[2][3] He was educated at Southland Boys' High School, followed by the University of Otago and then a Rhodes scholarship to Oriel College, Oxford, from 1932 to 1935.
He covered the Spanish Civil War from Madrid, then went to Vienna and Paris for the Daily Express in which he broke the news in 1939 that British troops had arrived in France.
He was critical of the Soviet attack on Finland but foresaw that the Red Army would defeat the Germans.
He enlisted in the New Zealand Army, serving in Crete and North Africa as an Intelligence Officer on Freyberg's staff, then was First Secretary at the new New Zealand Embassy in Washington (when Walter Nash was Minister to the United States) before serving in Italy.
In 1977 Cox joined Yorkshire Television (YTV) as Ward Thomas' Deputy Chairman.