Robert Boyd-Bell has made a huge contribution to the development of TV news reporting in New Zealand. He began his career as a reporter with the fledgling NZBC News service in the mid 1960s, and later headed the northern newsroom of TV One in the 1970s.

Robert Boyd-Bell has made a huge contribution to the development of TV news reporting in New Zealand. He began his career as a reporter with the fledgling NZBC News service in the mid 1960s, and later headed the northern newsroom of TV One in the 1970s. Boyd-Bell has also worked as a documentary producer, and was instrumental in setting up educational television services eTV and The Knowledge Breakfast. He is a keen advocate for public service broadcasting.

In this ScreenTalk, Boyd-Bell talks about:

• Why the NZBC had to set up its own news service
• The slow journey international news took to get on air, in the days before a national network
• Bringing changes to the newsroom
• The infamous Tonight interview with Sir Robert Muldoon
• Establishing educational television service eTV
• How The Knowledge Breakfast became the first online TV show in New Zealand
• How family dynamics proved a challenge making Billy T: Te Movie
• How his fascination with Kiri Te Kanawa led to the doco My Breathing is Singing
• Why New Zealand needs a non-commercial TV service

This video is available on YouTube to embed and distribute via a Creative Commons licence.

NZ On Screen: Camera and Editing – Andrew Whiteside