Brian Finbar Myram Edwards (born 4 November 1937) is an Irish-born New Zealand media personality and author.

Early life

Edwards was born in

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

and educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution. He arrived in New Zealand in 1964, where he intended to lecture in German at the

University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was ...

. After three years he quit this role and embarked on a career in the media.

Radio and television career

Edwards is best known as a radio and television interviewer, and was the host of

Radio New Zealand Radio New Zealand ( mi, Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa), commonly known as Radio NZ or simply RNZ, is a New Zealand public-service radio broadcaster and Crown entity that was established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995. It operates news and c ...

's highly rated show ''Top of the Morning'' from 1994 to 1999, a role which he returned to in 2006. He is also known for his television appearances, starting in the 1960s. Edwards has been a host of numerous television series, notably ''

Fair Go ''Fair Go'' is a New Zealand consumer affairs television programme hosted by Pippa Wetzell and Hadyn Jones. First aired in 1977, it is New Zealand's second longest-running local programme (after '' Country Calendar''). It is also highest-rate ...

'' (which he devised, and hosted for eight years), and in 2003 hosted his own talk show, ''Edwards at Large''. In the he stood unsuccessfully for

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

in the

National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

-held seat of . His campaign was derailed when the ''

New Zealand Truth ''New Zealand Truth'' was a tabloid newspaper published weekly in New Zealand from 1905 to 2013. History ''New Zealand Truth'' was founded in 1905 by Australian John Norton in Wellington, as a New Zealand edition of his Sydney ''Truth'', aim ...

'' revealed that he was living in a de facto relationship while still married to his first wife; this was considered scandalous at the time. He currently runs a media training and communications consultancy in partnership with his wife

Judy Callingham Judy Coralyn Sylvia Callingham is a New Zealand scriptwriter, television presenter and journalist. Since the 1970s she has worked on numerous New Zealand television dramas including '' Close to Home'', '' Homeward Bound'', ''Duggan'' and ''Ma ...

Books

Edwards is also author of numerous books, including a biography of

Prime Minister of New Zealand The prime minister of New Zealand ( mi, Te pirimia o Aotearoa) is the head of government of New Zealand. The prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, leader of the New Zealand Labour Party, took office on 26 October 2017. The prime minister (inform ...

Helen Clark Helen Elizabeth Clark (born 26 February 1950) is a New Zealand politician who served as the 37th prime minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008, and was the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme from 2009 to 2017. She was ...

, an autobiography: ''Daddy Was A German Spy, And Other Scandals'', published in 2008, and is also a prolific newspaper and magazine columnist. He holds an honours B.A. from the Queen's University of Belfast and a PhD from the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

Honours and awards

Edwards has twice won the Media Peace Prize for his work on radio and in print. In the

1999 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1999 for various Commonwealth realms were announced on 30 December 1998, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 1999. The ''Honours list'' is a list of people who have been awarded one of the various orders, d ...

, he was appointed a

Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant (document), royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Monarchy of New Zealand, Queen of New Zealand, "for those ...

, for services to broadcasting and journalism.

Controversy

On 23 September 2009 Edwards claimed that "Public Libraries are just a Form of Theft" , arguing for "user pays" library books as a compensation to authors. The response from library supporters and creative public was overwhelmingly negative. Edwards later removed the post and comments with no explanation. ::"Every public library in New Zealand bought at least one copy of Helen. And they lent each of those copies to other people to read for... nothing. Last year there were still 227.4 copies of the book in New Zealand public libraries. If each of those copies was taken out by one person a month, that’s 2,729 people who read but didn’t pay for my book - my work. At $4.50 per unsold copy, that’s a theoretical loss of income to me in one year of $12,280." ::"But there’s a principle here: when one person buys a book and lends it to another person to read, they effectively become an accessory to theft. Their generous act amounts to little more than stealing the author’s work. When a public library buys a book and lends it to thousands of other people to read, it’s grand theft copyright and really no different from illegally downloading music or movies or copying CDs or DVDs on your computer." New Zealand has a public lending right scheme, administered by the National Library, under which authors are compensated for their books being in libraries.Creative New Zealand

Memoir

''Daddy was a German Spy, and Other Scandals'' (Penguin Books, 2008)

References

External links

Talent On Line Entertainment Network biography

Speakers New Zealand biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Brian 1937 births Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit Living people New Zealand television presenters Unsuccessful candidates in the 1972 New Zealand general election New Zealand investigative journalists People from Cork (city) Irish emigrants to New Zealand People educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution University of Canterbury faculty New Zealand Labour Party politicians Alumni of Queen's University Belfast Alumni of the University of Edinburgh New Zealand radio presenters New Zealand radio journalists New Zealand columnists New Zealand biographers New Zealand autobiographers