Meet the reporters
The federal election is upon us and it’s time to get the information the youth are actually interested in. Welcome to the Reporters section where you will hear from the young people in your states reporting on the issues that matter to you. These recruits have been unleashed across Australia, armed with cameras and guided by the questions uploaded by you on the electionWIRE YouTube channel. So get involved and hear the issues you want discussed.
- Rémi is a 25 year-old photographer and culture aficionado hailing from the southern town of Hobart, Tasmania. He works in a cocktail bar to pay for his rent, coffee and frequent binges to the mainland in search of good times and second hand bargains. In his spare time, he is busy completing a Bachelor of Fine Art, majoring in photography and journalism. While some say that both are dying professions, this has not left him feeling despondent or confused, but rather with a desire to be a part of a new wave.
- Lucas de Boer, 23, has a degree in journalism, but currently works for a non-government advocacy body, trying to tell governments how to treat young people better. Previously, he’s sold toys, swept floors, taught children English, travelled through Europe and helped train shopping centre security guards. Lucas has volunteered for a range of youth-focused organisations in South Australia, and has a passion for helping young people understand and connect with Australian politics.
- Emma James was born and raised in and around Sydney. After studying politics at the University of Sydney she moved to London for a number of years and travelled extensively in Europe and the Middle East. Returning to the sunny shores of Sydney in 2008, she graduated with a Master of Media Practice from the University of Sydney and works for a number of media outlets as a political journalist.
- Zoe Knobel hopes her involvement with ElectionWIRE will encourage Australian young people to take advantage of their democratic right and responsibility to vote. As a 21 year old journalism and marketing student at the Queensland University of Technology, she joined the project to act as voice for Queensland youth and enhance her skills in news broadcasting. Over three years experience in Local Government marketing and communications has given her a strong foundation in writing and politics. Zoe intends to work in the field of television journalism upon graduating from her course next year.
- In 2010 Adam Leonard graduated from the University of Wollongong with a Bachelor of Journalism and Bachelor of Arts, majoring in media and cultural studies. Adam has a strong interest in reporting on politics, culture, and the arts, and enjoys working in front of and behind the camera. He has work experience at The Illawarra Mercury, ABC Stateline, The St George & Sutherland Shire Leader, Juiced Media Online, and the St George Migrant Resource Centre. He recently got a job as a television and film extra, and is currently filming and blogging for Sunny Abberton’s latest documentary about the recently formed National Youth Theatre Company. In October 2010 he will volunteer in Cambodia as part of the Green Gecko project. In the future he hopes to travel the world, writing and work as a full-time journalist in broadcast, as well as making documentaries, writing scripts, novels and making short films.
- Naomi Lim is a twenty (something) year old from Brisbane who is in her fifth year of a dual Bachelor of Journalism and Laws degree at the University of Queensland. Naomi has promised her mother that she will graduate . . . one day. After all, she can’t survive on packets of instant mi goreng forever. Naomi’s one great love is the written word and she has contributed to both student and professional publications since she was a wee one. Casting Michael Cera aside, her latest obsession is ElectionWIRE and keeping young people up-to-date with all the ins and outs of the federal election.
- Austin Mackell started writing professionally in 2006, covering Israel’s invasion of Lebanon after completing a semester on student exchange. Six months later, after blogging and reporting for outlets including 2ser, Triple J, the Canberra Times and news.com.au, Austin returned to Australia and took up a position with Alternative Media Group, writing for their three titles – City Hub, City News and The Bondi View. After a brief stint at the North Western Courier in Narrabri, Austin returned to freelancing for outlets in Australia and abroad, covering Iran’s 2009 presidential elections for The Diplomat, Crikey.com, CBS and Fox News. He spent from June 2009 to March 2010 freelancing from Beirut for outlets including Qantara, The Scotsman, Executive, Time Out Beirut and newmatilda.com. Since returning to Australia he has been writing for local independent outlets.
- Alex Mann is a media maker, radio broadcaster and post-graduate journalism student at RMIT. He works from the insulated comfort of Melbourne's inner-city Greens belt, a place where major parties become minor. Deep within Adam Bandt-town and accompanied by his Melbourne ElectionWIRE compadrés, Alex will be stomping the ground on both sides of the left/right divide, harassing pollies at every opportunity. With a nose for the scoop and a listener's ear, Alex has been known to go to great lengths for a story. His radio work has been broadcast on Triple J's Hack as well as SBS Radio's Alchemy where he currently works part time.
- Margaret Paul is a Melbourne-based journalist and performer, with a keen interest in presenting the news in creative and exciting ways. This year, she has written regularly for The Age, including tweeting from AFL matches (@fromtheouter) and reviewing comedy and arts. She also produced a radio show with comedian Lawrence Leung for Melbourne radio station 3RRR, and wrote and performed in The Polar Bearings - Songs in the Sea, Major? for the 2010 Melbourne International Comedy Festival. In 2009 she was part of a team that wrote and performed the daily news in the foyer of Scotland's National Gallery, as part of the Edinburgh Festival. She is currently competing the Graduate Diploma in Journalism at Melbourne's RMIT University and is about to begin work at Neos Kosmos, Melbourne's Greek newspaper.
- Joel Philp is getting better at writing in third-person thanks to Facebook. He’s back home in Adelaide after studying abroad in England; back to some of the craziest politics Australia has ever seen. It’s a good time to be studying journalism, but an even better one to be doing it. So here goes.
- Jennah Porter has a background working in fashion/editorial assistance for Australian publications and designers. Along with studying journalism and arts at The University of Queensland, Jennah was also awarded a scholarship to study creative direction at Sydney's Whitehouse Institute of Design. She hopes to bring a creative flavour to her journalism career and develop her multi-media skills through the Vibewire program. Her special interest areas include Indigenous Australians, sex-trafficking/prostitution and of course, federal politics.
- Meagan Weymes is finishing off a journalism degree at Monash University and trying to break into the media industry. Her first crack was contributing to ElectionTracker in 2007 and she has plans do an internship at The Australian later in the year. She spent a semester in 2009 studying in Paris, and the rest of the year travelling around Europe and North Africa before returning to her home town of Melbourne.
- Elise Worthington is a 21 year old Bachelor of Journalism student at the University of Queensland. Whilst Elise is due to graduate at the end of 2010, she secretly intends to delay her foray into the 'real world' by immediately enrolling in post-graduate study under the guise of furthering her education and gaining practical work experience. Elise has survived a 3 month internship at a Brisbane based PR agency during which time she enjoyed writing press releases for an array of exciting clients including an oven detailing company and a novelty computer mouse importer, before realising that she wanted to be one of the poor journalists she spent most of the day harassing. Elise has a passionate interest in Australian politics as well as international relations and hopes to be able to deliver a fresh and interesting perspective on the election in 2010.
