TVNZ Pacific correspondent Barbara Dreaver. Photo / Michael Craig
1News journalist Barbara Dreaver says she worries about the future of media amid low levels of public trust and stretched resources, but knows the industry is “in good hands” with the next generation of journalists.
Dreaver made the remark in an interview with Newstalk ZB’s Real Life with John Cowan on Sunday night, in which she spoke about her storied career giving voice to the communities of the Pacific in promotion of her recently released memoir, Be Brave.
“I understand that there are good journalists and there are not so good journalists – there is that in any profession,” Dreaver said.
“But it seems that there’s less trust in media, and more trust in social media – which is really worrying. The resourcing for media worries me as well.”
Trust in news in New Zealand has been falling for many years, and now sits at 32%, according to the AUT research centre for Journalism, Media and Democracy – well beneath the 2024 Reuters Digital News Report’s international average of 47 countries (40%).
Resourcing is also a constant struggle as news outlets look to cut costs amid a range of financial pressures. But Dreaver is hopeful there’s life in the industry yet.
“I know some really great journalists across the board, and I also know some incredible Pacific Island journalists, some of whom I’ve helped train. I know that’s in good hands across the system.”
Dreaver would know – she’s got an impressive track record of breaking some of the biggest stories in the Pacific over recent decades, and was in 2024 made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to investigative journalism.
A proud Kiribati-Cook Islander, Dreaver spent eight years in the Cooks – which she describes as her “stomping ground for becoming a good journo”.
“I’ve been through more prime ministers in the Cook Islands than hot breakfasts!” she told Real Life.
“My first years as a journalist were in the Cook Islands. I learned how to break stories … and I co-owned a newspaper. The publisher, Jason Brown, and myself, we were partners at the time, we really worked hard to make that work.
“It went from the two of us and one computer to doing pretty well. People would leak us all sorts of documents, and that was really where I became a good journalist.”
Since then, she’s faced her fair share of difficult moments, many of which are detailed in Be Brave – covering George Speight’s failed coup d’etat in Fiji, being detained by police in Nauru, and nearly being run off the road while reporting on the meth trade in Samoa.
That’s not to mention the racist abuse she’s had to face, which is more frequent these days with the advent of social media.
Dreaver told Cowan that when facing tough circumstances, she mutters “be brave” to herself under her breath – a mantra that has now become the title of her memoir.
“Our job is to report without fear or favour – as a reporter, that’s what you do,” she said.
“I don’t do it to be on television – I don’t give a rats about my face being on it – but people who need a voice, I give them a voice, and that’s really important. We do it to make a difference. They count on us.
“We’ve got to give the right information, we’ve got to tell the truth. And so when I’m in a tense situation, I’m always thinking ‘well, is the story going to get to air?’ That’s the most important thing, that that happens.”
Dreaver says part of being a good journalist is being able to maintain relationships with people that you also need to hold to account.
“The gallery journalists … they’re dealing with politicians on a daily basis, so they have to have contacts, but they also stand up and make sure that they do their job right.
“But it’s harder in the Pacific because we are such small communities, aren’t we? And so, in my early career, I found it really tough because I was exposing the actions of my friends’ fathers, for example. In small communities, these are people who you have daily dealings with, and it’s really hard.
“But then as you get older … you certainly get tougher and you know what’s really important.”
Sign up to The Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.