We trace a working life in New Zealand journalism with Yvonne Van Dongen, exploring how subs, travel desks, and lively disagreements shaped stronger reporting, and why today’s monoculture and omissions threaten trust. We compare shoe-leather craft with hot takes and argue for free speech as the backbone of credible media.

• Amsterdam detour to newsroom doors and a bruising AUT interview culture
• Canterbury training, shorthand, and the saving grace of sub-editors
• Weekly-paper freedom, travel budgets, and difficult colleagues with bite
• Building a biography when the subject resists access
• Free speech then as default norm, now as a contested stance
• Monoculture in media, stories not told, and quiet censorship by omission
• Desk takes versus door-knocking: why leaving your seat still matters
• Talking with Tamaki supporters and other unfashionable audiences
• Fire and Fury, awards culture, and credibility gaps
• New platforms, changing minds, and ethics over gotchas

If you have any questions, feedback, or suggestions, you can contact us at podcast@fsu.nz

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