Alison Mau: Boyed ‘a broadcaster in finest mould’
The death of my colleague Greg Boyed has hit a lot of people very hard. Televisionnews presenting is an odd kind of job, but the skill involved is often understated. The pinnacle of ability and achievement in our kind of work has nothing to do with Instagram followers, or the amount of fan mail you get.
It is in the way viewers relate to you when they sit down in front of the TV, or open their browsers to watch. The best of the best – and there are only a very few of those in this country – reach what we call ‘‘trusted friend’’ status.
It’s when the audience has confidence in the information you’re giving them, because of the mana you’ve earned. They believe you because you’re worth their trust. They will turn to you and your product in those moments when information is crucial.
Greg Boyed was one of those.
He was intellectually fierce. He cared about the facts (not always a given these days, even in our business). He could be old-school about his craft in the best of ways – to Greg, I think journalism was a taonga that was not to be messed with.
He could be a very serious stick at times; but work with him long enough, and it would dawn on you that he had one of the sharpest senses of humour you’d ever come across. He could make you laugh like no-one else.
At the end of 2012, when the TVNZ news and current affairs management were putting together the initial iteration of Seven Sharp ,Iwas first on board. The head of news had a number of suggestions for co-hosts, but I pushed back against them all, because I wanted Greg.
His presenting and journalism skills were a given, but I also knew his subversive humour was exactly what the programme needed. I insisted, and I had to talk him into it, but eventually Greg agreed.
I’ve had plenty of time to regret doing that, because I’m pretty certain he hated it. I believe the infantilisation of current affairs in that 7pm slot, which had always been the timeslot for serious journalism, caused him real pain. But he nevertheless came to work every day and did his utmost to bring some gravitas to the format. He busted a gut until he couldn’t any more, and we were devastated, but not surprised, when he left the programme.
We are all devastated now. I have had messages from people I’ve not had contact with for the past half-decade, and we are all bereft.
Greg and I didn’t hang out together, we were not what you’d call close friends. But I am qualified to recognise him as one of the finest broadcasters this country has produced, and New Zealand will miss him for that and so much more.
Arohanui, Greg.