Malcolm Ross

Malcolm Ross was a New Zealand journalist, mountain climber, and a war correspondent during the First World War. Born in Otago, he was employed by the Otago Daily Times from 1882 until 1889, when he began working for the Union Steam Ship Company. He resumed his career as a fulltime journalist in 1897, relocating to Wellington to report on parliamentary matters. Following the outbreak of the First World War, he went to German Samoa to cover its seizure by the New Zealand Military Forces. He was selected as the official war correspondent for New Zealand, reporting on the exploits of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force at Gallipoli and in Europe. His dispatches were criticised for their boring style and lack of timeliness although the latter was mainly as a consequence of constraints placed on him by the New Zealand Government. After the war he resumed his career as a member of the press gallery covering parliament until his retirement in 1926.