Journo Project recap 1: Trent Dalton, Peter Greste, Adele Ferguson
Can you believe it my beautiful Wandering Journo tribe? We have made it to 15 episodes of The Journo Project! YIKES!
I know I can’t. I’ve barely drawn breath while editing together the incredible crew of magnificent brave and fearless journos who have changed history in Australia. And it’s because of you my faithful subscribers, that I was able to interview each and every one.
But as I mentioned at the bottom of last week’s newsletter, it’s now time for a short sabbatical, a bit of a breather so I can organise the next 15 episodes!
I’ve had amazing feedback from you all, absolutely amazed at the breadth and variety of journos that I have been able to find from all over Australia. In a couple of weeks I go to Perth, thanks again to you my paying subscribers, to interview some more legendary journos from out west so that we really get the proper breadth of the journo talent in this wide brown land.
Another bit of feedback I’ve had from you, is that “Hey Nance, I didn’t know you interviewed (insert amazing journo here)!!!”
So for the next couple of weeks, we are going to go over the best of the podcast, so that you don’t miss a beat of this Journo Project that’s grown from the ground up, to celebrate media freedom and the importance of the press to keeping those in power to account. Hooray!
Trent Dalton
First, we’re going back to one of my favourite episodes, Trent Dalton. WHAT A LEGEND.
He’s the kid from Brisbane’s tough outlying northern suburbs who went on to win two Walkley Awards for his powerful feature writing.
Now Trent Dalton adds screenwriter and international bestselling author to his credits.
His first novel and international smash book Boy Swallows Universe recently cleaned up the Australian Book Industry Awards, where all four major prizes were won by the same author for the first time in its history.
But as you can hear him explain in this episode of Streets of Your Town—The Journo Project, he credits all of his success to his grounding as a reporter, considering himself a journalist first, and author second.
“I wanted to show readers why a kid would want to become a journo,” Trent says.
Trent has a profound respect for journalism, telling me on The Journo Project podcast, that reporting was the apprenticeship he needed to write Boy Swallows Universe. He wants others in society to better understand the importance of the media to society.
“It’s that terrifying notion, that Orwellian notion that gets back to those fundamental reasons why Steinbeck wrote and why Orwell wrote, is they were going for truth. And these raids stand at the heart of truth,” he says.
“I’m talking big picture, philosophical, what is at the heart of this? It is, there is a truth that they are trying to get at, and we are trying to get out. And they’re trying to hide it, and we are trying to get at it.”
Listen again: Trent Dalton, from journo to author
Peter Greste
And how about Peter Greste? I think I’m still shaking realising that I was able to interview the man who has done so much for the cause of media freedom around the world, and who spent 400 days in an Egyptian prison to do it.
He was outraged about recent raids by the Australian Federal Police on journalists, which he told me on this episode of The Journo Project podcast are raising questions about whether the separation of state, police and judiciary is under threat in Australia.
In June, the Australian Federal police raids on News Corp reporter Annika Smethurst and ABC journalists Dan Oakes and Sam Clark triggered a major debate over press freedom.
“Clearly Australia is not Egypt, and not about to become Egypt anytime soon, but, and there is a but here, if you think about what happened to us in the abstract, where the government used national security legislation and framed it so loosely that it could be interpreted in a way that criminalised what would normally have been considered as legitimate journalism, then we’re seeing actually the same kinds of trends taking place here in Australia,” Peter tells me on The Journo Project podcast.
“Ever since 9/11, Australia has passed more than 70 pieces of national security legislation, more than any other country on earth, and a lot of those are so loosely drawn that they criminalise legitimate journalism.
“This is not an abstract idea. So even though Australia and Egypt are two very different places, the political trends, the political imperatives which are driving and increasing security stays, and in the process, limiting press freedom, limiting journalistic freedom, limiting freedom of speech and civil liberties, are the same, the same imperatives are there. So understanding that has actually made me feel quite concerned.”
And in this era of digital media disruption that seems to have everyone concerned, Peter Greste had some encouraging words to say, that I have held as a bit of a mantra in my heart ever since!
As he optimistically says, despite the difficulties and newsroom cutbacks, there is hope for the future of journalism.
“If we prioritise only those stories which are popular, then we’ll only end up with the McDonald’s of news. Now we all know that if all we consume is McDonald’s, we’ll end up with diabetes. So you’ve got to eat your greens, you got to have your spinach, you got to have some salads and some broccoli from time to time,” he says.
“It’s okay for some McDonald’s from time to time, that’s great. We all love it, we all need it, there’s nothing wrong with it. But you’ve also got to have a balanced diet. The same goes for our news.
“That’s what we need to argue for. We need to recognise the importance of news as a public good.
“We need to understand and remember why it matters to our democracy.
