NZ: Ex-AUT student now TVNZ journalist praises media building

AUCKLAND (Pacific Media Watch): Popular reporter John Pulu of TVNZ's Tagata Pasifika programme was one of several prominent guests at the opening of AUT’s Sir Paul Reeves Building today - and he liked what he saw.

Prime Minister John Key opened the $100 million building, which is named after AUT’s late chancellor.

The 20,300 m2 new building houses the School of Communication Studies with a high-tech media centre, and was designed by architects Jasmax.

Pulu, who originates from Tongatapu, is himself a 2009 graduate of AUT’s Bachelor of Communications programme and a past Storyboard Award winner. He was impressed by what he saw:

I think the new building is fantastic. I mean just the architectural side of things is beautiful. I haven’t had a chance to walk around all the new classrooms, but just from, you know, the first view this evening – it’s beautiful.

DD: What significance do you think it can have for Māori and Pasifika students?

JP: I think it’s fantastic having a space like this, because this is going to be the home for Pacific students who are looking to go into journalism and broadcasting in general. So this is fantastic, to have a beautiful space with all the resources and a staff that will teach the future generation of Pacific broadcasters. It’s great!

DD: Are you a bit jealous today?

JP: I’m very, very jealous. I just wish in my day - in the "1800s"  - there was a space like this. It’s so beautiful. It’s bright. It’s, you know, welcoming. And it’s fantastic for our students.

DD: How important is the Pacific Media Centre in this new building?

JP: The Pacific Media Centre I’m a big supporter of, because it’s the home and, you know, it’s the resource for our Pacific students. I think it’s fantastic that it’s part of this new building, that it’s all part of the one umbrella of the Communications building. And I look forward to seeing more people turn out to be, you know, broadcasters and Pacific as well, so, fantastic."

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 New Zealand Licence.