Finlay Macdonald (born 1961) is a New Zealand journalist, editor, publisher and broadcaster. He is best known for editing the
New Zealand Listener
The ''New Zealand Listener'' is a weekly New Zealand magazine that covers the political, cultural and literary life of New Zealand by featuring a variety of topics, including current events, politics, social issues, health, technology, arts, f ...
(1998–2003). Macdonald was appointed New Zealand Editor: Politics, Business & Arts of the online media site
The Conversation
''The Conversation'' is a 1974 American mystery thriller film written, produced, and directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Allen Garfield, Cindy Williams, Frederic Forrest, Harrison Ford, Teri Garr, and Robe ...
in April 2020. He lives in Auckland with his partner, media executive
Carol Hirschfeld
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 News presenter alongside John Campbell from 1998 until 2005. As a broadcast media ...
. They have two children, Will and Rosa. His father was the late journalist Iain Macdonald.
Career
Macdonald began his career as a junior reporter for the NZ Listener, later becoming a senior writer, before leaving to pursue a freelance career, during which time he researched and wrote television documentaries and was for two years a regular scriptwriter for TVNZ's long-running drama series ''
Shortland Street
''Shortland Street'' is a New Zealand prime-time soap opera centring on the fictitious Shortland Street Hospital, first broadcast on TVNZ 2 on 25 May 1992. It is New Zealand's longest-running drama and soap opera, being broadcast continuously ...
''.
From 1996 to 1997 Macdonald was a senior writer for
Metro
Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to:
Geography
* Metro (city), a city in Indonesia
* A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center
Public transport
* Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...
magazine, before returning to the Listener as deputy editor under then-editor Paul Little. When Little left, Macdonald was appointed editor, and hired Steve Braunias from Metro as deputy editor.
Macdonald has said that highlights of editing the Listener included driving its coverage of the
9/11 terror attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated Suicide attack, suicide List of terrorist incidents, terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, ...
and New Zealand's response to the subsequent "War on Terror", and launching the magazine's first website.
Notable writers he commissioned to contribute to the Listener included C.K Stead (an obituary of New Zealand writer
Janet Frame
Janet Paterson Frame (28 August 1924 – 29 January 2004) was a New Zealand author. She was internationally renowned for her work, which included novels, short stories, poetry, juvenile fiction, and an autobiography, and received numerous awar ...
Christopher Hitchens
Christopher Eric Hitchens (13 April 1949 – 15 December 2011) was a British-American author and journalist who wrote or edited over 30 books (including five essay collections) on culture, politics, and literature. Born and educated in England, ...
(on the death of Princess Diana).
Between 2004 and 2006 he was a commissioning editor for
Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a British publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year. During this time, Macdonald encouraged former New Zealand Prime Minister
David Lange
David Russell Lange ( ; 4 August 1942 – 13 August 2005) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 32nd prime minister of New Zealand from 1984 to 1989.
Lange was born and brought up in Otahuhu, the son of a medical doctor. He became ...
to write his memoir, David Lange: My Life. The book's publication coincided with the death of Lange in 2006, and remains a best-seller.
From 2006 to 2010 Macdonald wrote a weekly column for the Sunday Star-Times (which he has compared to writing a Listener editorial); and was also the paper's literary editor.
More recently he has written for North & South magazine,
The Spinoff
''The Spinoff'' is a New Zealand online magazine and news website that was founded in 2014. It is known for current affairs coverage, political and social analysis, and cultural commentary. It earns money through commercial sponsorship and su ...
Lynley Dodd
Dame Lynley Stuart Dodd (born 5 July 1941) is a New Zealand children's book author and illustrator. She is best known for her '' Hairy Maclary and Friends'' series, and its follow-ups, all of which feature animals with rhyming names and have so ...
an illustrated retrospective of the New Zealand children's author's work. From 2015 to 2017 he was the New Zealand publisher for
HarperCollins
HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News ...
where he specialised in non-fiction works, including New Zealand musician Dave McArtney's memoir Gutter Black,
Flying Nun Records
Flying Nun Records is a New Zealand independent record label formed in Christchurch in 1981 by music store manager Roger Shepherd. Described by ''The Guardian'' as "one of the world's great independent labels", Flying Nun is notable for bringin ...
founder Roger Shepherd's memoir In Love With These Times, and the celebrated New Zealand writer James McNeish's final book, Breaking Ranks.
Macdonald has worked as a documentary producer/reporter or presenter for television series The Good Word (
TVNZ 7
TVNZ 7 was a commercial-free New Zealand 24-hour news and information channel on Freeview digital television platform and on Sky Television from 1 July 2009. It was produced by Television New Zealand, which received Government funding to launc ...
); Talk Talk (TVNZ 7); NewsBites ( Maori Television Service) and The Book Show ( TVNZ). As host and moderator he launched the first seasons of the Auckland Museum LATE series of debates and lectures, has been a regular chair at the annual
Auckland Writers Festival
Auckland Writers Festival Waituhi o Tāmaki is the largest annual literary festival in Aotearoa New Zealand since 1999. It has about 200 public events each year featuring local and international writers as guests.
History and staff
The inau ...
, and has hosted the University of Auckland's Bright Lights event for distinguished alumni since 2013.
Education
* 1984 Bachelor of Arts (majoring in politics)
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 ...
* Diploma of Journalism
Wellington Polytechnic
Massey University ( mi, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa) is a university based in Palmerston North, New Zealand, with significant campuses in Albany and Wellington. Massey University has approximately 30,883 students, 13,796 of whom are extramural o ...
.
Awards
* 2006 Qantas Media Awards Columnist of the Year
* 1994 Nuffield Press Fellow, Wolfson College,
University of Cambridge
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...