John Campbell (broadcaster)

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For other uses, see John Campbell.

John Campbell (born 1964 in Wellington, New Zealand) is the presenter of Campbell Live, a primetime 7.00pm current affairs programme on TV3 in New Zealand.

Campbell graduated from Wellington College then Victoria University with a Bachelor of Arts degree with Honours, and then worked as a share trader, providing a share report to Radio New Zealand's Midday Report. In 1989, Radio New Zealand (RNZ) offered him a job as a business reporter. He had no journalism training, but RNZ ran a cadetship system which provided him with the experience he needed. He read the three-minute news bulletins on the hour for RNZ, and then moved to TV3 in 1991 as a general reporter in their Wellington newsroom. He moved to their political press gallery a year later.

In 1994 he moved to the 20/20 current affairs program and later presented an interview/current events segment of TV3 news. After John Hawkesby left TV3 News in 1998, Campbell was asked to fill in, and he remained as the main 3 News weekday newsreader along with Carol Hirschfeld until 2005. He moved to Auckland when TV3 News was relocated. He began the Campbell Live programme with Hirschfeld in March 2005.

Campbell and Hirschfeld made two series of the interview program Home Truths, and in 2004 they made a twelve-part series touring New Zealand called A Queen's Tour, following the route of Queen Elizabeth's visit in 1953-1954. Campbell also hosted the Saturday Morning programme on Radio New Zealand for two years, from 2000-2002.

Campbell has won the Qantas Media Award for Best Investigative Current Affairs and for Best Presenter (twice), and the Best Presenter category for the New Zealand Film and Television Awards (twice). His interviewing style has led one Prime Minister to call him a "dork" and Helen Clark to call him a "little creep" after he confronted her live on air about a GE corn scandal, an interview she walked out of.^[1]