Judy Bailey
While studying journalism in Wellington, the young Judy Bailey fell in love with broadcasting. In 1971, not long after graduating, she joined the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation (now TVNZ) as a reporter on news and current affairs shows. She and John Hawkesby co-hosted a TV show called Top Half, the regional news programme for Auckland, from 1980 – 1987. She went on to present the Network News alongside Richard Long for sixteen years before becoming the sole news presenter from 2004 – 2005. She finished working in television after this period and fronted her final One News bulletin on December 23rd 2005.
In 2009, Judy Bailey was made an officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to broadcasting and the community in the New Year Honours.
These days, a lot of Judy’s time is taken up with charity work. She’s a patron of the North Shore Hospice, Seasons (a support programme for grieving children), Friends of the Women’s Refuge and the Muscular Dystrophy Association and a Brain Wave Trust Aotearoa trustee. She also enjoys spending time with her family, especially her grandchildren.
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