“I love playing with words and language and I’ve written and produced countless stories. Working in the media has allowed me to explore storytelling in both the audio and written form. For me, the two go hand-in-hand.“
Below are some ‘selected’ articles from the hundreds that I’ve written.
Writing
When Undies Broke New Boundaries.
I love playing with words and when there are great images to accompany the story it’s even more fun. Of course, with this article I wanted to play with a fun, thought provoking title. The story is also ‘informative’ because it looks at the history of Jockey Underwear in New Zealand. But I also explored the contemporary aspects of what underwear means to men today.
Front Row Offenders
Giving readers a peek into Fashion Week with a cheeky edge…I was new to NZFW when I attended and I wanted to find a fun way into the story to give readers and listeners a sneak peek into a world that’s unlike any other.
Not just any pair of jeans…
This was a story I wrote looking at how the denim market has changed, including the brands that remain staples in our wardrobes and the way some denim brands are moving towards sustainability in a competitive marketplace.
Sexual Offenders in the Community.
In this story for RNZ, I wanted to draw on my experience of receiving a note in my letterbox about a sexual offender moving into my neighbourhood. I used this at the top of the story as a springboard for the discussion I had with a psychologist who worked with sexual offenders and examined rates of recidivism.
Exploring Coercive Control
In this story I interviewed a professor from Auckland University whose work examines coercive control - what that might look like for women while in abusive relationships, but also how that plays out once they’ve left it behind. My approach to writing the story was to ‘set the scene’ with a woman who is being stalked to draw the reader in.
Celebrating Women’s Suffrage.
I love to set up a story by painting a picture of a time and place. This article below was part of a series of articles which were picked up by Stuff - accompanied by a podcast series I produced called, Beyond Kate. You can check out the full podcast series here on Spotify. And click the button below for the full article.
Terror in Munich
This is the story of a competitive Kiwi pistol shooter who says the Olympics in Munich changed the sport. Bruce McMillan had a massive yarn to tell…
Connecting with the Familiar
Over the course of my career, I have loved producing psychology and sociology-based stories for RNZ. I wrote this article to accompany an interview with a psychologist looking at the meaning of children’s art work. In this instance finding the ‘connection’ and familiarity in the story. I wanted to engage parents who would identify with the pictures their children bring home from kindergarten.
Inside the Advertising World
I remember the point at which advertising on TV changed from cheesy to-the-point ads to a focus on storytelling and The Great Crunchie Train Robbery was a marker of its era. But even since then a lot has changed. I loved making the podcast episode for RNZ podcast, Eyewitness which you can listen to here.
The Herald also republished the article (right). Click the button to read it in full.
Bringing back childhood memories
The North Beach Zoo was always a mystery to me growing up. I lived not far from the mini zoo, and had visited once or twice. But like many people, I was far too young to remember anything other than the crocodile, in the glass enclosure, that never moved.
In this story (and podcast) I wanted to find out why the zoo in the first place and whether, like many things, it’s relevance became out of date, rather than the zoo’s owner being neglectful, when protesters were pushing for its closure.
Talking to The Wizard…the old skool way
I was filled with intrigue and excitement, when I had the opportunity to interview The Wizard of NZ. he wanted to do it the old-skool way, over the phone, even though we were recording an interview for a podcast (click here to listen). I had seen The Wizard many times as a child and teenager, growing up in Christchurch, but I never knew what brought him to the Cathedral Square…so I was determined to find out.