US journalist killed by car

VICTIM: Deborah Howell was described as an "exceptionally tough'' journalist.

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'Pioneering' US journalist dies in NZ

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A "ferocious and pioneering" American journalist has been killed after being hit by a car near Blenheim while trying to take a photo.

Deborah Howell, 68, who helped lead two newspapers to three Pulitzer prizes, was struck at 12.10pm on Saturday.

Ms Howell was on holiday with her husband. She stepped out of her car to take a photograph when she was hit by an oncoming vehicle.

Her husband, Claude Peter Magrath, a former university professor, said he believed she was not used to cars driving on the left, and had looked the wrong way. She was taken to hospital with serious injuries but died later.

She was one of 11 people to have been killed on the roads over the official holiday period. Last year's holiday road toll was 25. The official holiday period began at 4pm on December 24 and ends at 6am tomorrow.

Police are urging drivers to take particular care today, with bad weather forecast for much of the country and the roads likely to be full of returning holidaymakers.

Mrs Howell was one of the first women to head a major American newspaper when she became editor of the St Paul Pioneer Press in Minnesota. The paper won two Pulitzer prizes under her guidance. The Washington Post appointed her its ombudsman – a job in which she pushed for the interests of readers – in 2005. She held the role until late 2008.

On The Washington Post's website, present ombudsman Andrew Alexander described Ms Howell's journalism as "close to perfection". "Deborah took great pride in learning things first and getting them right."

She was also exceptionally tough, he said. "Some journalists swear like sailors; she swore like the fleet."

David Carr of The New York Times said she was "a ferocious, pioneering editor who left her mark wherever she landed".

Two people died yesterday when the vehicle they were in crashed off the road at Opononi, in Northland, just before 6am.

Also at the weekend, the driver of a five-tonne truck blew a breath alcohol reading of 1631 micrograms per litre of breath – more than four times the legal limit of 400mcg – when stopped by police because he was weaving over the road.

A member of the public saw the truck being driven erratically on the northern motorway near Auckland on Saturday night and called police.

The truck was impounded and the man charged with drink-driving and driving while disqualified.

- © Fairfax NZ News