Heather du-Plessis Allan and Reverend Frank Ritchie Photo: Newstalk ZB
When Heather du-Plessis Allan visited the capital in 2021, she was taken aback by how indifferent Wellington bureaucrats seemed about the frustration building among Aucklanders trapped in a months-long Covid lockdown.
Fueled by a frustration with the lack of scrutiny on the lockdown’s effectiveness, and strong backing from her Newstalk ZB audience, du-Plessis Allan’s persistent questioning of New Zealand’s top officials helped keep them accountable.
In this conversation with broadcaster and media chaplain Rev Frank Ritchie, Heather reflects on her adaptation to talkback host on Newstalk ZB, her redundancy from Mediaworks, and how a shouting match with Jacinda Ardern helped form her into a tough interviewer.
re_covering is a Media Chaplaincy New Zealand podcast series produced for RNZ by Love It Media.
Listen free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Google Podcasts or any good podcast app.
