol to scrap contentious film . 17 July 2021 . . 12 July 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210715225702/https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/entertainment/2021/07/they-are-us-patrick-gower-issues-emotional-plea-to-kiwi-director-andrew-niccol-to-scrap-contentious-film.html . 15 July 2021. live.
  23. News: Howie. Cherie. Gower gets one in the eye over election. 11 October 2014. The New Zealand Herald. 28 September 2014.