NEWS FROM GRAMMAR 2015

Pathways to journalism
Former Grammar students and now ABC journalists,
George Roberts (1998) and Lucy Barbour (2003) share their journeys.
George Roberts
I think I'm lucky enough to
have one of the best jobs.
Being a journalist allows
you to meet presidents,
celebrities, to question
prime ministers, and
witness first-hand major
news events. On the
downside you also witness
grief, devastation and
disaster but there's never a
dull moment. It has given
me experiences I'll never
forget.
Last year, I was working long hours on the Indonesian Presidential
inauguration and was growing tired. That night, still working, I
thought, "Gee I wish I was in bed," and then I realised, "Hang on,
you're at the Presidential Palace, with the President, on his first night
as leader of the world's fourth largest country. This is cool!"
So how did it happen? Well, becoming a foreign correspondent was
a combination of luck, hard work and carefully following the advice
of some great mentors. It took me a while to realise it's what I really
wanted to do with my life.
When I was at school I wanted to be a journalist but didn't really
think, “a boy from Launceston" could crack the media game, so I
enrolled in Arts and Law instead,
After flunking some subjects and dropping out of Law (from a
combination of immaturity and disinterest) I had a "quarter life crisis"
and went into sales, marketing and business development, while
still studying marketing and journalism. In my final semester at the
University of Tasmania I was allowed into a course that had limited
places available: Radio Journalism. I loved it. The course was great
because it was hands on. I was hooked.
George with villagers in Rawagede Java
At the end of the course a job came up with triple j, doing short arts
pieces. The uni was asked to recommend a few students who might
be suitable. Somehow I was lucky enough to get it. It paid $100 a
fortnight for one story.
To get into journalism most people have to do volunteer or unpaid
work so you can build a "show reel" or "portfolio". So I did a segment
on Edge radio on the art scene in Hobart and got work experience at
WIN TV. On day two at WIN I did a "package", or story, for that night's
news.
"Well, we'll have to start paying you if you're getting stories on the
news," I was told. I couldn't believe my luck.
After about three months of casual weekend work I was offered one
month of full time work at the ABC. I knew this was worth the risk,
so took it. One month turned into three, to seven, to ten. I knew
I needed to get to the Sydney newsroom to be noticed. I applied
for triple j news, because the position was based in the Sydney
newsroom, right next to the national ABC editors. Once in Sydney I
was able to pitch radio current affairs stories and eventually get some
TV stories. The rest, they say is history.
I went on to be Western Sydney reporter and then a political reporter
in Canberra, before being offered a six week fill in posting in Jakarta
in 2011.
It was a baptism of fire. About three asylum seeker boats sank during
that time, one left 215 people dead. It was also when the "Bali Boy",
an Australian teenager was on trial for buying marijuana.
It was busy but fun and I loved working in Indonesia, so when the
job came up six month later I went for it. For nearly three years I've
enjoyed the challenge of running an international bureau with more
than ten staff, learning a new language and culture and working from
the field.
One of my friends who works for a major newspaper says he's never
seen journalists work as hard as ABC reporters do now.
George with Ban Ki Moon
page 6