Patrick Gower (born 1976/1977) is a New Zealand political journalist and National Correspondent for ''

Newshub ''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 ...

'' (formerly called

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 ...

)''.'' Prior to his current role he was Newshub's political editor.

Early life

Gower grew up in

New Plymouth New Plymouth ( mi, Ngāmotu) is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, Devon from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. ...

where his father was a fitter and turner at a power station, and his mother was a doctor's receptionist. He had a Roman Catholic upbringing and schooling, having attended St Joseph's Catholic School and

Francis Douglas Memorial College Francis Douglas Memorial College is an all-boys state integrated Catholic school with boarding facilities located in Westown, New Plymouth, New Zealand. The college was founded in 1959 under the leadership of the De La Salle Brothers, a relig ...

. He has a BA with honours in politics from

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well know ...

, choosing the university because it was near Parliament. While he attended Victoria University he got involved in ''Salient'' magazine. After finishing his politics degree, he studied journalism at Auckland University of Technology.

Journalism career

Gower started his journalism career working the graveyard shift (6pm–1:30am) at ''

The New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspapers ...

'', later becoming one of the newspaper's two police reporters. He subsequently moved to the UK and worked at ''Jane's Police Review''. Once back in New Zealand he worked again at the ''Herald'', covering politics and working under Audrey Young. Later he made the 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 Duncan Garner (born 8 March 1974) is a New Zealand radio and television host and journalist. He took over the Radio Live drive slot in December 2012 and was previously the Newshub political editor in Wellington. He moved to host '' The AM Show ...

in November 2012. Despite controversy about political bias on social networking sites, Gower claims to be a non-voter on the grounds of impartiality, stating: In 2018, after five years as Newshub's political editor, he shifted roles to become its national correspondent.

Viral skit

In December 2014, a clip of Gower swearing on what appeared to be live television went viral. In the video, a library-goer stands up and says, "This is a fucking library!", to which Gower replies, "This is the fuckin' news." A remix of the video later went viral. The incident was part of a law school revue skit.

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 in advance of the

2020 New Zealand cannabis referendum The 2020 New Zealand cannabis referendum was a non-binding referendum held on 17 October 2020 in conjunction with the 2020 general election and a euthanasia referendum, on the question of whether to legalise the sale, use, possession and prod ...

. The documentary, produced by

Three 3 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 3, three, or III may also refer to: * AD 3, the third year of the AD era * 3 BC, the third year before the AD era * March, the third month Books * '' Three of Them'' (Russian: ', literally, "three"), a 1901 ...

and funded by

NZ on Air NZ On Air (NZOA; mi, Irirangi te Motu), formally the Broadcasting Commission, is an autonomous Crown entity and commission of the New Zealand Government responsible for funding support for broadcasting and creative works. The commission oper ...

, was filmed in New Zealand and the United States. A final third episode was released in September 2020, in advance of the referendum which had been delayed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

''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 On 15 March 2019, two consecutive mass shootings occurred in a terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. The attacks, carried out by a lone gunman who entered both mosques during Friday prayer, began at the Al Noor Mosque ...

. The proposed script was criticised by members of the New Zealand Muslim community as well as several politicians including National Party leader

Simon Bridges Simon Joseph Bridges (born 12 October 1976) is a former New Zealand politician and lawyer. He served as Leader of the National Party and Leader of the Opposition between 2018 and 2020, and as the Member of Parliament for Tauranga from the to ...

ACT Party ACT New Zealand, known simply as ACT (), is a Right-wing politics, right-wing, Classical liberalism, classical-liberal List of political parties in New Zealand, political party in New Zealand. According to former party leader Rodney Hide, ACT's ...

David Seymour David Seymour may refer to: * David Seymour (English politician) (died 1557/58), 14th-century Member of Parliament (MP) for Wareham and Great Bedwyn *David Seymour (New Zealand politician) (born 1983), leader of the ACT Party *David Seymour (photo ...

, and former Deputy Prime Minister

Winston Peters Winston Raymond Peters (born 11 April 1945) is a New Zealand politician serving as the leader of New Zealand First since its foundation in 1993. Peters served as the 13th deputy prime minister of New Zealand from 1996 to 1998 and 2017 to 2020 ...

for its depiction of graphic violence, exploitation of the tragedy for commercial gain, and historical inaccuracies of the events relating to the mosque shootings. Gower was emotionally affected by the script and called upon the film's director and writer

Andrew Niccol Andrew Niccol (born 10 June 1964) is a New Zealand screenwriter, producer, and director. He wrote and directed ''Gattaca'' (1997), '' Simone'' (2002), ''Lord of War'' (2005), ''In Time'' (2011), '' The Host'' (2013), and ''Good Kill'' (2014). H ...

to withdraw from the film production.

Personal life

Gower lives in Wellington and has two children.

References

External links

Profile
newshub.co.nz
Youtube channel

Patrick Gower admits man crush on Donald Trump's son in weird live video from RNC
stuff.co.nz {{DEFAULTSORT:Gower, Patrick 1970s births Victoria University of Wellington alumni Living people People from New Plymouth Auckland University of Technology alumni People educated at Francis Douglas Memorial College 20th-century New Zealand journalists 21st-century New Zealand journalists