Melissa Tania Stokes (born ) is a New Zealand television newsreader and reporter. She is the newsreader of ''

1News 1News is the news service of the New Zealand television network TVNZ. Its flagship programme is the daily evening newscast ''1News at Six''; other programmes include morning news-talk show ''Breakfast'', '' Te Karere'', '' Seven Sharp'', and ...

'' during the weekends.

Early life and education

Stokes grew up in

Tauranga Tauranga (, Māori language for "resting place," or "safe anchorage") is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty Region and the List of cities in New Zealand, fifth-most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of or roughly 3% of t ...

. Her first job was working at the deli section of a

New World The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...

supermarket. Her parents ran fabric shops and she worked for them as a teenager. At age 16, she and her family moved to

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

, where she finished high school and attended broadcasting school. Her uncle, Spencer Jolly, was a

TVNZ Television New Zealand (, "Te Reo Tātaki" meaning "The Leading Voice"), more commonly referred to as TVNZ, is a New Zealand state-owned media company and Crown entity. The company operates a television network, streaming service, and news se ...

journalist during

Robert Muldoon Sir Robert David Muldoon (; 25 September 19215 August 1992) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 31st prime minister of New Zealand, from 1975 to 1984, while leader of the National Party. Departing from National Party convention, Mu ...

's term as prime minister, and later worked for Channel 9 in Brisbane. Because of this, as a teenager Stokes visited the channel's studio. She has said her uncle partly inspired her to work in television.

Career

Stokes began working for

in 2001, as a reporter for the morning news programme ''

Breakfast Breakfast is the first meal of the day usually eaten in the morning. The word in English refers to breaking the fasting period of the previous night. Various "typical" or "traditional" breakfast menus exist, with food choices varying by regi ...

''. Between 2006 and 2008, she was the TVNZ Europe correspondent. In December 2018 it was announced that Stokes would replace Peter Williams to become the '' 1News at 6pm'' newsreader during the weekends. On the same day of the

death of Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, died on 8 September 2022 at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, at the age of 96. Elizabeth's reign of 70 years and 214 days was the longest of any British monarch. She was ...

, Stokes travelled to the United Kingdom as a presenter for TVNZ's rolling coverage of the event.

Personal life

Stokes is married to Dave Pierce, a cameraman, and they have two children. Her mother chose to die by

euthanasia Euthanasia (from : + ) is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different Legality of euthanasia, euthanasia laws. The British House of Lords Select committee (United Kingdom), se ...

after having cancer for about seven years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stokes, Melissa 1970s births Living people People from Tauranga New Zealand television presenters New Zealand journalists