Kim Hill (broadcaster)

Kim Hill is a New Zealand broadcaster. Currently she presents the Saturday morning programme on Radio New Zealand National, a public radio station.

Background

Hill was born in 1955 in Shropshire, England. Her father was a veterinarian and her mother was a physiotherapist and nurse. When Hill (birth-name Fiona), was 15 her family migrated to New Zealand. Hill gained a BA in French and German at Massey University and the University of Otago. She then studied journalism at the University of Canterbury's Postgraduate School of Journalism.

Journalism and broadcast career

Her early career included stints working for radio and newspapers in Nelson, Greymouth and Gisborne, before moving to Radio New Zealand in Wellington and starting on the Checkpoint Programme. In 1993 she became the host of the daily morning Nine to Noon programme. Notable interviews from this time included the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela, Jeffrey Archer, and Monica Lewinsky.

In April 2002 Hill began hosting the Saturday Morning programme. Since the 1990s she has also worked in television (on the consumer affairs show Fair Go, and Counterpoint both with TVNZ's TV ONE) and in 2003 she began hosting the interview programme Face to Face With Kim Hill.

In 2003 Hill interviewed journalist John Pilger who complained that Hill had not researched properly, saying "You waste my time because you have not prepared for this interview, as any journalist does, and I've done many interviews. The one thing is to prepare for them and this interview, frankly, is a disgrace."[1][2] Referring to the Australian journalist in 2012 she said "The thing is, if Pilger wasn’t an egomaniac, he wouldn’t have done the work he’s done. I was keen to talk to him, but he turns out to be a prick. So it goes."[3]

In 2006, Hill chaired an event entitled 'Are Angels OK?' for physicists and writers to discuss their involvement in the book of the same name, an attempt to bring physics down to earth for the average reader and literature in sync with the ways bodies are truly in motion.[4]

Awards

In 2012 Hill was awarded "2012 International Radio Personality of the Year" by the Association for International Broadcasting, describing her as "an experienced and warm broadcaster exercising full control of her content whilst coaxing her guests to reveal more of themselves; really enjoyable live and sparky content that demonstrates what is great about radio and illustrates how important lightness of touch is in speech content."[5][6]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/face-to-face-with-kim-hill-john-pilger-2003
  2. ↑ Louisa Cleave "Pilger salvo leaves Kim Hill reeling", The New Zealand Herald, 22 March 2003 and reproduced at "John Pilger Blasts NZ Interview 'Disgrace' Over War" on the Pacific Media Watch website
  3. ↑ Diana Wichtel "Interview: Kim Hill", New Zealand Listener, No.3772, 25 August 2012
  4. ↑ Podcasts for the "Are Angels OK?" series are available at http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/areangelsok
  5. ↑ "Kim Hill: international radio personality of the year". Retrieved 2013-01-08.
  6. ↑ "Kim Hill crowned Queen of the world's broadcasters". Retrieved 2013-01-08.

External links