Freelance Journalist
In Social justice on
"IF you have a grandmum, they will give you the worst nickname. Mine used to call me ‘Lalaya’. Lalaya means red. When I was very young—two or three—in the summertime, we don’t wear anything. Not even nappies, nothing. I was a little bit white, more than other family members, and when the sun hit me, I got red. Sunburnt. That was my nickname. My grandmum used to call out, she asked the other kids, ‘Where is Lalaya? Why isn’t he coming back?’ Like … Read
In Arts, Social justice on
IT has been nine months since I last visited Manus Island, but for the last fortnight I have been listening in to the lives of some of the men still held there, as they go for a walk at dawn, or spar at boxing training, or talk with a friend. I've been working on a sound installation for the Eavesdropping exhibition at the Potter Museum of Art, called 'how are you today'. We sent sound recorders to Manus, and now, each day for more than 13 weeks, … Read
In Social justice on
Who owns a story? Is it something a journalist takes from an interviewee or is it a collaboration? IF you’ve read one quote about the ethics of journalism, it’s this, from Janet Malcolm: “Every journalist who is not too stupid or too full of himself to notice what is going on knows that what he does is morally indefensible.” It’s the first line of her book, The Journalist and the Murderer, published in 1990. She … Read