A journalist from Tauranga is being held by Egyptian authorities in the latest in what is being described as a 'growing hostility towards reporters”.

Wayne Hay, a former TVNZ journalist who attended Tauranga Boys' College, is one of a three-man team from news outlet Al Jazeera being detained.

Wayne Hay has been detained by Egpytian authorities. Photo: Facebook.

Al Jazeera reports Wayne, along with cameraman Adil Bradlow, and producer Russ Finn were arrested on Tuesday while covering events in Cairo.

The arrests follow the recent detainment of two other Al Jazeera staff in the last month.

Wayne is married to Nikki Hay, from Hamilton, and according to their Facebook pages the pair are currently living in Bangkok, Thailand.

He attended Tauranga Boys' College from 1986 to 1990.

In June, Hay posted on his Facebook page that he was finishing with Al Jazeera in two months and he would most likely be heading home, possibly to Tauranga.

His last post on Facebook was on August 23 saying 'all quiet in Egypt following the ‘Friday of Martyrs' Curfew has begun”.

The arrests are part of what Reporters Without Borders calls 'growing hostility” towards journalists in Egypt.

There has also been a campaign against Al Jazeera in particular, as the channel's offices were raided last month and security forces seized equipment, which has yet to be returned the international news agency says.

Al Jazeera calls for the Egyptian authorities to release all our staff unconditionally along with their belongings and equipment.