“You need to be resilient”
An interview with 2019 Young Australian Journalist of the Year, Oliver Gordon, by Samantha Goerling.
You worked in several other organisations before making the switch to journalism. Was there a point that you knew you wanted to move to journalism?
Oliver Gordon: I was working making content for organisations and eventually I became tired of making content that had an agenda; I wanted to make stories that weren’t connected to any organisation’s goals.
Telling peoples’ stories for the sake of it and for the role that journalism plays, that is sometimes keeping powerful entities accountable or exposing uncomfortable truths.
Sometimes it’s just entertainment, that’s something we need to remember about journalism. There are whole teams of people who do storytelling and journalism that isn’t connected to whistleblowing but it’s about sharing stories and I think that’s really important too.
Once you had that realisation did you go back and study or swap straight into journalism?
I studied professional communication and journalism and then went into making content. Then I had that realisation and said, I’m going to give journalism a crack. I went to Broome and I was able to get a job in the local radio station, ABC Kimberley.
I discovered there’s a lot of connection between what is happening in news and local radio. I’ve been going back and forth between those two ever since and plan to continue doing so.
When you made that switch, did you have any key mentors in journalism?
The team at ABC Kimberley when I first started there were incredibly supportive, a lot of the journalists have been working there for decades. They were incredibly generous with their time and their support for me, being a baby journalism. People like Erin Parke, Vanessa Mills, Ben Collins, Matt Bamford, they were my mentors. ABC Kimberley as a whole, has just been recognised with a Walkley nomination [in the Coverage of Community/Regional Affairs category].
How have you found moving to a rural area to work? Have there been any particular benefits or drawbacks that have stood out to you?
When I first started working in a rural setting I really felt weird about using the word ‘yarn’ and now I use it all the time and I love using that word!
That was a challenge early on. I grew up in Melbourne so I’m far away from my family and friends. But the benefits are that there’s fewer journalists and there’s a lot of great stories. Quite often people in cities are really interested to know what’s happening out bush, especially in places like Alice Springs and the Kimberley.
Your story, ‘The Black and White hotel’ uncovered racial segregation at a hotel in Alice Springs. It also won you the 2019 Walkley Young Journalist of the Year. Would you say that it’s the work you are most proud of?
I was really proud of that. I think it’s the piece of journalism that has made the most impact so far in my career. It’s certainly the one that’s been the most recognised.
There have been other really special moments and really intense moments. I was at the 90th anniversary of the Coniston massacre, which was a massacre that happened in central Australia. I did an interview with descendants of the survivors of the massacre. That was really touching. I also did an interview on that day with the descendent of the constable who was in charge of those killings.
Having those conversations is helping us to heal what is often a very brutal colonial history. That was incredible rewarding.
Is there anything that you’d like to say to young journalists?
Young journalists should know that there are options. When I was studying the outlook was bleak but that hasn’t spoken to my experience and the experience of a lot of my peers. You need to be resilient and have the ability to get knocked back but keep going. There are jobs out there.
The Shining A Light Newsroom was supported by Edith Cowan University. See the full Shining A Light Newsroom coverage here.
