After 40 years in journalism, I’m moving on

Sunday, 21 June 2026

January 1997- Prime Minister Jim Bolger and Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters pose before the mornings Cabinet meeting, the first for the year. I joined the press gallery the same year.

Tracy Watkins is editor of The Post and Sunday Star-Times.

OPINION: This is my final column for the Sunday Star-Times. After seven years as editor and 40 years as a journalist I’m moving on - not retirement, but a career pivot.

My first job was as a cadet reporter on a small town community newspaper. I was given a camera and a notebook and sent up to the maternity hospital to take photos of newborns and their mums, a regular assignment. It was one of the best read parts of the newspaper.

My first story did not go so well. It ended up in the bin after the editor ripped up the copy in my face and told me I had wasted an entire day. These days, I get emails from readers expressing similar sentiments. They should know I hardened up long before I ever became an editor, as a working journalist in the ‘80s and ‘90s.

My early career was spent in rural and provincial New Zealand: I covered hours-long council meetings, endless health board squabbles, and attended the cop calls every morning.

It all seemed like a long way from the parliamentary press gallery, which I aspired to.

2024: The Post and Star-Times editor Tracy Watkins sit down with then Wellington mayor Tory Whanau.

I finally got there in 1997; the National-NZ First coalition bust-up happened the following year - the start of a roller coaster ride that I never got tired of. There were leadership spills, scandals, elections and controversy. But also huge and important moments in our history.

That’s why, as a political reporter, you get privileged access to prime ministers and others that you can never take for granted.

Whether it was Pike River, the Canterbury earthquakes, the global financial crisis, or the turbulent foreshore and seabed years, you are there not just to tell the story, but record history.

But I’m not going to lie, it was also fun. Life as a political reporter can be one long adrenalin rush; I covered two US elections, including Donald Trump’s first win. I flew into Baghdad, and reported on Kiwi soldiers in Iraq.

Tracy Watkins made friends with Donald Trump supporters as she and they queued for five hours to get into the presidential candidate's rally in Miami, Florida.

But there were also stories that moved me; I went to Monte Cassino, with a group of war veterans, and watched their shoulders heave after returning to the place where so many of their friends died.

And for years I followed the trail of Louisa Akavi, a Kiwi nurse taken hostage by Isis in 2013. It was five years before I could publish her story; it had been kept secret because of fears for her life. She has never been found.

When I finally quit the press gallery to became an editor in 2019, I thought I would miss it, that there would be regrets. But I’ve loved every minute as editor as well - even the worst days never tired me of the role.

But it also showed me that sometimes you just have to take the leap.

So this is goodbye. I’m handing over to a new editor, Matthew Hooton, who many of you will know as one of New Zealand’s most influential columnists. He will be filling this spot from next week.

At the 2017 Stuff Financial Debate with Grant Roberston and Steven Joyce, hosted by Tracy Watkins and Vernon Small.

I’ve known Hooton for nearly 30 years - he was a junior press secretary when I was a rookie press gallery journalist. He’s one of the smartest people I know; he’s also driven, passionate and very funny.

So what will I tell him in my handover?

In 2005, pictured with then Prime Minister Helen Clark.

I’ll tell him that opening the Sunday Star-Times is an essential part of the weekend for many of our readers. We're more than a newspaper, we’re a companion, a friend that drops by for Sunday brunch and sparks interesting conversations.

I’ll tell him our readers are smart and knowledgeable about the world around them and set a high bar. That they understand probably better than we give them credit for how hard it is to produce good journalism. But when we drop the ball our readers let us know about that as well.

Finally, I’ll tell him that being editor can often feel like a thankless task; that readers will challenge, criticise, and even abuse him some weeks over the stories, or opinion pieces that they disagree with.

But I’ll tell him not to take it personally, and remind him that it’s only because they care.

And for every critic, there is someone who will tell you how much they love their weekend read.

Soon, I’ll be one of them: I’ll be opening my Sunday Star-Times with a fresh eye, and I’m really looking forward to it.

See you on the other side.

What do you think? Email sundayletters@stuff.co.nz. Please include your full name and address.