Year
2009
Category
Young Journalist of the Year Awards
Online journalism
Nic (@nic_macbean) studied journalism and history at the University of Queensland while working part-time in the Austereo newsroom and news-reading with community radio. Just before graduating he got his foot in the door of the ABC with an internship at the national online newsroom in Brisbane. In two years with ABC News Online he has worked in a variety of roles in news reporting, sport and on the production desk. Highlights include working through the night during the Beijing Olympics and the enormous challenge of covering the Victorian bushfires. Nic feels online news is an exciting place to work because there are so many pressures from so many directions, and he reckons as soon as you feel like you’re on top of things the rules change. When he is not working Nic loves camping, bushwalking and flying power kites, and he is currently in training for his first ever Gold Coast marathon.
Judges’ comments:
“Nic’s coverage of the human side of the Victorian bushfires is an excellent example of how online news can be used to tell a story. There were many strong examples of reporting submitted in this category that on the text alone are worthy of an award. However, what sets Nic’s work above the others is that it isn’t just news stories that happen to be on a website. Combining articles, blogging, images, audio and video, his coverage of the fires shows compassion, maturity and strong writing that makes him a worthy recipient of this award.”