Russell Brown (born 1962) is a
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
media commentator, and the owner of the Public Address community of blogs, and writes the blog ''Hard News''.
Early life
Brown was born in
Lower Hutt
Lower Hutt () is a list of cities in New Zealand, city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand. Administered by the Hutt City Council, it is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropoli ...
, New Zealand.
He had a bronchial issues as a child so was frequently home sick from school. He describes himself as a "bright" child who liked to read.
Career
The origins of ''Hard News'' was the ''Hard News'' radio segment written by Brown from 1991 to 2002 on
Auckland
Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
student radio station
bFM. The text of the radio commentary was circulated on the internet by various means from 1993,
and the bulletin officially became a blog with the launch of Public Address in November 2002.
Brown's journalism career began in the early 1980s with the
Christchurch Star and the music zine
Rip It Up. In 1986, he moved to England where he wrote for various publications, mostly covering the music industry, before returning to New Zealand in 1991. From 2008 to 2012, he presented the media commentary programme ''Media7'' on the
TVNZ 7
TVNZ 7 was a commercial-free New Zealand 24-hour news and information channel on Freeview digital television platform and on Sky Television from 1 July 2009. It was produced by Television New Zealand, which received Government funding to laun ...
digital channel. Following the closure of TVNZ 7 after its funding was not renewed, the show was picked up by
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 ...
in 2013 and renamed ''Media3'' for one further series, however TV3 declined to produce any more series. In 2014, it re-appeared on
Māori Television
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...
as ''Media Take'' and ran for four seasons until 2017.
Personal life
He lives in Auckland, with his long-term partner journalist Fiona Rae. They have two sons, who are both
autistic
Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing di ...
.
See also
*
New Zealand blogosphere
References
External links
Public Address
Living people
New Zealand bloggers
1962 births
People from Lower Hutt
21st-century New Zealand journalists
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