Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 19, 2026

Barbara Dreaver

Barbara Helen Dreaver is a Kiribati-born New Zealand broadcast journalist.

Last revised
Jul 19, 2026
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Barbara Dreaver
ONZM
Dreaver in 2024
Born
Barbara Helen Dreaver

Banaba, Kiribati
Alma mater
OccupationJournalist
EmployerTVNZ

Barbara Helen Dreaver ONZM is a Kiribati-born New Zealand broadcast journalist.1

Biography

Dreaver was born on Banaba, a coral atoll in Kiribati. Her mother, Lavinia, was from Banaba and her father, Peter, was a schoolteacher from New Zealand, stationed on the atoll as an adult education officer under the Volunteer Service Abroad scheme.23 The family moved to the main island of Tarawa when she was young, and when she was 10 years old, moved to New Zealand.4

Dreaver studied education at the University of Auckland, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree. She then completed a Pacific Island journalism course at Manukau Institute of Technology, but struggled to find work in journalism in New Zealand.4 In 1990, she moved to Rarotonga and began her career in journalism as a reporter with the Cook Islands News. She later co-owned and edited a weekly newspaper, Cook Islands Press. In 1998, she returned to New Zealand and worked as a business columnist and freelance feature writer for the New Zealand Listener, National Business Review and Radio New Zealand.5 In 2002, she started working for TVNZ and in 2003 became the network's Pacific correspondent.6

In December 2008, Dreaver was detained and deported from Fiji after her reporting offended the regime of dictator Frank Bainimarama.78 Journalists were subsequently required to seek permission to enter Fiji.9 The ban was lifted in October 2016.10

In September 2018, Dreaver was arrested in Nauru and stripped of her media accreditation for the Pacific Islands Forum meeting after interviewing refugees held at the Nauru Regional Processing Centre.111213

In 2020, Dreaver created a two-year training programme through the Pacific Cooperation Broadcasting Ltd to support new Pacific journalists across the Pacific region. In 2022, she was appointed a member of the Establishment Board for the Aotearoa New Zealand Public Media body.14

Dreaver published her memoir Be Brave in 2026.1516

Awards and honours

In 2019, Dreaver won two awards at New Zealand's Voyager Media Awards for her coverage of the 2019 Samoa measles outbreak: Best TV/Video News Item and Best Coverage of a Major News Event.17 In November 2022, she was named Reporter of the Year at the New Zealand Television Awards.5

In the 2024 New Year Honours, Dreaver was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to investigative journalism and Pacific communities.14

References

References

  1. Stokes, Melissa (30 December 2023). "NY Honours: 1News' Barbara Dreaver honoured for Pacific storytelling". 1News. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  2. Milford, Catherine (6 October 2023). "TVNZ reporter Barbara Dreaver is a voice for Pasifika". New Zealand Woman's Weekly. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  3. "12 to work for V.S.A." The Press. Vol. 106, no. 31253. 28 December 1966. p. 12. Retrieved 31 December 2023 – via PapersPast.
  4. Bamber, Shaun (30 June 2021). "Tears, battles and making a difference – Barbara Dreaver's Pacific odyssey". Stuff. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  5. "Award-winning journalist Barbara Dreaver tells it like it is". Cook Islands News. 24 December 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  6. "Barbara Dreaver". Real Life. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  7. "NZ journalist deported from Fiji". RNZ News. 16 December 2008. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  8. "NZ reporter sent home as Fiji row escalates". Otago Daily Times. 16 December 2008. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  9. "Journalists must seek permission to go to Fiji". Stuff. 31 January 2009. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  10. "Fiji Prime Minister extends personal invitation to banned TV journo Barbara Dreaver". Stuff. 22 October 2016. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  11. "TVNZ reporter Barbara Dreaver released after being detained in Nauru". Stuff. 4 September 2018. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  12. "1 NEWS Pacific correspondent Barbara Dreaver released after being detained by police in Nauru". 1News. 4 September 2018. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  13. "New Zealand journalist reprimanded for interviewing refugee on Nauru". CNN. 4 September 2018. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  14. "New Year honours list 2024 - citations for Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 30 December 2023. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  15. Dreaver, Barbara (2026). Be Brave: The Life of a Pacific Correspondent. Awe Press. ISBN 9781927249932.
  16. Forbes, Mihingarangi (11 April 2026). "Playing Favourites with Barbara Dreaver". RNZ Saturday Morning. Retrieved 18 April 2026.
  17. Pacific Media Watch (23 May 2020). "TVNZ's Pacific correspondent Barbara Dreaver wins Voyager media awards | Asia Pacific Report". Retrieved 30 December 2023.
External links