People who deliver the headlines never like to find themselves at the centre of the news, so when the story broke that Newshub would be shutting down for good, no one was more devastated than the passionate and talented team whose job was to ensure, day in and day out, that everyday New Zealanders were kept informed on the stuff that matters.
It’s an end of an era for the Three network that has always battled against the odds to be successful since it first launched in 1989. Ultimately, a fall in advertising revenue, coupled with evolving viewer habits and an unsustainable business model, determined the sad outcome.
Newshub’s beloved lead presenter Samantha Hayes described the closure as “heartbreaking”, a sentiment echoed by many of her colleagues. For many of the team, the closure of the newsroom is like the break-up of a family. Some of the channel’s most recognisable faces have been together for 20-odd years, sharing each other’s greatest triumphs and epic fails. Team members like Samantha, Amanda Gillies and Janika ter Ellen have literally grown up on screen, going from nervous rookies to respected, award-winning journalists and presenters.
While some from Newshub will join the new-look offering that website Stuff will produce, including Samantha, who will present the bulletin from July 6, others will go in different directions, but they will never forget their time at Three, and no doubt their skills will shine through in new places and in new ways.
With their final Newshub broadcasts not far away, we wanted to let the leading ladies do what they do best and tell a story, in their own words, about their time making the news.
Melissa Chan-Green
AM presenter
What is it about those giant farewell cards that get passed around an office that make your mind go completely blank when it’s your turn to write? Is it the comic sans font on the front screaming, “Goodbye and good luck!” that wipes your ability to think of anything intelligent, witty or even remotely unique? I’ve read many of them. I will soon read (and write) many, many more. Although I hope we don’t get them. I’m not sure I can deal with seeing the stack.
If we do, I suspect I know what I’ll write. It’s what pretty much everyone writes: “It’s been lovely working with you!
Wishing you all the best for your new adventure!”
It’s a sentiment that does now seem more appropriate than ever, though. Whatever comes next is such an adventure into the unknown for so many of us, not just at Newshub, but across many industries facing job losses right now. Some of us will choose to leave news media altogether and some will stay. Media will still exist, but the way we consume it will continue to evolve through new forms and formats.
I’m proud that format has been hugely successful – built on the grind of TV3 morning show teams that have come before
