Surrounded by journalists in the G20 Media Centre at the height of the leaders’ summit, third-year journalism student Audrey Courty was in her element.
“It was exciting to be working alongside thousands of professional journalists from all over the world,’’ the aspiring foreign correspondent recalled.
Audrey was one of five G20 media-accredited Griffith University journalism students who were able to broadcast live from the International Media Centre mingling with international and local journalists.
“Itwas thrilling to be in the media scrum at press conferences competing for that little bit of audio.
“I feel very lucky to have been selected for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,’’ she said.
Griffith Journalism Media Centre manager Faith Valencia said she was proud of the journalism students’ work during the G20.
“Our newsroom covered many stories ranging from hard news such as security and the political situation, through to more human interest ones such as what locals thought of theevent and even plane spotting.”
As well as the five G20 media-accredited students, another25 Griffith journalism students and five photojournalism students undertook shifts at the Griffith Media Centre at South Bank.
Students produced and published across all facets of a multi-platform news room as part of the project.
“Theyfilmed and edited video news, wrote and produced audio packages for radio, and published print articles gaining valuable experience of what it’s actuallylike working in “modern journalism”.
“Working closely with Industry partners, students had stories and interviews broadcast on 4BC,and stories published in Brisbane Times in the lead up to and including the Summit.”
The student journalists also harnessed the power of social media, tweeting their stories as well as using Facebook and engaging in online conversations,aftertheir stories were published onThe Source News.
Obama visit
Audrey was one of 200 Griffith students who attended US President Obama’s speech.
“Obviously, I was very excited to listen to Obama in person and the atmosphere in the room was electric.
“What really stuck with me though was just how fast the other journalists were working. Some of them were filing three stories in the time it took me to write one!”
Jakarta calling
Already a well-travelled citizen of the world French-born Audrey has lived in Turkey, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Canada and mainland China.
“But nowhere has felt like home until I came to Brisbane,’’ she says.
Audrey will return to Jakarta, where she lived for eight years while completing her schooling, this month to undertake an internship at Tempo Magazine.
“I’m really excited. This will give me an opportunity to flex my investigative journalism skills as the magazine focuses on politics and in-depth features.”
She also hopes to gain more broadcast experience while in Jakarta.
“In Brisbane I’ve interned at SBS in Sydney and Channel 10, as well as the Griffith newsroom, but I’d really love to get a job with SBS or another international news and documentary station when I finish university.”