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Barry Soper

Summary

Barry Soper (born 1951 or 1952)[1] is a New Zealand political journalist, and has been featured regularly on radio and television since the 1970s.

Early life edit

Soper is from Gore. In 1969, after finishing high school he attended the Royal New Zealand Police College at Trentham for six months before he withdrew from studying.[2] Soper returned to Gore, and started to work for The Southland Times.[2]

Career edit

After working at The Southland Times, Soper worked for a number of media organisations: Mataura Ensign, Otago Daily Times, New Zealand Truth, and the Waikato Times. Following this, he worked for the New Zealand Wool Board as a speech-writer.[2] Soper joined the Parliamentary Press Gallery in 1980 working for APN, before moving to Newstalk ZB, where he currently works.[2]

Soper covered both the 1987 Fijian coups d'état, and the 2000 Fijian coups d'état, securing the first international interview with George Speight.[3]

He was approached to stand for the Labour Party at the 1992 Wellington Central by-election, but rejected the offer to do so.[4]

Soper covered Nelson Mandela's inauguration in 1994.[5] In 2001, Soper was named Individual Radio Journalist of the Year at the Radio Awards.[6]

Soper himself made the news in July 2006 during the visit of Foreign Minister Winston Peters to Washington, DC, where Peters singled out Soper from a group of journalists who questioned Peters during the trip. Soper reported that Peters' own behaviour was outside what would reasonably be expected of a politician during an international visit.[7]

Previously, he was also one of the "You've Got Male" panellists on TV One's Good Morning.[citation needed]

Currently, Soper's main role is political editor at Newstalk ZB, a radio network in New Zealand. Through its agreement with Prime Television, he appears as the political editor for the TV network on its nightly broadcasts.[citation needed]

Personal life edit

Soper married journalist Heather Du Plessis-Allan in 2009.[1] In October 2021 Du Plessis-Allan announced she was pregnant.[8] The baby boy was born on 26 February 2022.[9]

Soper has five children from his two previous marriages.[5][10] His daughter Alice Soper is a rugby player, television analyst, and kids' television show host.[11][12][13] On 28 July 2017, Soper's son Henry was stabbed during an argument at a bar in Courtenay Place.[14] Months later, his younger son Hugh was severely injured after falling down a steep bank on a walking track near Karori.[15] In 2021, Hugh was convicted of assault for a 2019 attack on two Wellington bar owners.[16]

In 2010, Soper was fined and disqualified from driving for six months for drink-driving.[3]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Media wedding off to a shaky start". NZ Herald. 11 October 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d Romanos, Joseph (9 November 2011). "A press gallery institution". Stuff. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Political editor silent on drink-drive case". Stuff. 24 July 2010. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  4. ^ "Soper rejects by-election bid". The Evening Post. 19 October 1992. p. 1.
  5. ^ a b de Lore, Clare (17 January 2017). "Barry Soper and Heather du Plessis-Allan on kids and critics". Now To Love. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  6. ^ "2001 Radio Awards Finalists". RadioStationWorld. Archived from the original on 10 December 2007. Retrieved 13 December 2007.
  7. ^ Houlahan, Mike (20 July 2006). "US senator caught in Peters' media war". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 13 December 2007.
  8. ^ "Newstalk ZB's Heather Du Plessis-Allan announces she is expecting her first child, with husband Barry Soper". NZ Herald. 12 October 2021. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  9. ^ "Newstalk ZB welcomes a new face, congratulations Heather and Barry". Newstalk ZB. 26 February 2022.
  10. ^ Hewitson, Michele (19 July 2002). "All the best stories at Barry Soper's place". NZ Herald. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  11. ^ "Alice Soper | New Zealand Rugby History". www.rugbyhistory.co.nz. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  12. ^ Stanley, Ashley (19 May 2020). "The unshakable voice of Alice Soper". Newsroom. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  13. ^ "Extreme Cake Sports". Good Times Company. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  14. ^ Nightingale, Melissa (7 July 2018). "Mystery around why man stabbed broadcaster Barry Soper's son". NZ Herald. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  15. ^ Lawrence, Meghan (26 October 2017). "Police say broadcaster Barry Soper's second son 'fell down bank', was not attacked". NZ Herald.
  16. ^ "Unprovoked attack leaves Wellington bar owners with permanent injuries". Stuff. 26 November 2021. Retrieved 26 November 2021.