Honorary Research Fellow
Gavin is a media consultant, commentator and researcher with more than five decades of experience in news media. He holds a doctorate in political studies. A former editor-in-chief of the New Zealand Herald, he lectured on media and communications at the University of Auckland for a decade. He was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2015 for services to journalism and is the recipient of the Commonwealth Astor Award for Press Freedom.
He is the author of Trust Ownership and the Future of News (an international study of media ownership models) and Complacent Nation (a monograph on the relationship between government, the media and the public). His latest research project examined media coverage of the Christchurch mosque attacks and the prosecution of the perpetrator.
His consultancy work has included assessing journalism competencies and ethics, and the role of media in courts. He had been an advisor to Government ministries and has appeared as an expert witness before New Zealand courts and tribunals. His most recent consultancy was a review of local democracy and justice reporting funded through NZ on Air.
His Tuesday Commentary on media matters appears weekly on his website www.knightlyviews.com.