“It’s easy for us to get a bit depressed and grim about it all. But I also think it’s worth reminding ourselves of something really fundamental, that from the moment that humans have had the capacity to speak, we’ve had storytellers, we’ve had people, whether they’re bards or wandering minstrels or storytellers or journalists.
“We’ve always needed people to go out to gather stories of the world around us, to help us understand and make sense of the world, to keep us up-to-date with what’s taking place around our own little social sphere, and we will always need them.”
So there you go—bards and storytellers unite—let’s go Wandering Journo tribe!
Listen again: Peter Greste fighting for media freedom in Australia after his experience in jail in Egypt
Adele Ferguson
And finally in this Journo Project recap, our fearless intrepid journo legend and eight time Walkley Award winner Adele Ferguson.
She has the reputation as a journalist who goes where many fear to tread, even to the extent of writing the unauthorised biography of Gina Rinehart, the richest woman in Australia.
Adele Ferguson is a multi-award-winning business writer whose investigations into the banking sector, franchising and the retirement living industries have sparked numerous inquiries.
She paid credit to the whistleblowers who have played such a crucial part in her investigations, saying the awards are as much theirs as hers.
“Oh, absolutely,” Adele says. “Without them, none of these stories into the banking system, franchising, wage fraud or retirement villages, would ever have come about without brave whistle-blowers.”
She says Australia should celebrate its whistleblowers rather than condemn them, as they play such a vital role in society.
“You know the laws do not protect whistleblowers. It's just shocking. In America, they have a whistleblower day. They get rewards,” she says.
“Here, they're seen as snitches and troublemakers and they're punished.”
Adele is also concerned about the wider ramifications of the recent raids on Australian media outlets at the ABC and News Ltd.
“It's chilling, you know, two weeks after the federal election you have, in consecutive days, two different media organisations getting raided,” she says.
“It's frightening because it just has a chilling effect on whistleblowers speaking up, you know, and the impact on the journalists and the organisation, it's just horrendous.
“Don't give up. Don't fall for spin. Always try and cut through.”
Listen again: Adele Ferguson on whistleblowers
What I’m reading
This story blew me away. Linda Burney has masterfully encapsulated all the arguments for why our Constitution needs to change to better recognise our Indigenous peoples.
“Dr Yates told Fact Check the original mention of Indigenous people in [the Australian Constitution] was only to exclude them from it.”
Linda Burney says Australia is the only first world nation with a colonial history that doesn't recognise its first people in its constitution. Is she correct? —ABC News Fact Check
This story from my beloved New York Times shows how beautiful writing can be regardless of length. These 100 word stories of love are just divine.
“In that operating room, I learned that my husband’s heart is larger than all of my guilt and shame. In his eyes, I am a human, worthy of forgiveness and compassion.”
Tiny Love Stories: ‘She Is Not a Mistake’ —New York Times
And finally while I sit here at Noosa I dream of my next holiday—and hopefully getting to the beautiful Margaret River! The New York Times has shown the world why this remote region is becoming one of the must sees of Australia.
“The late afternoon sunlight in Western Australia’s Margaret River region is deeply golden, casting its buttery hue across vineyards and filtering through the forests of giant karri trees.”
With Beaches, Wine and Buzz, Is This Australia’s Next Hot Place? —New York Times
But if you want to hear from the people who live in Margaret River and nurture the soil and surf its beaches, you’re much better off going to this amazing podcast “Wine Unearthed” from my fellow ABC graduate, Fleur Bainger.
“Is it a smell, a taste or just a feeling? Get to know Margaret River’s arresting natural environment through an Aboriginal cultural custodian who explains human’s sense of connection to the land (and gives a leaf-blowing demo). Also, learn what drives a biodynamic winemaker to nurture soil, and a hiking guide walks us along an ancient mountain ridge.”
Upcoming
So I will be on a Wandering Journo creative hiatus for the next two weeks, deep in organising mode for the next chapters of this series of the Journo Project podcast. Thanks to so many of you who have validated my work so much by becoming paid subscribers. This support has paid for me to travel to Perth in a few weeks to interview some bloody great journos from the West who largely go unheralded. Hooray that you my crowd funders have enabled this little poddie to become such a success, enabling me to travel around Australia to celebrate great journos and great journalism that holds those in power to account. I truly can’t thank you enough.
And to celebrate, here’s a photo of me at Noosa where I have been seconded for a few days. At the beautiful Choongurra cottage overlooking the Noosa River, there is no happier place to be writing this email to you—and eating my legendary veggie lasagna. You can see it there buried under the mound of spinach and Avo—YUMBO SCRUMBO.
Please—if you could all do me a favour—share this email with a few of your mates who haven’t got onto The Journo Project podcast yet, and they’ll get three episodes in one go to get them started and hopefully subscribe too!
Thanks to you all, my Wandering Journo tribe!
See you soon!