Katie’s TV torment
The TVNZ reporter fights Against Abuse
News reporter Katie Bradford was broadcasting live from Waitangi Day festivities in the Bay of Islands when a rogue ice-cream van started rolling toward her in the background of the shot.
Due to a delay in the video feed, the TVNZ 1 journalist only heard the warnings from the team back in the Breakfast studio at the very last minute. Fortunately, the vehicle missed her by a whisker and she escaped unharmed. However, Katie was left bruised by a viewer’s comment on Facebook that said, “If the truck had hit her, the truck would’ve been a write-off.”
She sighs, “I’m barely five feet [1.52m] tall, so I don’t think I would have done much damage.”
Yet that’s far from the worst instance of cyber-bullying that has ever been directed at the reporter, who has been told on social media, “Why don’t you just shut up and die?”
“If you’re having a bad day or not feeling great about yourself, reading that stuff is really hard,” admits Katie, 36. “Sometimes I’ve worked a long day or I’m really tired and someone says something that hits a nerve.”
In her five years as a political reporter for TVNZ, Katie has also seen many similar attacks on MPs, especially female ones. She tells, “Whether you love or hate their politics, some of the abuse they get about their height, weight or how they look is terrible. You can disagree with their opinions and policies, but comments on their appearance are unnecessary and unacceptable.”
Sadly, it was exactly the same sort of thing her mother, controversial former Green Party MP Sue Bradford, faced during her time in Parliament, where she was consistently rated one of the most hardworking, effective politicians but regularly criticised for her hair or clothing.
“It’s a low way of attacking people,” says Katie. “Mum hoped that I wouldn’t have to deal with the sorts of abuse that she had, but with Facebook and Twitter, it’s actually far worse. I’m lucky in that I’m strong and have supportive people around me to help me deal with it, but a lot of people don’t.”
She shares her experiences of cyber-bullying with Sunday reporter Jehan Casinader in TVNZ OnDemand series The InsideWord, a talk show that focuses on mental health, with Hayley Holt, Teuila Blakely, Zac Franich and Mike King.
Mental health is something Katie is very passionate about after the loss of her elder brother Danny, who suffered from acute schizophrenia and was found dead after escaping from a psychiatric hospital in 1995.
“It’s over 20 years later and when I hear about similar cases or see New Zealand’s high suicide rate, it still hits me hard,” confesses Katie.
“You wouldn’t wish it on anyone. Something needs to change in our culture and society to stop these awful tragedies from occurring, and I always think if you can share your story, it can help other people.”
Head of the Parliamentary Press Gallery until recently, Katie has now quit her job in Wellington to join the Auckland newsroom, amid reports she and former colleague Andrea Vance were unhappy with the appointment of Jessica Mutch as the network’s new political editor.
However, both women are close friends of Katie’s and she was simply homesick for her family back in the City of Sails. She explains, “I moved to Wellington in 2005, had a few years in Melbourne and then did another three elections in Wellington, so it’s been 13 years since I’ve lived in a place that truly feels like home.”
Katie, who is single, has just returned from a month-long holiday in Europe, visiting London, France, Italy and Poland with fellow TVNZ reporter Kim Savage and her six-month-old daughter Matilda. And after being awarded the Asia New Zealand Foundation’s Jefferson Fellowship, she’ll soon be jetting off to Hawaii to spend three weeks studying identity and democracy in Southeast Asia.
Katie grins, “I’ve been really lucky in my career as a political reporter, getting to see things and go places that other people don’t get to see, and reporting that back to viewers at home. But I’m really excited about my next chapter and seeing more of my whanau.”