{"id":8124,"date":"2020-06-03T06:27:26","date_gmt":"2020-06-02T22:27:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/considering-a-future-in-journalism-it-requires-resilience-and-a-little-bit-of-sas\/"},"modified":"2022-12-07T13:10:01","modified_gmt":"2022-12-07T05:10:01","slug":"considering-a-future-in-journalism-it-requires-resilience-and-a-little-bit-of-sas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/considering-a-future-in-journalism-it-requires-resilience-and-a-little-bit-of-sas\/","title":{"rendered":"Considering a future in journalism? It requires resilience and a little bit of sas"},"content":{"rendered":"

Journalism is an evolving industry \u2013 and one that\u2019s been dealt heavy blows in the past decade due to the rise of the internet, social media and \u2018fake news\u2019. Yet its continuing dynamic nature, and the drive to tell important stories, keeps things interesting for Curtin journalism<\/a> alumnus, Nick Sas.<\/p>\n

Sas has been in the news-reporting trenches for more than twelve years, and has experienced first-hand the shift away from print and television journalism to digital reporting.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no such thing as a \u2018radio\u2019 or \u2018TV\u2019 journalist anymore, you have to do everything, and do it well,\u201d he reflects.<\/p>\n

\u201cI asked to get trained in digital journalism maybe around 2012, when the internet was just beginning to truly disrupt the way we consumed news \u2013 we all know where it ended up. So, I think it\u2019s really important to be ready to adapt and understand how the audience is evolving.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sas currently works as a digital journalist with the ABC\u2019s Specialist Reporting Team (SRT), which focuses on stories of national interest and impact.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe SRT is a team of 20 journalists and producers focusing on \u2018top tier\u2019 exclusives and projects within specialist areas. For example, the national education correspondent is in our team. If he has an idea for a story, he pitches it, and three other editors I work with will decide the angle to take, and whether it works for digital (ABC News online, social media), TV (7pm news, News Channel, YouTube) or radio \u2013 or all three.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy area of expertise is digital storytelling. Writing for digital is very different to TV and radio, so I\u2019ll work with that reporter on what we need, the writing process and how we can tell the story visually. Then I edit the story, produce it, write the headlines and make it sing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sas also researches and writes his own news stories<\/a>. His recent work has covered the diverse aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the global race to find a vaccine, border restrictions, job losses and Australia\u2019s recovery plan.<\/p>\n

He says the best way student journalists can prepare for writing about current affairs and events is to get experience as early as possible. While studying his journalism course at Curtin, Sas wrote stories for Western Independent<\/em><\/a>, the online news publication run by Curtin student journalists, and the university\u2019s student guild magazine, Grok<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most useful thing I found was actually getting my work published. There\u2019s no greater training tool than actually writing and getting feedback from editors and readers,\u201d he says.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cGrok<\/em> and Western Independent<\/em> were so important for me. It was a real thrill to see my name on a published news article.\u201d<\/p>\n

After graduating from Curtin in 2007, Sas\u2019s work portfolio helped him secure the role of cadet journalist with the Albany Advertiser<\/em>. He upped sticks from Perth city and spent almost two years reporting on regional news in the southwest.<\/p>\n

\u201cWorking in a regional area is something every journalist should do, in my opinion. My stint in Albany taught me about accountability \u2013 you might see someone walking in the street the day you reported on them, so it was important to get things right.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I learned about news gathering and working your contacts. Albany is pretty sleepy at the best of times, so quite often you needed to do a little bit of digging to find the gold.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seeking a slightly quicker news cycle, Sas moved back to Perth in 2010 and worked as a business reporter for Seven West Media. He excelled in this role, including winning a WA Media Award in 2016.<\/p>\n

But after six years with the media giant, Sas set his sights on a new career chapter and went and volunteered in the Solomon Islands<\/a>. There, he spent 12 months training the local media team in digital journalism and learning some new skills himself.<\/p>\n

