January 24, 2014

Reuters correspondent to give free public lecture

Reuters correspondent JJ Robinson will visit UOW to give a free public lecture on Thursday 6 February.

From appearing on the BBC, ABC Australia and Al Jazeera, to reporting on crooked elections, riots, religious oppression, floggings, grand corruption of the judiciary and at least one coup d'état not involving a ballot box, Mr Robinson will give guests an insight into the life of a foreign correspondent. 

After working as a journalist in London, Mr Robinson set out for the Maldives in 2009.  

“I flew to the Maldives with the basically just shirt on my back to help train local journalists and develop local independent media in one of the world's newest and rockiest democracies," he said.  

Mr Robinson is now the Reuters correspondent for the Maldives, where he is also Editor-in-Chief of Minivan News, the only independent news website in the Maldives. 

Event organiser, Dr Robert Carr, said the lecture offers a unique opportunity for the community, media students and aspiring journalists to hear about building a career working outside traditional media. 

UOW PhD student Travis Holland, author of the independent media Highland Votes, will also be discussing his research on the implications of social media for local government in the Illawarra. And regular Illawarra News writer, Dr Ray Robinson, will open with a discussion on the implications of a democratic approach in reporting on local government outside of traditional media. 

‘Citizens & Journalism: Living on the Frontiers of the New Public Sphere’ 
SMART Building, Room 6.210 | University of Wollongong
Thursday 6 February 2014 | 6.30-8.30pm
RSVP