IanCross
- Journalist
- Writer
- Broadcaster
Ian Cross trained as a journalist. His 1957 novel The God Boy was hailed as a classic (and similar status afforded to the 1976 TV adaptation). As Listener editor he doubled its circulation; as broadcasting chair and chief executive he had a turbulent relationship with the Muldoon government — and failed to stem what he saw as the over-commercialisation of television.
Biography
Ian Cross was born in Masterton in 1925 and educated at Wanganui Technical College. At school he was only really happy when he was writing and studying English. Journalism was an obvious career path and he joined The Dominion in Wellington as a copy boy in 1943.
Screenography
“I melded South Pacific TV and TV One together and that caused a lot of angst, but I was convinced of the need to do it. Looking back I created a Frankenstein’s monster. Television is the most pervasive and democratic medium in any country. Every western country has a non-commercial television service. We haven’t.”