Brian Edwards (broadcaster)


Brian Finbar Myram Edwards is an Irish-born New Zealand media personality and author. He was born in Cork and educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution. Edwards arrived in New Zealand in 1964, where he intended to lecture in German at the University of Canterbury. After three years he quit this role and embarked on a career in the media.

Radio and television career

Edwards is best known as a radio and television interviewer, and was the host of Radio New Zealand's highly rated show Top of the Morning from 1994 to 1999, a role which he returned to in 2006. He is also known for his television appearances, starting in the 1960s. Edwards has been a host of numerous television series, notably Fair Go, and in 2003 hosted his own talk show, Edwards at Large.
In the he stood unsuccessfully for Labour in the National-held seat of. His campaign was derailed when the New Zealand Truth revealed that he was living in a de facto relationship while still married to his first wife; this was considered scandalous at the time.
He currently runs a media training and communications consultancy in partnership with his wife Judy Callingham.

Books

Edwards is also author of numerous books, including a biography of Prime Minister of New Zealand Helen Clark, an autobiography: Daddy Was A German Spy, And Other Scandals, published in 2008, and is also a prolific newspaper and magazine columnist. He holds an honours B.A. from the Queen's University of Belfast and a PhD from the University of Edinburgh.

Honours and awards

Edwards has twice won the Media Peace Prize for his work on radio and in print. In the 1999 New Year Honours, he was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to broadcasting and journalism.

Controversy

On 23 September 2009 Edwards claimed that "Public Libraries are just a Form of Theft"
, arguing for "user pays" library books as a compensation to authors. The response from library supporters and creative public was overwhelmingly negative. Edwards later removed the post and comments with no explanation.
New Zealand has a public lending right scheme, administered by the National Library, under which authors are compensated for their books being in libraries.

Memoir

Daddy was a German Spy, and Other Scandals