John James Campbell (born 10 February 1964) is a New Zealand journalist and radio and television personality. He is currently a presenter and reporter at

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 ...

; before that, he presented ''Checkpoint'',

Radio New Zealand Radio New Zealand (), commonly known as RNZ or Radio NZ, is a New Zealand public service broadcaster and Crown entity. Established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995, it operates news and current affairs station, RNZ National, and a classi ...

's drive time show, from 2016 to 2018. For ten years prior to that (ending May 2015), he presented ''

Campbell Live ''Campbell Live'' is a half-hour-long New Zealand current affairs programme that was broadcast from 2005–2015 on at 7 pm (following 3 News) on TV3 and was hosted by John Campbell. ''Campbell Live'' conducted interviews of various notable p ...

'', a current affairs programme on

TV3 Channel 3 or TV 3 may refer to: Television *Canal 3 (Burkina Faso), a commercial television channel in Burkina Faso * Canal 3 Niger, a commercial television channel in Niger * Canal 3 (Guatemala), a commercial television channel in Guatemala * Can ...

. He was a

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby union: 15 players per side *** American flag rugby *** Beach rugby *** Mini rugby *** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side *** Rugby tens, 10 players per side *** Snow rugby *** Tou ...

commentator for

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...

during the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

' test against

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

in early 2015 — a fixture he had vocally campaigned for while hosting ''Campbell Live''.

Early and personal life

Campbell was born in 1964; his parents are Jim and Wendy Campbell. He graduated from

Wellington College Wellington College may refer to: New Zealand * Wellington College, Wellington, New Zealand * Wellington College of Education, now the Faculty of Education of Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand * Wellington Girls' College, Wellington, N ...

and then from

Victoria University Victoria University may refer to: * Victoria University (Australia), a public research university in Melbourne, Australia * Victoria University, Toronto, a constituent college of the federal University of Toronto in Canada * Victoria University of ...

with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree with

Honours Honour (Commonwealth English) or honor (American English; see spelling differences) is a quality of a person that is of both social teaching and personal ethos, that manifests itself as a code of conduct, and has various elements such as valo ...

in English Literature. Campbell is married to documentary editor Emma Patterson. The couple have two children.

Broadcasting career

Campbell started broadcasting at Victoria University's Radio Active as a student where, as "Sparky Plug", he provided humorous "alternative rugby commentaries" during

All Black The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

games which he now describes as "unbelievably rude" and "grossly defamatory." He then worked as a share trader, providing a share report to

's ''Midday Report''. In 1989,

(RNZ) offered him a job as a business reporter. He had no journalism training, but RNZ ran a cadetship system which provided him with the experience he needed. He read the three-minute news bulletins on the hour for

RNZ Radio New Zealand (), commonly known as RNZ or Radio NZ, is a New Zealand public service broadcaster and Crown entity. Established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995, it operates news and current affairs station, RNZ National, and a classica ...

, and then moved to

in 1991 as a general reporter in their

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

newsroom. He moved to their political press gallery a year later. In 1994 he moved to the current affairs programme ''20/20'', and later presented an interview/current events segment of ''3 News'' (now ''

Newshub ''Newshub'' (stylised as Newshub.) was a New Zealand news service that operated from 1989 to 2024 and served as the local news division of Warner Bros. Discovery New Zealand until its closure. The division, known as ''3 News'' until 2016, had ...

''). After

John Hawkesby John Langley Hawkesby (born 1947) is a former news presenter for 1 News, ONE News and Newshub, THREE News in New Zealand. Hawkesby attended Auckland Grammar School in 1964. His started his broadcasting career in 1972 when he researched and pr ...

left ''3 News'' in 1998, Campbell was asked to fill in, and he remained as the main ''3 News'' weekday newsreader along with Carol Hirschfeld until 2005. In 2002, Campbell was interviewing Prime Minister

Helen Clark Helen Elizabeth Clark (born 26 February 1950) is a New Zealand politician who served as the 37th prime minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008 and was the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme from 2009 to 2017. She was ...

about the issue of genetically modified corn in New Zealand, dubbed '

Corngate ''Seeds of Distrust: The Story of a GE Cover-up'' was a study of government processes and decision making under New Zealand's Labour-led government written by Nicky Hager. The setting was an incident in November 2000, during the Royal Commission ...

