Postgraduate Diploma in Journalism
Political Journalist, Radio New Zealand
I am a political journalist for Radio New Zealand, working in its Press Gallery office at Parliament. My first job was as the Taupo branch office reporter for the Rotorua Daily Post
I then moved to RNZ after a year as a general reporter specialising in environmental and science stories. After a year in the newsroom I starting working in the Press Gallery, first on secondment and then on a permanent basis.
I chose Massey mostly because of the location: I like Wellington city and it's close to my family and friends. But also because I had met a lot of journalists who had done the course and recommended it, and some senior journalists whose work I admired were trained there.
I thought the programme provided an excellent grounding in news-gathering and writing. I especially valued having a former journalist with more than 20 years experience in the industry as a lecturer.
The Diploma was hugely effective in kick-starting my journalism career. I would have struggled to get to where I have so quickly without having completed the course. When I did the programme in 2004, students had to have 50 articles published by the end of the year.
In August that year I was behind where I needed to be, so I rang the Rotorua Daily Post and asked if I could spend a week in their newsroom during the semester break to boost my story count. I realised the moment I sat down in the newsroom that I knew exactly what to do, and that I had been well-trained.
At the end of that week the editor offered me a sole-charge position starting immediately after the course finished. I have the Massey University Grad Dip J to thank for that job.