Carol Ann Hirschfeld (born 1962) is a New Zealand journalist, documentary maker, broadcaster, producer and media executive. She is best known for her role as a

TV3 Channel 3 or TV 3 may refer to: Television * Canal 3 (Burkina Faso), a commercial television channel in Burkina Faso * Canal 3 (Guatemala), a commercial television channel in Guatemala * Channel 3 (Algeria), a public Algerian TV channel owned by E ...

News presenter alongside John Campbell from 1998 until 2005. As a broadcast media executive she has been a powerful advocate for improving the coverage of Māori issues, and of increasing the diversity of voices within the media. “I think the biggest challenge is to have that Māori voice in mainstream media organisations. And one of my concerns has been how to integrate an informed Māori viewpoint into the fabric of our news.”

Early life

Hirschfeld is

Ngāti Porou Ngāti Porou is a Māori iwi traditionally located in the East Cape and Gisborne regions of the North Island of New Zealand. Ngāti Porou is affiliated with the 28th Maori Battalion and has the second-largest affiliation of any iwi in New Zeala ...

, and lost her mother Ngawiki when she was ten. Her father was an Australian immigrant of German ancestry. She graduated from the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

in 1984 with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and Indonesian. She started her career after going to the ATI journalism school, at what is now

AUT University Auckland University of Technology (AUT) ( mi, Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau) is a university in New Zealand, formed on 1 January 2000 when a former technical college (originally established in 1895) was granted university status. AUT ...

, in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

Career

After graduating with a diploma in journalism, Hirschfeld was hired by

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 cu ...

and sent to work at Lakeland FM in Taupo in 1984. Following this she worked as a

sub-editor Copy editing (also known as copyediting and manuscript editing) is the process of revising written material ( copy) to improve readability and fitness, as well as ensuring that text is free of grammatical and factual errors. ''The Chicago Manual o ...

, first with the

Auckland Star The ''Auckland Star'' was an evening daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, from 24 March 1870 to 16 August 1991. Survived by its Sunday edition, the ''Sunday Star'', part of its name endures in '' The Sunday Star-Times'', created i ...

newspaper, then with

TVNZ , type = Crown entity , industry = Broadcast television , num_locations = New Zealand , location = Auckland, New Zealand , area_served = Nationally (New Zealand) and some Pacific Island nations such as the Cook Islands, Fiji, and the ...

where she eventually became a current affairs director/producer for ''Frontline'' and ''Assignment''. She was also briefly a presenter-reporter on ''

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-rated ...

'' and co-presented ''Crimewatch'' with Ian Johnstone for several years. In 1998 she left TVNZ to become a newsreader on TV3's 6.00pm bulletin with John Campbell. Together the pair also created and produced ''Home Truths'', a late night interview show, and ''A Queen's Tour'', a travel series retracing Queen Elizabeth II's royal tour of New Zealand in 1953. In 2005 Hirschfeld and Campbell stepped down and were succeeded by

Hilary Barry Hilary Ann Barry (née Pankhurst, born 4 December 1969) is a New Zealand journalist and television personality who co-hosts ''Seven Sharp'' with Jeremy Wells on TVNZ 1. She was a newsreader on TV3 for many years and until 2016, presented the 6 p ...

and

Mike McRoberts Mike McRoberts (born 1966) is a New Zealand television journalist and news anchor. Early life McRoberts was born in 1966 to a Ngāti Kahungunu father and pākehā mother. He attended Manning Intermediate and Hillmorton High School in Christc ...

. Hirschfeld moved with John Campbell to his then-new 7.00pm weekday current-events show ''

Campbell Live ''Campbell Live'' is a half-hour-long New Zealand current affairs programme that aired at 7pm (following 3 News) on TV3 and was hosted by John Campbell. ''Campbell Live'' conducted interviews of various notable personalities, including Al Go ...

'' as the producer, taking the role as presenter on Fridays. She left

in August 2009 to become head of programming at

Māori Television Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

. In 2014, Hirschfeld resigned from Māori Television after a proposed restructuring of the broadcasting service. She later became Radio New Zealand's head of content, responsible for news, drama, music, spoken features and the broadcaster's international service,

Radio New Zealand International RNZ Pacific or Radio New Zealand Pacific, sometimes abbreviated to RNZP, is a division of Radio New Zealand and the official international broadcasting station of New Zealand. It broadcasts a variety of news, current affairs and sports programm ...

. She implemented RNZ's first foray into multimedia journalism with the launch of Checkpoint with John Campbell in 2016. On 27 March 2018, she resigned after questions were raised in parliament over whether a meeting she'd had with Broadcasting Minister

Clare Curran Clare Elizabeth Curran (born 1960) is a New Zealand former politician who served as a member of the New Zealand Parliament for Dunedin South from 2008 to 2020. She was the Minister of Broadcasting, Communications, and Digital Media and Associate ...

had been official or otherwise. Radio New Zealand was subsequently required to correct its record of the meeting at a Parliamentary Select Committee. In June 2018 Hirschfeld was appointed Head of Video/Audio & Content Partnerships at news website Stuff. In January 2022 she announced she would be leaving Stuff to take on a role as executive producer on Mediaworks'

Tova O'Brien Tova O'Brien (born ) is a New Zealand political journalist. She hosts the ''Tova'' breakfast show on New Zealand news and talk radio station Today FM, and previously led the team of political reporters for ''Newshub''. Early life and education ...

radio show, Today FM.

Private life

Hirschfeld is married to Finlay Macdonald, a former editor of the New Zealand Listener and book publisher. The couple live in Auckland, and have two children.

Awards

* Best News or Current Affairs Programme (shared with Mark Champion): ''Assignment,'' TV Guide New Zealand Film and Television Awards, 1996 * Best presenter, ''

3 News ''Newshub'' (stylised as ''Newshub.'') is a New Zealand news service that airs on the television channels Three and Eden, as well as on digital platforms. It formerly operated across radio stations run by MediaWorks Radio until December 202 ...

,'' NZ Television Awards, 2002 *Distinguished Alumni Award,

, 2017

Charitable work

Hirschfeld has been active in a number of charities and trusts: Teach First NZ, the Hone Tuwhare Charitable Trust, New Zealand LAM Charitable Trust and Breast Cancer Cure.

References