BayBuzz - Be in the know

Tom Belford…
Tom lives with his wife and daughter on a lifestyle block along the Tukituki. In the States, he worked chiefly in Washington in politics and public advocacy. He served in the Carter White house and worked for Ted Turner in his pre-billionaire days. His professional focus is marketing and media and he writes a blog for political/non-profit fundraisers & communicators called The Agitator.net.

Kathy Webb …
Kathy has been a Hawke’s Bay journalist for 25 years. She was the first female chief reporter at the former Hawke’s Bay Herald-Tribune, and inaugural chief reporter at Hawke’s Bay Today, moving later to the Dominion Post and now freelancing. Hastings has been home for 40 years. With children grown, husband Brendan and Kathy spend spare time trying to tame a wild block of land at Tangoio.

Keith Newman
Keith is a journeyman journo with nearly40-years’ experience across mainstream and trade media. He and his wife Paula Novak moved from the bush in Titirangi to the beach at Haumoana in 2009. He’s won awards for writing about hi-tech, produces Musical Chairs programmes for Radio NZ and has had four books published, one on the internet in New Zealand and three on NZ history.

Mark Sweet

Napier-born, Mark worked overseas in Hong Kong and Scotland, but returned to Hawke’s Bay, launching Pacifica restaurant. Selected for the Mãori Literature Trust’s Te Papa Tupu programme where he was mentored in refining his just-released novel, Zhu Mao. He’s published Portrait & Opinion with Richard Brimmer.

Our mission

Rattling cages, having fun, bringing more accountability to public affairs, offering a different voice to Hawke’s Bay, providing a forum for the citizens of HB to sound off and envision the future. We hope to cross-pollinate ideas and information about life in HB… create a buzz and occasionally sting.