Alex Perrottet, 30, Master of Communications Studies student and contributing editor of Pacific Media Watch talks to Debate editor Nigel Moffiet.
You have background in law so what made you change career paths into journalism?
“I was always keen on journalism at school and I got into law and did that but it’s always handy to have a law degree even if just for the analytical skills. I worked for a couple of years in a small firm which was a lot of fun but I realised when I came to New Zealand it would be a good chance to change course and do the degree and I’m looking to get my teeth stuck into journalism.”
Can you tell me about your role as contributing editor of Pacific Media Watch at AUT’s Pacific Media Centre?
“My role includes writing news that’s based on media issues in the Pacific and to follow media issues and to monitor and pick up on news stories that are published by Pacific media organisations like The Fiji Times, the Fiji Sun, the Samoa Observer, Taimi 'o Tonga or the Vanuatu Daily Post and many others. And if there’s a media issue or something related to the media I’ll pick it up and highlight it on our Pacific Media Watch list (which has more than 350 subscribers) and website. It’s also an RSS feed that many people have subscribed to within New Zealand and the Pacific. The Pacific Media Centre site is meant to be a bit of a one-stop-shop for media here in New Zealand and the Pacific.”
Have you always had a strong interest in Pacific issues or did you fall into this role?
“I’ve always been interested in the Pacific. My father worked for the World Bank and he would make plenty of trips to the Pacific Islands so I grew up with lots of Pacific clubs and spears around the house and was lucky enough to go with him on one or two business trips. And, as I got older, I got more into doing aid projects based in the Pacific. So there has always been a love of the Pacific that has been nurtured by my father.”
You’ve done a lot of aid work around the Pacific, including Samoa and Fiji. Can you tell me about that?
“For the last decade or so I have been very interested in helping out villages that I have been in contact with in various ways throughout the Pacific. I’ve done four or five different trips to Fiji, usually during the summer holiday period where I would go with other university students and young professionals. It’s usually based around just someone you know, sometimes it’s a professional contact of my father’s and in the case of Samoa it was the same.
[My father] knows one of the high chiefs of a village in the south of Samoa called Poutasi village. So I went over in September 2010 to cover the first year anniversary of the tsunami and also to visit the chief of this village and see what we could do to help. We had a company from Papakura donate a children’s playground and we fixed up the local Catholic Church.
"I think the idea of volunteering is becoming more and more attractive and people see that you get a good feeling giving your time for others and that rewarding feeling of seeing a really good job well done, that you’ve improved the lives of others who might not be as lucky as yourselves.”
You are returning to Fiji later in the year to carry out more aid work. Can you tell us about your latest mission?
“I’m connected to a youth centre here in Auckland called Glenrowan Study Centre. We’re combining with a group from Melbourne to carry out a project in the north of Fiji in a little village called Navunibitu.
"We are going to help them with a school that needs a lot of work and doesn’t have any one to do repairs and painting. I’ve been there twice before to repaint the school over the years. We organised this before the floods hit, so in light of these floods we might change plans to see what else we can do to help.”
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PROFILE: With a strong interest in Pacific issues and a dedication to lending a helping hand, Alex Perrottet, 30, is steadily achieving many of his goals in life. As well as finishing off his master's degree in AUT University's School of Communication Studies, Perrottet works as contributing editor of the AUT Pacific Media Centre's Pacific Media Watch media freedom project. His role requires him to monitor and report on media related issues around the Pacific.Perrottet says he has a strong connection to the Pacific and has spent a lot of time volunteering in the region. Later this year he plans to travel to a village in Fiji to help repair a school. He talks to debate about his career so far and his work in the Pacific.
Nigel Moffiet
