The Cost of Telling The F#$%ing News

Paddy Gower has spent decades telling New Zealanders stories. In This is the F#$%ing News, he tells his own story. Paddy has made a life of fighting for justice – taking on teenage bullies, holding politicians to account and advocating for the victims of the Christchurch terrorist attacks. But it has come at a cost: a serious alcohol addiction, anger issues at times, and bouts of anxiety and depression. He discusses his funny and brutally honest story with Mountain Scene editor Tracey Roxburgh.

Paddy Gower is one of New Zealand's best-known journalists. He spent five years as Newshub's political editor, before becoming its national correspondent, and more recently he's been a documentary maker and host of Paddy Gower Has Issues. He won Best Presenter: News and Current Affairs at the 2023 New Zealand Television Awards.

Tracey Roxburgh has been a journalist for two decades, starting off at The Southland Times in Invercargill before joining Allied Press in 2006. She was appointed editor of Mountain Scene in March, 2020 — that year Scene was runner-up in the Voyager Media Awards community newspaper of the year category; it was a finalist in 2021. This year it was runner-up in the New Zealand Community Newspaper Awards in the same category. Tracey is also Otago Daily Times Queenstown Bureau Chief.