A Sri Lankan journalist who covers international cricket, writes humour, draws cartoons and edits a satirical website has won the Indian Newslink postgraduate journalism scholarship at AUT University this year.
Andrew Fernando has contributed for student publications such as Auckland University’s Craccum and a range of other magazines, but is looking forward to the step up to hard news journalism.
“I am excited about the prospect of working as a journalist and my experience with publications like ESPN Cricinfo has only heightened my interest and passion for a career in the industry,” he says.
Manish Tanna, an Indian Newslink contributor and marketing coordinator of the newspaper’s Indian Business Awards, presented the scholarship.
Deputising for the editor, Venkat Raman, who was unable to be present, Tanna said the Indian Newslink was committed to putting something back into the community after publishing for a decade in Auckland.
He said it was important to strengthen the ethnic media in New Zealand.
“But this scholarship isn’t restricted to Indians - it is an open criteria,” he said. Last year, the award had been won by a Pakeha Kiwi and this year it had gone to a New Zealand-resident Sri Lankan.
Fernando, 22, covered the recent West Indies cricket tour of Sri Lanka and Pakistan cricket tour of New Zealand before the World Cup in the Indian sub-continent.
But his journalism horizons are far wider than cricket and he hopes to learn skills to write on a range of challenging issues.
He has double arts degrees in philosophy and history, and also in theology. Now he is enrolled as a student journalist in AUT's one-year Postgraduate Diploma in Communication Studies.
Fernando also edits a satirical online news website, The Pigeon, which was recently featured by the Herald on Sunday as a “blog of the week”.
Indian Newslink announces first AUT journalism scholarship recipient
Indian Newslink scholarship criteria
David Robie
