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.

He was active in many sports, participating in cycling, golf, running and rowing; he also represented Otago in rugby union.

[1] While on assignment for the ODT covering a search for a missing climber, Ross discovered a mountain pass between Lake Manapouri and the Fiordland Sounds.

He left his fulltime role at the ODT in 1889 to join the Union Steam Ship Company, becoming secretary to its chairman, James Mills.

His accounts of expeditions in the mountains were published in the press, bringing attention to the sport and helping popularise climbing in New Zealand.

[1] In 1891, Ross helped establish the New Zealand Alpine Club, serving as its founding vice-president and was also a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.

[4] In 1897, Ross resumed his career as a journalist when he moved his family, which now included a son, to Wellington, to report on parliamentary matters for the ODT.

[1] In 1899, he spent three months in Samoa, covering the clashes for the leadership of the colony that followed the death of Malietoa Laupepa, the incumbent chief at the time.

[4] Through his work, he became well acquainted with leading politicians, including William Massey, who shared a house with Ross and his wife for a time.

When Ignacy Jan Paderewski, a noted Polish pianist, toured New Zealand in 1903, Ross acted as his agent.

For newspapers in New Zealand to send an independent journalist to provide coverage of the activities of the country's military forces was extremely expensive so they supported the initiative.

By this time, he was able to utilise cable for dispatching his reports to New Zealand, although he had difficulty adapting his verbose style of writing to the more concise format called for by this method.

Among his first reports from the Western Front was commentary on the opening day of the Battle of the Somme; like that of many other correspondents, it was set in a positive tone and glossed over the heavy British casualties.

Massey defended Ross when his role, and particularly his salary, was questioned in parliament and the Press Association unsuccessfully sought his recall in February 1917.

[1] As part of his role as a war correspondent, Ross had been tasked with collecting material to be used in the production of a Government-sanctioned post-war official history of the conflict.

[3][14] After returning to New Zealand in September 1919, Ross resumed his work for the ODT as a correspondent in the parliamentary press gallery.