The Front Page: Patrick Gower on the risk and reward of a personal touch in journalism

This week, The Front Page is showcasing several high-profile New Zealanders who stood out in their field in 2022.

Few New Zealand media personalities have captivated audiences as effectively as Newshub’s Patrick Gower.

His documentaries on alcohol and drugs forced the nation to confront some uncomfortable realities of living in New Zealand.

Speaking as the podcast’s entertainment standout of 2022, Gower admits that there was a time in his career when he wouldn’t have been enamoured with the idea of being described as an entertainer.

“I actually used to get pretty annoyed when people would say I was entertaining,” says Gower.

“I felt that was an attack on my journalism and I wondered why people couldn’t see the other stuff I was doing. But I’ve got to admit, and it might sound weird to say this, but I actually don’t mind anymore.”

As a political editor earlier in his career, he placed enormous weight on his credibility and the idea of being only a journalist.

“I used to really panic when people would say I didn’t have enough gravitas… That would really eat me up inside. But as time has gone on, I’m much more accepting now.”

That comfort in his own skin has reflected not only in the stories that he chooses to tell but also in the way he tells them. In 2022, he opened up to New Zealanders about his personal struggle with alcohol in a documentary that caused many around the country to pause and assess their own drinking habits.

“If you had told a young Paddy Gower who was working at the Herald that one day you would make a documentary where the camera was completely focused on your drinking problems, I would’ve said: ‘You’re absolutely crazy. Why would I ever do that? I’m a journalist and we’re not meant to be in the story.’”

Gower says that he never expected to push things to the extent that he would own up to being an alcoholic.

“Even saying that, I can’t believe that I did it.”

Despite the success of the documentary, Gower says he remains incredibly cautious about putting himself into a story.

“It’s not something you want to do all the time. It’s something that you want to do when there’s a topic you feel strongly about and when you feel you can add something. Whether it’s about being an alcoholic or seeing your mum dying of cancer, our personal stories are powerful and they can be used in conjunction with our real journalistic skills to really bring the story to life.”

But Gower is only getting started. He’s now been rewarded for his unique style with the upcoming show Paddy Gower Has Issues.

“It’s going to be a new form of current affairs… It’s going to have some really hard investigations. It’ll have long-form current affairs and stories with high production values, but it will be entertaining as well… It’s going to be the stuff I care about, but we’re going to do it in an entertaining way.”

Listen to the full The Front Page podcast episode to hear more about Gower’s journey to where he is today.