This fearless journo was one of the founding members of the ABC’s iconic program Foreign correspondent.
Since then Dominique Schwartz has been shot at in the Middle East, and reported from the scenes of devastating mine collapses and attempted rescues in New Zealand and Chile, in just a few examples of the amazing journalism assignments she has worked on around the world.
“My career has been very organic and life just takes its turns and you roll with whatever opportunities present themselves,” she says.
For those wanting to emulate her career and work overseas as a journalist, she says to start small and build up a portfolio.
“You might be lucky enough to be sent overseas, that’s great, but for a lot of people it’s about travelling and picking up stories—maybe it’s in your holidays you pick up stories and then you come back and you file them,” she says.
“But really I think if it’s not happening for you and you really want to do it, just go, because there’s so many stories out there. And there’s so many different platforms that you can get, you might not be paid particularly well so you do have to take your savings and live on them, but you do have to create your own luck a bit as well."
Dominique now calls Brisbane home, when she’s not travelling from one end of Australia to the other, pitching her swag in some tiny towns as the ABC’s National Rural and Regional Current Affairs correspondent.
She tells me on The Journo Project podcast how she still has the fire in her belly to tell the stories from places less travelled.
“I think I was always interested in travelling—from the moment I started earning money I was saving to go travelling,” she says.
“The bottom line is you need to be curious, you need to be able to ask questions, and the simplest of questions, and the most obvious questions often lead to surprising answers or surprising lines of inquiry.
“And you need to listen. That’s actually one of the things I think we have to really remember in this fast-paced era of journalism where there are so many demands on our time.
“There’s a real danger that you can go out and ask just this, this, and this, but you might be missing a far better story if you’re not open to it.”
Her desire to become a journo started as a child, and has not waned since she was accepted as one of the few school leavers ever to be awarded a coveted ABC cadetship.
“Probably from around about seven I wanted to be a journalist,” she says.
“I always liked writing, and I was always interested in stories and just finding out about people.
“I used to write letters to the local paper, I wrote into essay competitions and I did journalism workshops in my holidays.
“I still think just get out there, do whatever you can whether it’s doing something in a voluntary capacity at a radio station…it’s only going to help you in the long run.”
Her experiences reporting from challenging regimes around the world has informed her concern about recent developments threatening press freedom in Australia.
“It is very important that we fight for whistleblower protection and also protection for the press,” she says.
“In the US and the UK that’s enshrined—it’s not in Australia. And it’s all right to say oh yeah we appreciate it, well ok you appreciate it, let’s enshrine that in law.
“Why are we journalists? We are journalists because we want to make sure that our democracy works well. We want to make sure that those are treated unjustly have a voice. We want to make sure that those in positions of power are conducting themselves in a way that befits their position.
“It’s not about journalism, it’s about democracy, and its about you Australians living in a place where you can say what you want, that the machinery of government is working well, that corporations are being responsible, that unions are being responsible and not corrupt.
“If journalists aren’t asking the questions who are?”
Beyond the pod
It’s been another big week for The Wandering Journo! This week I was one of the amazing Kelly Higgins-Devine’s guests on her “What Do You Reckon” panel on ABC Brisbane. And I was a panellist with Christopher Wayne—a very Batman name but actually one of the naked magicians who has just come back from a season in no less than LAS VEGAS. I mean truly how fantastic is that. So after he spoke about how amazing his life is I got to talk about, well, my excitement about hopper ants and getting my first magazine cover story. That’s ok—I’m still proud!
You can hear the conversation with Christopher here:
Or if you’re in a more bookish mood, you might want to snuggle up with a blankie for a few minutes and listen to me read part of A.A. Milne’s stunning book House at Pooh Corner. Kelly Higgins-Devine got us to pick our favourite book passage for Australian Reading Hour which was celebrated last week. I won’t ruin the meaning this book has for me by telling you here, in the hope it encourages you to take a minute to listen to it instead. Some books are for reading in your head, some are for reading aloud. This is one of those. And it’s NOT just a kids book. House at Poor Corner has wandered with me for most of my life, from a dusty antiquarian bookshop in Brisbane all around Australia on my various postings, and back to Brisbane again.
