Patrick Gower

New Plymouth-born Patrick Gower studied politics at Victoria University and journalism at AUT. He joined The NZ Herald in 1999 and began filing stories for 3 News in 2010. In 2012, he became Newshub's political editor, gaining a reputation for his hard-nosed style. Gower went viral in 2014 with a 16-second 'thug life' parody. After returning to Newshub in 2018 as National Correspondent, he presented the Patrick Gower: On… documentary series, tackling hot topics. In 2023, he hosted current affairs show Paddy Gower Has Issues. The following year, he joined the Stuff news team and released his memoir, This is the F#$%ing News.

I always said that in print it’s like working with a scalpel, because you can really get into the nitty-gritty, and you can be really specialised and direct. And you can work with complex issues really easily. In TV you’ve got to drop the scalpel, and they hand you an axe. It can be really effective to use, but it’s nowhere near as delicate as working in print. Patrick Gower on screen versus print journalism, Salient magazine, 29 July 2013