Vale Simon Dallow

Shayne Currie writes:

Somewhat of an introvert, Simon Dallow gave a rare insight into his character on the eve of his debut as TVNZ’s 6pm newsreader almost 20 years ago.

America’s greatest newsreader, Walter Cronkite, once said: “Our job is only to hold up the mirror – to tell and show the public what has happened.”

It is a mantra that Dallow has tried to live by.

“A number of years back, I reflected on the role of newsreader in the modern environment and made a couple of commitments around that,” he told me in 2023, in an articulate refusal to be interviewed.

“As a viewer, I want to see and hear unbiased, dispassionate information that is not influenced or coloured in any way by the presenter; leaving the viewer truly free to make up their own mind.

“A newsreader’s role is essentially functional and to me is fundamentally different from the role of a presenter in almost every other sense. Overlaying celebrity on to it changes the parasocial relationship from neutral to one influenced by preference – and thus plays a subconscious role in influencing the viewer’s perspective.

I’ve only met Simon a couple of times, but he has always been extremely friendly, down to earth and approachable.

His views on the role of a newsreader are ones we need more of. To this day I have no idea of Simon’s views on anythings. He could be an ardent Greenie, or a an ACTolyte. Or he could have no strong views at all. Whatever it is, he has kept them to himself as he is a professional.

Simon has not been alone in this. I recall Lindsay Perigo as a fearsome interviewer, and he never gave out any sense of his actual opinions until after he left TVNZ, when he expressed strong libertarian views. Likewise Peter Williams and Sean Plunket were inscrutable in their political views when they worked for TVNZ and RNZ, and only later did we learn they do have opinions on various issues.

Dallow’s approach to his job is one we need more of.