‘Mālō e lelei, good evening’

Laura Tupou is a familiar face to television viewers, but her opening lines in the ThreeNews pilot bulletin added a fresh Pacific welcome.

‘Mālō e lelei, good evening - I’m Laura Tupou.’

ThreeNews’ debut bulletins this weekend set a new pace for news, with six stories including sport and weather over a half hour programme.

Featuring the Stuff font and purple makeover, Tupou was the lone presenter, seated behind a smaller, plainer desk equipped with a laptop and paper notes. The background was somewhat two-dimensional, an image of a blue-scape corporate office and stairs leading to nowhere.

Longtime Newshub host Samantha Hayes brought a story about a Black Power member from Whakatāne graduating from university. It was beautifully shot, and came across as a heartfelt message, with hope for a more positive, educated future for gang members. It was one of two exclusives on Saturday night’s episode, the other from acclaimed journalist Paula Penfold on a probation officer caught trawling through thousands of pages of Chinese offender files.

The pilot bulletin was aired on Saturday night, when the nation’s attention would largely be on league and rugby, but ThreeNews included a live cross to Dunedin where the All Blacks were preparing to face England, and a live score update on the Warriors game. New elements included a live poll prediction for the All Blacks’ game, and a quiz question for audiences to mull during the ad break.

Paula Penfold (left) and Laura Tupou on ThreeNews' first bulletin. Photo/PMN News

Trying new things

From an operational perspective, there seems to be a heavier workload on the news anchor. Tupou, who has fronted Newshub and other shows since 2018, provided live voiceover for an international news story and also does the weather report.

If I’m being picky, the editing on the story about Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s visit to Wairoa was clunky at times, which I later discovered was filmed using an iPhone. The smaller studio did allow a second person to squeeze in, as Penfold gave further analysis of her exclusive.

This is something I will have to get used to, but it's fast, more like a radio bulletin with images. I suspect an audience watching a half hour bulletin isn’t opposed to watching a lonely news anchor most of the time, without the banter trimmings we can readily access on longer, podcast-ier news formats.

Overall, a strong start for the newest iteration of Three News and dangled hopes of future exclusives and greater diversity come through the teleprompter. Perhaps a greeting in tonight’s episode to recognise Kiribati Language week? Go on, I dare you.

Newshub aired their final bulletin on Friday 5th of July.