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RNZ centenary - rural broadcasting in the spotlight

RNZ centenary - rural broadcasting in the spotlight

RNZ News23-05-2025

Producer Sally Round, recording for Country Life.
Photo:
Elena Smith-Beech
Informing, entertaining and connecting isolated farmers was a prime goal of the New Zealand Radio Broadcasting Company, which was officially incorporated in August 1925 and a forerunner to RNZ.
As RNZ celebrates that centenary,
Country Life
dips back into the archives to bring you some of the well-loved voices and shows from the rural team through the decades.
The stories include a laconic interview with Barry Crump about rabbiting, a hilarious spoof interview with a "macaroni farmer", and rural news scoops including the deliberate release of the RCV virus to control rabbit plagues in the South Island.
Kevin Ikin, a former member of the rural news team.
Photo:
RNZ / Alexander Robertson
A gathering of the rurals team in the 1990s: (left to right) Susan Murray, Andrew Melville, Robyn Cubey, Kevin Ikin, Mark Torley, Jill Galloway, Sasha Hardy, Ian MacLean, Heugh Chappell and Jackie Bedford.
Photo:
David Knowles, left, Country Life's studio producer, with studio engineer Phil Benge, putting together Country Life.
Photo:
RNZ/Sally Round
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