From September 27 to 29, student journalists from across Australia came together for the Student Media Australia Conference at the University of Sydney campus… and Glass was in attendance!
We were honoured to be a part of the conference and had a blast meeting our peers in other student publications.*
The conference featured talks, panels and workshops that included the likes of Dr Karl, Antoinette Lattouf, the New York Times’ Paolo Pasco and so many more.
It was a celebration (and validation) of student media and we cannot wait to see the future of conference. We better be invited future editors 👀
HOW IT CAME TO BE…
This conference was whispered about in the ether of last year in the formation of the Student Media Network Facebook group.
Honi Soit’s Ariana Haghighi, Farrago’s Joel Duggan and I were handed the reigns as admins for 2024, and we were handed the dream of a national student media conference.
From there, we were pulling together student publications and starting to birth ideas on what sessions we should include.
From there, it snowballed; more publications joined the team and calendars were marked…
We really do owe it all to Ariana who was the heart and soul of the conference and got it across the finish line. She said her favourite moment was seeing everyone interact at the opening ceremony and lunch, with each group including students hailing from different states and different mastheads.
“It was so rewarding for the organisers and all student journalists to see clones of themselves this weekend — people who care about student voices and fighting back and university organisation,” said Ariana.
“It was the dawn of the conference, but it made me realise how much promise these types of initiatives hold.”
HOW DID IT GO…
It was so dang fun! The journalism and media industry has never seemed less scary than this last weekend.
Jacinta, Preet and I travelled down to Sydney to be the token Queenslanders and provide some representation.
I was nervous to meet a whole cohort of student journalists that I had been talking to over Zoom for months to organise this event. But we were welcomed with open arms (Literally. Thanks for jumping a hug on us, Zeina).
From a very warm opening ceremony where we heard from Antoinette Lattouf, and presentations from our sister publications, the conference talks and workshops began.
A standout for me, was Investigations 101 with the Sydney Morning Herald’s Kate McCylmont. She had so many insights to share from her illustrious career investigating shady folks we love to hate. One of which was realistically, if someone wanted to kill you, they would.
No! Really! The police told her that it’s the people you don’t get death threats from that you have to worry about.
We also got to talk to Avani Dias about her life a foreign correspondent and her journey from Honi Soit to the ABC.
The Guardian’s Luca Ittimani shared his (and many other journalists’) disdain for writing weather story after weather story.
I was also able to have a heartwarming chat with The Daily Aus’ Nandini Dhir after her workshop on Social Media with Woroni’s Arabella Ritchie, they shared insight on being a part of modern newsrooms.
We also drank… a little… not a lot… because we are professional. But over the LITTLE drinks we shared, we joined in on the camaraderie and enjoyed the community we formed over the conference.
HERE ARE JACINTA’S THOUGHTS…
Walking through the University of Sydney’s Camperdown campus was a welcome change to QUT’s modern Kelvin Grove campus; with old sandstone buildings, arched brick doorways, and music chiming from the Clocktower on a daily basis, we at Glass were transported to another time from the moment we arrived. For me, one of the most enlightening events was the Creative Writing & Cultural Criticism panel with authors Sarah Sasson, Annie Zhang, Hossein Asgari and Max Easton, who spoke about their individual experiences within the publishing industry.
We also had the opportunity to unwind between seminars with the Zine Workshop, which was jam-packed with students tearing through magazines, wielding scissors and glue sticks, and making zines together.
After a weekend of getting caught in the rain, meeting Australia’s best and brightest student journalists, and countless cups of coffee, we celebrated with a ball, held in the Chau Chak Wing Museum on campus, where the attending student magazines were awarded with superlatives; Glass was awarded ‘Most Personable’, a title we earned after three days of standing silently in corners, hoping (praying!) that someone would come and talk to us.
A HUGE THANK-YOU…
I wanna give the warmest thank-you to Ariana, Joel and the Honi Soit team for all their dedication to this conference. Without these guys, this conference would never have happened, and Glass wouldn’t have any friends. Love you guys 😘
* These included Honi Soit, Farrago, Woroni, PULP Magazine, Vertigo, Radio Monash, Tertangala, Vertigo, Grapeshot, Yak, Noise, Empire Times, On Dit, Lot’s Wife and more. We loved meeting you all x