\"Sas
Sas with members of the regional Solomon Islands media team after a three-day digital workshop.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cProfessionally I learned about patience. In the Solomon Islands they work at a different speed to us. It took me a couple months to get used to that.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation, where I did my assignment as a digital media trainer, the internet would go out for hours. At first it would annoy me as I wanted to get tasks done \u2013 something we\u2019re conditioned to do in Western work life.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut then I came to realise this was beyond my control. It was something I learnt to deal with every day. It taught me about letting go and adapting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not every journalist would give up their job in a turbulent industry to go and live an island life, but Sas says his volunteer experience has been the highlight of his career to-date, and he plans to go back and conduct more training as soon as he\u2019s able.<\/p>\n

\u201cVolunteering in the Solomon Islands created pathways for me. It made me reassess what was important, and in many ways led me to my current job [with the ABC].\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"A
Children cool off in the waters of Gizo Island, located in the Western province of the Solomon Islands. Credit: Nick Sas.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

New era of journalism<\/h2>\n

Today, journalists are able to tell more diverse stories and reach more readers via social media, yet they\u2019re also contending with a lightning speed news cycle, juggling political and advertising agendas, and vying for readership loyalty amid the ubiquity of fake news and \u2018churnalism<\/a>\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur industry has been decimated. And will continue to be. Thousands have lost their jobs and the news model has been flipped on its head. It is a tough industry. It\u2019s constantly evolving and it\u2019s exhausting,\u201d Sas comments on the current state of affairs.<\/p>\n

Yet he remains positive there\u2019s still a place for journalism, and says that in an era of disinformation and during a global health pandemic, astute reporting is needed more than ever.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn terms of the future for journalism it\u2019s hard to say \u2013 things change every day! But the appetite for news has never been greater and I hope we\u2019re on an upward tick back up from a pretty confused time for disseminating factual information.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Australia, I think we\u2019re getting to a point where people are beginning to understand more and more where their news comes from and whom they can trust<\/a>.\u00a0If you look at the statistics for the ABC news website in March \u2013 during the peak of the COVID-19 crisis \u2013 more than two out of three Australians (more than 16 million people) accessed an ABC news article online. That\u2019s pretty extraordinary.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe it\u2019s because people trust the ABC, particularly in times of crisis. I mean we\u2019re in a privileged position being the national broadcaster \u2026 but it gives me hope that people are turning to reputable news sites more and more.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do hope that people will continue to think critically about what they\u2019re reading or watching and where it comes from. It has never been more important.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Signing off, Sas says don\u2019t consider a career in journalism unless you\u2019re \u201c100 per cent in\u201d. He also says you need to keep an open mind \u2013 sage advice not just for future reporters, but for all consumers of news.<\/p>\n

\u201cHave a big social group and don\u2019t hang out with people in your \u2018bubble\u2019 all the time \u2013 blind reinforcement is dangerous; debate keeps you on your toes.<\/p>\n

\u201cBe adaptable, and be ready to get brutalised by the public, your colleagues and your editor. Finally, get off social media and read instead.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“I think it\u2019s really important to be ready to adapt and understand how the audience is evolving.\u201d Curtin journalist grad Nick Sas reflects on what it takes to work in today’s news industry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4182,"featured_media":8125,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_research-areas":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"research-areas":[],"class_list":["post-8124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"acf":{"post_options":{"":null,"additional_content":{"title":"","content":"","image":false},"related_courses":[{"title":"Journalism","qualification":"Bachelor of Arts (Journalism)","link":"https:\/\/study.curtin.edu.au\/offering\/course-ug-journalism-major-ba--mjru-journ\/","description":"","faculty":"Humanities"}],"credits":{"author":"","photographer":"","media":false},"display_author":true,"banner":{"image":false}}},"featured_image":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/NickSas-feature-1000x500.jpg","author_meta":{"first_name":"Zoe","last_name":"Taylor","display_name":"Zoe Taylor"},"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-24 06:37:17","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4182"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8124"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8124\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8124"},{"taxonomy":"research-areas","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research-areas?post=8124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}