So get your cuppa, and sit and listen to a bit of timeless nostalgia while I read about Winnie the Pooh and Christopher Robin here. I think this is where I first got the idea that wandering is indeed a very useful way to spend your time.
What I’m reading
For the absolutely comprehensive rundown on who’s going to make it to the top of the mountain that is the Rugby World Cup, you can’t beat this article from the New York Times. It drills down right to who the most influential players and teams are from each pool—and the way the results have played out so far it’s pretty much right on the money. This writer clearly loves his rugby!
The Rugby World Cup, which opens Friday in Tokyo, is likely to be about which of the 19 other teams has the right stuff to knock the two-time defending champion New Zealand All Blacks off their throne.
A Look at the Teams in the Rugby World Cup —NY Times
And this article took me right back to my cadetship days at Quest Newspapers’ The Wynnum Herald, my time at the ABC Port Augusta outpost, and to Broken Hill ABC where I was presenter and producer of the morning show for six months. It also echoes a beautiful sentiment in Dominique’s podcast where she speaks so eloquently about the importance of the local journo! I realise now the incredible responsibility I had in those smaller places where the voices of journalists are few—unlike when you’re the big national reporter competing against so many other voices and outlets. So hooray for the local reporter on the front line of democracy!
Of all the jobs I’ve had as a journalist, the one that now looms as the most important—the one where, I have come to believe, I had the most impact—was the four years I spent as a general assignment reporter for my hometown paper.
Back to the homefront —Trust, Media & Democracy
And now for the ICYMI file and the keep-your-Tuesday-night-this-week-free file too, here’s a link to the recent Lisa Millar episode of The Journo Project (or listen on Whooshkaa).
You can listen to it before you tune in to her special Foreign Correspondent Report this Tuesday night at 8pm. (Watch the trailer, available now.)
Upcoming
Next Monday’s podcast of Streets of Your Town—The Journo Project sent straight to your inbox, features the amazing journo and Paralympian Karni Liddell.
And proving yet again that The Journo Project is ahead of the curve, you can listen to Karni next Monday straight from your inbox, and then go and see her amazing speaking skills live at an October 10 event! I first saw Karni speak at last year’s Women in Media conference and was BLOWN AWAY by her passion and storytelling ability.
SCREEN QUEENSLAND R.I.D.E SHOWCASE AT BIFF
Running as part of the BIFF program, featuring Karni Liddell as a keynote, the day will feature a number of thought-provoking and informative panel discussions with special guests from across the industry.
Showcasing local and national screen success stories, the event aims to inspire new and emerging practitioners – helping them to develop their careers and chart pathways that encourage greater diversity in the screen sector.
Karni Liddell is a former world record holder, Paralympic swimmer, speaker, TV presenter, Mother and clinical social worker. Karni was born with a neuro-muscular wasting disease and her parents were told that their first-born child wouldn’t walk, crawl or live past her teenage years.
Karni broke her first World Record at the age of 14 and she went on to win medals at every Paralympics she competed at and she regards being captain of the Number 1 team at the Sydney 2000 Games as her greatest sporting achievement.
An internationally-acclaimed and sought-after keynote speaker, Karni’s TED speech has been watched by thousands of people around the world and was the only TED speaker on the day to receive a standing ovation.
Merch!
Another happy keep cup owner this week is David Harris, past science journalist but now artist and designer here in Brisbane, enjoying a cuppa on a perfect Spring morning.
Are you loving The Journo Project podcasts? Then become a paid subscriber and you too can get a limited edition keep cup to give an extra kick to your cup of Joe in the morning on your way to work.
Thanks to you all, my Wandering Journo tribe!
See you in a week!
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