'. The interview ended with Clark labelling Campbell a "sanctimonious little creep" due to what she considered the ambush style of the interview. The Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA) later ruled that the infamous "Corngate" interview was unbalanced, unfair and lacked impartiality and objectivity. Campbell and Hirschfeld started ''Campbell Live'' in March 2005. On 21 May 2015, TV3 announced that ''Campbell Live'' would soon cease to air, and Campbell had decided to leave MediaWorks, despite having been offered a position co-hosting a replacement current affairs programme. Only one year of the offered three-year extension was to have been presenting Campbell Live, and the network was insisting the programme become more entertainment-driven and reduce its concentration on core Campbell Live subjects, such as Christchurch after the earthquakes, child poverty, Pike River, etc. The final programme aired on 29 May 2015. Campbell and Carol Hirschfeld made two series of the interview programme ''Home Truths'', and in 2004 they made a 12-part series touring New Zealand called ''A Queen's Tour'', following the route of

Queen Elizabeth Queen Elizabeth, Queen Elisabeth or Elizabeth the Queen may refer to: Queens regnant * Elizabeth I (1533–1603; ), Queen of England and Ireland * Elizabeth II (1926–2022; ), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms * Queen B ...

's visit in 1953–1954. Campbell also hosted the Saturday Morning programme on

for two years, from 2000 to 2002. Campbell appeared in the sixth series of the successful New Zealand TV series '' Outrageous Fortune'' and frequently appeared in the animated series ''

bro'Town ''bro'Town'' is a New Zealand Adult animation, adult animated sitcom that aired on TV3 (New Zealand), TV3 from 22 September 2004 to 24 May 2009. It starred David Fane, Mario Gaoa, Shimpal Lelisi and Oscar Kightley. Overview The main charact ...

''. Campbell took over as host of the

current affairs programme '' Checkpoint'' in January 2016. His final appearance for '' Checkpoint'' was broadcast on 14 September 2018. He subsequently moved to TVNZ, becoming a roving reporter across the company's news and current affairs output, as well as an occasional fill-in presenter on ''

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 ...

''. Campbell made a cameo appearance in the 2016 New Zealand film ''

Hunt for the Wilderpeople ''Hunt for the Wilderpeople'' ( ) is a 2016 New Zealand adventure comedy drama film written and directed by Taika Waititi, based on the 1986 novel ''Wild Pork and Watercress'' by Barry Crump. Sam Neill and Julian Dennison stars as "Uncle" Hect ...

''. In April 2019, he joined ''

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 ...

'' replacing

Jack Tame Jack Renfrey Tame (born March 1987) is a New Zealand television and radio journalist and presenter. He is the host of TVNZ’s political show Q+A, and a presenter at ''Newstalk ZB''. Early life Tame was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, the s ...

who moved to

Q+A QA or qa may refer to: Businesses Airlines * Qantas Airlines, Australia (founded 1920) * Aerocaribe, Mexico (1972–2005) * Cimber (airline), Denmark (2012–2018)) * MexicanaClick, Mexico (2005–2010) Education * QA (company), a British ...

. In 2021 Campbell hosted a

special ''Anger, Anxiety & Us'' which investigated increasing division in New Zealand society. In April 2022 he announced he was finishing up with ''

'' to take up the new role of TVNZ chief correspondent.

Awards

Campbell has twice won the

Qantas Media Award The New Zealand Newspaper Publishers’ Association awards are annual New Zealand media awards recognising excellence in the news print media. The first awards were held in 1974 giving out awards for news photography and have expanded to include ...

for Best Investigative Current Affairs and for Best Presenter, as well as winning the Best Presenter category twice for the

New Zealand Film and Television Awards New Zealand film and television awards have gone by many different names and have been organised by different industry groups. As of 2017, New Zealand has relaunched a standalone New Zealand Television Awards after a five-year hiatus. The film awa ...

. Campbell won the Best Current Affairs Presenter category in the TV Guide "Best on the Box" Awards in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2015. In 2013, Campbell was named a Distinguished Alumnus of Victoria University. Campbell was named Presenter of the Year 2017 in the

Association for International Broadcasting Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...

's 13th annual global awards. And in the 2017 New York Festivals World's Best Radio Programs Awards, Campbell won a Bronze Award in the category of Best News Anchor/Reporter. In 2019, while filming a story in Samoa with producer Adrian Stevanon for TVNZ's Sunday programme, Campbell was awarded the chiefly title Toleafoa by Samoan Head of State Tuimalealiifano Vaaletoa Sualauvi II. In 2023, Campbell won Best Scoop at the Voyager Media Awards, for his interview with Peter Ellis about the Christchurch Civic Creche case, filmed just days before Ellis died, and three years before Ellis's convictions were quashed by the Supreme Court. At the 2024 Voyager Media Awards, Campbell (with cameraman Andrew Dalton and editor Dallas Smith) won "Best Current Affairs (long) or Documentary", for their documentary on the forestry "slash" that devastated communities north of Gisborne during and after Cyclone Gabrielle.

References

External links

Campbell Live on 3 NewsCampbell Live Full Episodes On Demand
*
Tearaway Magazine interviewSalient Article 2003
{{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, John 1964 births People educated at Wellington College, Wellington Living people New Zealand radio presenters New Zealand television newsreaders and news presenters Victoria University of Wellington alumni RNZ National New Zealand investigative journalists New Zealand radio journalists

Early and personal life

Broadcasting career

Awards

See also

References

External links