The financial phoenix

In the last week New Zealand's television news reporters have been under a lot of pressure. We were all privy to just how much pressure a certain Wendy Petrie was under when she celebrated a seamless live cross (very rare for her) with a celebratory on-air fist pump before the Bain verdicts.

There were many uneasy live crosses from Christchurch's High Court. The anxiety even spread to the people behind the camera. The courtroom camerawork for the moment the Bain verdicts were delivered was ridiculous.

With an entire nation watching for the most important moment in New Zealand's judicial history, we were given a nice shot of the court's carpet before an out-of-focus pan up to a terribly framed Joe Karam spilling his water.

It pains me so much to think that there is not a single camera shot in existence of David Bain's own reaction at the moment the first verdict was read.

But this is not a negative rant on the failings of certain TV news staff members during Baingate. Oh no. This is a piece dedicated to praising the coming of age of a 3 News institution. A segment that I have watched grow from a gangly, clumsy, awkward teenager into the articulate, charming and concise segment it has now become. I am talking about the ASB Securities financial update.

If there was an award for ‘Most Improved Part of a News Hour' at this year's Qantas Media Awards, it would be a shoe-in.

For years the ASB update was a goldmine for live TV meltdowns. Every night the nation would cringe as a panicky economist would stutter and stumble their way through a report on the status of the financial markets. The live crosses were so consistently awkward, it got to the point where I was certain this segment would be withdrawn from the 3 News line-up.

I'm not being mean about the ASB staff members, after all, they were economists, not news presenters. And I give them the utmost kudos for actually understanding the financial world; I go cross-eyed if I think for too long about how official cash rates work. It just seemed cruel of the news producers to put these suited money-nerds in front of the camera on live prime-time television.

But perseverance with these financial updates has paid dividends for 3 News.

Last night I watched as ASB Securities expert Andrew Kelleher delivered a live cross Wendy Petrie could only ever dream of. He was confident and engaging. He used analogy. He smiled (sure, he had gapped teeth, but hey). And most impressively, not a single ‘umm' or ‘uhh' escaped his lips. Mr Kelleher even finished his report with an upward-inflected "Mike", as if he wanted Mike McRoberts to keep asking him about Bonus Bonds and West Texas Crude. It was presenter perfection.

Part of me will miss the days where on-air fist pumps were a weekly occurrence during these financial reports. I will also miss the gleam of dripping sweat upon the brow of an economist mid-panic attack.

However, the ASB securities update has begun a new era. Well played, Andrew Kelleher. To put it in language you are familiar with; "your stock is rising."