13 June 2013
The Board of Radio New Zealand has today appointed Paul Thompson as the next Chief
Executive and Editor-in-Chief of the national public service broadcaster.
The appointment follows the January announcement by Radio New Zealand’s CEO, Peter
Cavanagh, that he would be stepping down from the position when his contract expires at the end of the year. Paul Thompson is currently the Group Executive Editor of Fairfax Media in New Zealand and a former award winning editor of the Christchurch Press and the Nelson Mail.
The Chair of Radio New Zealand, Richard Griffin, says Thompson is a widely respected and experienced media executive with a track record of achievement and successful leadership. “The Board was encouraged by the quality of those individuals who responded to the request for expressions of interest in the position. The process of selection was thorough and competitive and we are sure we have now appointed a CEO who is ideally versed in the concepts of editorial integrity and executive management that have been the hallmark of Peter Cavanagh’s ten years at the helm.”
Paul Thompson says he feels privileged to be chosen to lead such a respected and influential organisation. “Radio New Zealand plays a pivotal role in New Zealand life and I’m immensely looking forward to the challenge”.
Mr Thompson will take up his new responsibilities with Radio New Zealand later in the year.
22 January 2013
New Zealand’s national public service broadcaster, Radio New Zealand, has initiated an
appointment process to find a replacement for Chief Executive and Editor-in-Chief, Peter
Cavanagh, when he completes his term later this year.
Peter Cavanagh has announced that he will be stepping down from the role at the end of the year and emphasised the importance of a smooth transition for the public service broadcaster. “I have advised the Board that after ten years as CEO of Radio New Zealand, I will not be seeking to renew my contract when it expires in December. I am announcing my decision now to give the Board as much time as possible to find the best person to lead the organisation into the future. “It has been a great privilege for me to lead a world class public service broadcaster like Radio New Zealand over the past decade, but at the end of the year it will be time for me to move on to other things. In making his announcement Peter Cavanagh noted that Radio New Zealand was one of the most successful public broadcasters anywhere in the world.
The Board has initiated a recruitment process to appoint a new CEO and
details of the appointment process have been posted on the Radio New Zealand website:
http://www.radionz.co.nz/ceo
19 June 2012
Radio New Zealand’s Christchurch earthquake documentary, Broken River, has won a
gold medal in the prestigious New York Festival Radio Awards.
Broken River, received the 2012 award for best social issues or current affairs programme
at a ceremony last night in Manhattan. Produced and presented by Simon Morton and
Richard Scott, the programme included audio recordings made less than a week after the
city of Christchurch was devastated by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake in February 2011.
Simon Morton traversed the city using the Avon river as his route, travelling on a bicycle
from the source of the Avon in the West to Heathcote Estuary, where the river meets the
Pacific east coast, stopping to talk to people along the way and recording their reactions
to the earthquake.
The New York Festival Awards recognise the world’s best radio programmes. Judges
commented that, with entries from radio stations, networks and independent producers
from twenty seven countries, the 2012 awards provided exceptionally strong competition.
The remarkable thing about Broken River, according to Paul Bushnell, Radio New
Zealand’s Spoken Features Manager, is its formal elegance:
“Given the constraints of the recording, which gathered material entirely by chance, the
programme takes the audience through an emotional as well as a geographical journey
through the heart of a city in a time of upheaval. With only a bike and a microphone, and
working alone, Simon gets an extraordinarily frank and open response from many people
who want to talk, who want to have their experiences captured.”
Broken River was a finalist in the recent 2012 New Zealand Radio Awards and was first
broadcast in 2011 on Radio New Zealand National, the top ranking radio station in New
Zealand. *
Simon Morton’s original broadcast version of Broken River can be heard on the Radio
New Zealand website: http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/documentaries/brokenriver
Simon Morton can be contacted at Radio New Zealand:
Simon.morton@radionz.co.nz
Phone: 027 224 5403
