Former TV reporter Rod Vaughan – infamously punched by Sir Bob Jones – dies after short illness

Former TV reporter Rod Vaughan, who was once punched by Sir Bob Jones, has died.

Tributes are flowing for one of New Zealand’s best television journalists. Read below, a special dedication to Rod Vaughan from former colleague Rob Harley. Before that, we recall the assignment that left an indelible mark on his career – and himself.

One of the country’s best TV journalists, Rod Vaughan – infamously punched by Sir Bob Jones on the banks of the Tongariro River in 1985 – has died.

Vaughan will be best known as the reporter who swooped in via helicopter on Sir Bob Jones in 1985, while the then-leader of the New Zealand Party was fly-fishing near Tūrangi.

Former TV journalist Rod Vaughan. Photo / Dean Purcell

Jones had just announced he was placing his political party into an 18-month hiatus – a pack of journalists, including Vaughan, were on the hunt.

Jones had already had a run-in with Auckland Star photographer Murray Job and reporter Colin James in Turangi earlier that day. TVNZ’s Vaughan and cameraman Peter Mayo had the resources and the wherewithal to hire a chopper to find him at the river.

The pair descended on Jones from the sky. The businessman and political leader ran into nearby trees.

“As we arrived overhead, he left the river and we landed on the river bank,” recalled Vaughan in one interview. “But before we could speak to him, Mr Jones ran out of the trees and towards the camera.”

Then ensued a fracas, with the camera falling, and lots of swearing. Vaughan emerged, with blood pouring from the bridge of his nose.

Claiming harassment and backed by public opinion, Jones filed a court writ claiming $250,000 in damages.

Later, after being fined $1000 for the assault on Vaughan, Jones asked the judge if paying $2000 would allow him to do it again.

“For better or worse, being punched on the nose by Bob Jones was a defining moment in my 40-year career as a television journalist,” Vaughan said in 2020.

“It happened almost 36 years ago, but even today complete strangers come up to me wanting to know whether I was the guy laid out by Jones, when trying to interview him on the banks of the Tongariro River.

“I’d be a very wealthy man if I’d been paid a dollar every time the question has been put to me, but I’ve long since been resigned to the fact that it’s a cross I’ll have to bear for the rest of my life.

“That said, it’s been fascinating to observe how public attitudes to this infamous episode appear to have changed over the decades. When it happened back in 1985 I was reviled for allegedly harassing Jones, even by some in the media.

“Typical of the flak was a telegram from John Ferguson in Dunedin: ‘Serves you bloody well right.’ Amongst all the invective was just one message of support, from Nelly Mardle in Taradale: ‘Good luck. No man should use power or money to manipulate government’.

“Today many folk who ask me to recount the events leading up to the left hook that broke my nose are genuinely shocked at the ferocity of the assault, and the ensuing public outpouring of vitriol aimed at me.”

Many years later Jones and Vaughan met up at a party in Jones’ Wellington office.

By all accounts, they made amends – the only thing flowing this time was the red wine, not blood.

In a statement today, TVNZ executive editor Phil O’Sullivan said: “Rod Vaughan was a tenacious reporter and producer for TVNZ for more than 35 years. Rod worked for some of the biggest current affairs shows in this country’s history. He had a strong sense of fairness and an abhorrence of dishonesty. His contribution to investigative journalism is immense.”

Rod Vaughan in 2012 promoting his new book. Photo/Dean Purcell

A tribute from Rob Harley

New Zealand has lost one of its most accomplished television news and current affairs specialists in the last week.

Rod Vaughan passed away in Christchurch after a short illness.

Rod, who was 77, was a familiar face and voice to viewers for several decades, reporting and producing hard-hitting stories and investigations on TVNZ and TV3.

Probably best remembered as the reporter who was punched in the face by an angry Sir Bob Jones and appeared on camera with a bloodied face to make the point, Rod was hugely respected by his colleagues in broadcasting.

His career started back in the days of the old NZBC, and over the years he undertook many roles including as a studio director, news reporter and a current affairs master of the craft.

Scores of his colleagues paid on-line tributes to Rod this week as news of his passing spread. Fellow journalists, camera and sound operators and senior news editors remember him as what one colleague called “the epitome of journalistic excellence”.

In what some referred to as Rod’s “golden era” on the Assignment programme, he conducted searching investigations into the Christchurch Civic Creche affair and a ground-breaking inquiry into the mystery of British Airways Flight 149, asking why the plane was allowed to fly into Kuwait just after the start of Iraq’s invasion in 1991, and how 367 passengers and crew were taken hostage by Saddam Hussein’s troops.

In later years, Rod proved to be a lucky escape-artist in a couple of mishaps in his beloved light planes.

In March 2018, while flying with his son Richard, the windscreen popped and it was only Rod’s quick thinking and flying skills that got them down safely.

Images at the time show the plane having crash-landed – Vaughan later speculated a drone may have hit the windscreen.

Veteran TV reporter Rod Vaughan (inset) says a drone may have hit the plane he was flying, causing it to crash. Main photo / Melanie Camoin

A few years later, sunstrike caused Rod to have another near miss near Thames, and he and wife decided Rod’s flying days were over.

Rod is survived by his wife Lois, two sons, a daughter, a step-daughter and 10 grandchildren. A small funeral with close family and friends will be held in Christchurch on Friday and it’s expected many will attend a larger memorial event for Rod in Auckland in the near future.

Farewell to a true maestro of journalism.

Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand’s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME including Managing Editor, NZ Herald Editor and Herald on Sunday Editor and has a small shareholding in NZME.