Paddy Gower's new memoir opens up the books on his past
by Serena Solomon · RNZLove or hate him, it is hard not to admit that Paddy Gower has some good yarns to tell.
His hints at one of the most pivotal stories in his life in the dedication of This Is The F#$%ing News, a recently released memoir from the veteran journalist, TV presenter and rabble-rouser.
The new book is dedicated to his mother Joan Gower, who died of cancer in 2007.
She never lived to see her son become a hard-hitting political journalist, a viral internet sensation and a New Zealand household name.
"It's something that caused me a lot of my own psychological problems and grief and dealing with it and that comes through in the book," Gower told RNZ's Sunday Morning of the dark period in his life that led him into alcohol addiction.
Of course, the memoir expands on Gower's mum and the hole her early death left in his life. It also gives New Zealanders the inside view of Gower's public moments from being a parliamentary attack dog for the New Zealand Herald and the now-closed Newshub along with the amusing episode that gave the book its title.
The F%$#ing News! is Gower's new show on Stuff so the book could be part-memoir, part-marketing.
If you don't know, Gower's statement "This is the f---ing news" was meant to be part of a 2014 skit he did for the Auckland Law Revue, an annual comedy sketch put on by law students. Gower's part didn't make it into the end skit, but it was so funny that organisers posted it to YouTube.
In the scene, a library goer says "This is a f---ing library."
Gower replies "This is the f---ing news."
Gower was a political editor at Newshub at the time and already walking on thin ice for his freewheeling ways. Each day for weeks, he checked in on the YouTube video to see if anyone had watched it. Hardly anyone had.
Then, the clip ended up in a video of news bloopers. Then, a rapper remixed the phrase.
"Next minute, I woke up and I was globally viral with one million views in about eight hours," he said.
It's what Gower might consider "Paddy Luck," the good fortune that often fell his way when it came to his career.
At one stage, Gower was left on the tarmac when then-Prime Minister John Key flew from Dubai into Iraq, a war zone at the time. Gower wasn't on the plane because he had left his passport locked up in a hotel safe.
Gower hinted that this was a career-ending mistake. However, a sandstorm meant Key's plane returned to Dubai. Gower, after retrieving his passport, got on the plane and his employers were none the wiser.
The memoir also wrestles with the impact of Gower's attack dog reporting, even on his hardened political subjects. He recalled his last encounter with David Shearer, who led New Zealand's Labour Party from 2011 to 2013.
Shearer resigned in a tense press conference, but Gower wasn't done with him.
He ambushed Shearer as he exited the building, peppering him with more questions.
"There I was for one last pointless jab and I saw his face sink in front of me and sigh and I actually felt embarrassed for myself to do that but I still even had another jab at him even though I felt embarrassed, I just went too far."
It's an example of the complex relationship journalists balance with their sources and subjects. You might have a drink with them at night to get information you need while the next day you hang them out to dry, "but that is the way it has to be if you are going to keep the buggers honest," said Gower.
Ultimately, Gower's memoir is a testament to sobriety. He has been public about his struggle with alcohol use before, but This Is The F#$%ing News dials in further.
"The book wouldn't have happened without it," said Gower, who has now been sober for more than three years.
"I wanted to show people my story and why I ended up becoming an alcoholic and what happened since I gave up."
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