2 Mar 2017 On 1st March the National winners for the New Zealand 2016 YRE competition were invited to the New Zealand Media and Entertainment (NZME) newsroom for a day internship, sponsored by The New Zealand Herald. This amazing experience formed part of the prize package for the YRE first place category winners Joanna Tao, Ana Hoonhout, Eamon Walsh, David Harrison and Joshua Richardson. Our other YRE winner, Sabine Lapointe was unfortunately unable to attend on the day. The day kicked off with a meet and greet session and tour of the NZME newsroom, television and radio studios. The Young Reporters were then given the opportunity to shadow journalists, photographers and film crews out in the field. This involved accompanying reporters to various locations throughout the Auckland area to cover stories and attend a number of ‘breaking news’ press conferences. These sessions gave the Young Reporters a ‘behind the scenes’ view of journalism which few young people have the chance to experience. Throughout the day the Young Reporters also had a number of personalised sessions with NZME journalists specialising in a variety of areas including environmental, political, sports and social media. These informal sessions enabled the Young Reporters to not only ask questions about specific job tasks, but also to hear the personal stories of the staff and their inspiration for pursuing a career in journalism. After an action packed morning and delicious pizza lunch, the Young Reporters were invited to attend the daily afternoon newsroom briefing where heads of all media departments came together to discuss the breaking news stories of the day. The Young Reporters agreed that a major highlight of the day was having the exciting opportunity to assist with publishing their own winning entries live to the online news website. The New Zealand Herald organised an enjoyable, informative and action-packed day which was evident in the high engagement of the students throughout all the sessions. We are sure that this experience will inspire our Young Reporters to continue with their passion for environmental journalism. Share this page
