Storyology Spotlight: Sunanda Creagh, The Conversation
‘It’s really lovely to work with people who actually know what they’re talking about.’
Sunanda Creagh is the digital storytelling editor at The Conversation.
What is your proudest achievement?
Working on our publication FactCheck, where we work with academics and politicians and other influential public speakers. And a handful of really good authoritative journalism that is speaking truth to power. Calling BS what it needs to be called, and also educating the public about poorly understood issues.
What impact have you seen from it?
I wish I could say that as a result of FactCheck, all politicians tell the truth all the time, but that has clearly not happened.
But what we have seen over the time we’ve been doing it — it was 2013 when we started FactCheck — what we have seen is that more and more politicians cite the sources of the statements in their speeches or in their press releases. It’s quite common now to see references at the bottom of a press release saying where they got a particular stat from, or where they’ve got a particular saying from. So, you know, hopefully gradually we’ll be introducing more accountability to that public discourse.
“What we have seen is that more and more politicians cite the sources of the statements in their speeches or in their press releases.”
What inspired you to do the role you’re in now?
I think what inspires me as a journalist is bringing interesting and informative stories to people. Stories that might educate, entertain, pique people’s interests, help them understand something that always baffled them. And working with academics to do that is really fun, because these academics know these topics better than you and I, better than most of us. So it’s really lovely to work with people who actually know what they’re talking about. They don’t just have opinions, but actually have really evidence-based analyses that we can enjoy and use to make informed choices about our lives.
How did you get there?
I studied a journalism degree at UTS and then I got a cadetship at the Sydney Morning Herald. I worked there for a few years, and then I worked in the Jakarta Bureau for Reuters over in Indonesia for a couple of years, and then I came back here and tried working at The Conversation.
So how I got into all those roles was through a lot of networking and a lot of connections with people, and doing journalism. Not waiting to be asked to do something, you know?
If you want to do a story, go out and investigate it, report it, and put it out on the web. It’s easier than ever to get your stories published and it’s only through you showing that initiative that you are going to get the attention of people who can actually give you a job.
I always say to people who apply to be foreign correspondents, don’t wait for somebody in that country to give you a job. Go to that country and start reporting, and then that will lead to opportunity. And I think that’s the same in Australia. Start reporting and that will lead to opportunity.
