MelanieReid
- Journalist
Whether on air or behind the scenes, award-winning investigative journalist Melanie Reid was a fixture of TV3 current affairs shows for over 25 years. As a reporter on 60 Minutes and 20/20, she went undercover to expose Neville Cooper's community at Gloriavale, and profiled Peter Ellis and David Bain. Reid also fronted 2006 documentary Let Us Spray, on chemical 245T. She now works for website Newsroom.
Screenography
Biography
From the birth of TV3 in 1989, journalist Melanie Reid became a fixture on the channel's current affairs shows, often reporting on battles against bureaucracy.
In her early 20s, she was at the scene of the Aramoana massacre. She went undercover for 60 Minutes in long dress and head scarf to expose Neville Cooper, aka Hopeful Christian, in his pre-Gloriavale days (“People still give me a hard time about wearing that frock”), and even smuggled her own infant into high-security Thai prison Klong Prem with cameras concealed in his stuffed toys, for her documentary In the Name of My Father — about her father-in-law Ernie Paerata being imprisoned for importing heroin. She helped Campbell Live make a splash on the show's opening night in 2005, with a story on NZ driving licences being for sale.
Awards
2024 New Zealand Television Awards / Ngā Taonga Whakaata O Aotearoa
Nominated for Best Current Affairs Programme: Newsroom Investigates with Melanie Reid
2019 Huawei Mate30 Pro New Zealand Television Awards
Best Current Affairs Programme (shared with Paul Enticott, Mark Jennings and Tim Murphy): for Newsroom Investigates
Nominated for Reporter of the Year: for Newsroom
Nominated for Best Documentary (with Paul Enticott and Phill Prendeville): for The Uplift
“Without serious journalism we weaken our democracy.”