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Patrick Gower

Journalist

New Plymouth-born Patrick Gower studied politics at Victoria University, then journalism at Auckland University of Technology. After joining The NZ Herald in 1999, he began filing stories for 3 News in 2010. Gower began a five year run as TV3's political editor in 2012, forging a reputation for his hard-nosed style. Along the way he covered many high profile stories from Parliament. He also achieved web fame when a 16-second long ‘thug life’ musical parody went viral in 2014. After returning to Three as 'National Correspondent', he presented high profile specials on marijuana, P, lockdown and the Christchurch terror attacks. 

I always said that in print it’s like working with a scalpel, because you can really get into the nitty-gritty, and you can be really specialised and direct. And you can work with complex issues really easily. In TV you’ve got to drop the scalpel, and they hand you an axe. It can be really effective to use, but it’s nowhere near as delicate as working in print. Patrick Gower on screen versus print journalism, Salient magazine, 29 July 2013