Paddy Gower has slammed “keyboard warriors” claiming the media is getting what it deserves for going “woke” amid mass job losses.

TV3 journalist and TV host Patrick Gower spoke to Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking this morning following yesterday’s Newshub meeting where the closure of Newshub was confirmed.

Hosking asked Gower what he would say to those who say “you go woke, you go broke” and claim the media was bribed by the former Labour government.

“Get stuffed, and actually go away and, to use the term they use, do your own research,” Gower fired back.

Gower agreed the Public Interest Journalism fund had “branding issues” for media organisations because the public didn’t understand where the money was going.

“But at the end of the day, I’m not going to sit here and listen to sort of people like that say that kind of thing after I’ve slaved away my bloody life alongside my colleagues, 25 years in my case, putting damn good news out there.

“While we’ve got a trust problem, we need to address it and explain things that we’re doing properly.

“When it comes to the sort of Facebook keyboard warriors, I ain’t got no time for that, Mike.

“I’m about the 250 people who lost a job yesterday and actually the millions of other Kiwis that I know that trust me and trust my colleagues.”

Patrick Gower and colleagues on their way to learn Newshub's fate. Photo / Alex Burton

Gower told Hosking he didn’t know how many of the up to 300 people losing their jobs would remain in media.

“Who knows?

“I mean, even for myself, I’ve got no bloody idea what I’ll do next.”

Gower said he hoped a lot of his colleagues would remain in the field, but recognised it was a difficult time for the industry in New Zealand.

“It’s that simple, mate, not everybody can survive.

“But we’ve got to be optimistic, we can’t kind of give in.

“I can say for myself, I’m determined to get back out there.”

Hosking asked Gower how many of the employees likely saw the closure coming.

“It was always a possibility when we came in under the big company, particularly Warner Brothers Discovery when they’d merged ... some sort of shutdown was always possible.

“I’ve survived a couple myself in the last 14 years or we’ve been very, very close.

“So it was always on the cards.”

The state of the economy and the recession have had a huge impact on the media industry, Gower admitted.

“We often talk about the big structural problems that are behind all of this, but, hey, let’s face it, the economy has absolutely tanked, every single dollar virtually has dropped out of the advertising market.

“People are really struggling, [advertising] is the first thing that goes when a business is struggling, everybody knows that.

“That has just put insane pressure on all media companies.”

Gower said he hadn’t seen “anything” broadcasting minister Melissa Lee had done so far for the industry.

“I haven’t seen anything they’ve done, but at the same time, the media doesn’t need a bailout.

“So if anyone’s talking about some sort of cash bailout, we don’t need that.

“The media does need to be able to survive commercially. There are ways that we can do that.”

Gower said there are issues that both Governments, current and former, have not addressed that could have helped the media.

“There are massive structural problems out there that I just don’t think the Government’s got their head around.

“Paying these Kordia fees, television companies, paying fees to another government organisation for something that we don’t really need anymore is just plain nuts.

“It is crazy, that is literally jobs going out the door every time they pay those fees.”

Gower confirmed his show Paddy Gower Has Issues was not funded by NZ on Air, so wouldn’t be funded by TV3′s new model.

“There’s got to be other ways to do television programmes ... we’ve got to find commercially successful ways of doing this stuff. Stuff where things get paid for by viewers again. We’ve got to find a way back to that.”

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Arguably New Zealand’s greatest ever Olympian, Dame Lisa Carrington is the best in the canoe sprint game.

She’s brought home a staggering total of nine medals across four Olympic Games, eight of them gold, and one bronze, dominating the water.

Despite her massive success, Carrington doesn’t believe this is the best she’s capable of, telling Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking that you have to be able to look beyond the finish line or gold medal and set yourself other goals.

“If I thought that winning a gold medal was my best, I would’ve stopped in London. I would’ve stopped after Rio, I would’ve stopped after Tokyo.”

Carrington has been competing for over a decade now, but it’s taken her up until this year’s Games to have 100% joy and satisfaction in racing.

“I think a lot of the time I’ve raced in the past, and it’s been out of just needing to win, just because that’s the expectation on me,” she told Hosking.

“But for Paris, I’ve managed to get to a place where I was like, you know what, I’m just gonna do my best.”

And doing her best panned out, with Carrington netting a total of three gold medals in the 2024 Games.

Photo / Jason Oxenham

There comes a point in every successful athlete's career where the question on everyone’s mind is: what’s next?

Carrington is currently at the top of her game and has no plans on stopping here, but when it comes to the next steps, she’s unsure whether she wants to leave while on top or not.

“Being in the position I am, you know, being the fastest I’ve ever been, strongest, whatever, it is hard to think ‘Oh maybe I’ll stop now,’” Carrington said.

“Because well, what else is there?”

Every competition is different, each Olympic Games different again from the last, and when it comes to the next steps, Carrington thinks it would need to be a different challenge once more.

And when it comes to new and different challenges, Carrington has fulfilled a goal she’s had since Tokyo: writing a children's book.

Lisa Carrington Chases a Champion is aimed at 4-9 year olds, and details the journey of eight year old Lisa having a goal, the journey of achieving it, and the challenges along the way.

“There's so many little messages in there from, you know, about... a little bit about discipline or having a plan, but also that, you know, there are challenges, and you have to keep turning up.”

It’s the first of what Carrington hopes to be a series, with her leaving the ending open for another journey.

“Too many lessons to learn and relearn.”

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Kate Hawkesby and Tim Wilson joined Mike Hosking once more to Wrap the Week that was.

They talked Mike’s ventures in wood and metalwork in school, the Repair Shop, and Tim regaled listeners with an expert piano performance.

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