Role Call: Reporter at the New Zealand Herald
Interview

Role Call: Reporter at the New Zealand Herald

By Chloe Arentz

Telum is chatting to journalists across New Zealand to understand different newsroom roles, in a new ongoing content series, Role Call. This week, we spoke to Melissa Nightingale, Reporter at the New Zealand Herald.

Walk us through your role as a Reporter for the New Zealand Herald. 
I'm a general Wellington Reporter who covers any Wellington region news, but also often picks up live national news when needed. I tend to do mostly court and crime reporting, but I don't actually have a set round. One day, I could be covering a murder sentencing and the next, I'm reviewing a new luxury hotel, so the work keeps me on my toes. I report to the Wellington NZME Chief.

You are based in the Wellington bureau. How does your team work with the Auckland newsroom? 
We report to our Wellington Chief but also liaise with the Auckland news directors. We can help out with Auckland or national news when they need us, but the Wellington team tends to run fairly separately a lot of the time. We also work closely with our Newstalk ZB colleagues to share copy and skills, so you'll often see Herald reporters doing radio pieces and vice versa.

Do you spend a lot of time in the newsroom or are you usually based out in community? 
Every week is different! Personally, if I'm not in the newsroom or working from home, then a lot of my day is spent in the courtroom.

What does a day in your life look like?
It varies a lot. I usually start the day reading the daily court lists to see if there's anything we should be going to. If I'm not at court or out at interviews, then I'm writing OIAs, organising contact meetings, scanning for stories, etc.

How can a PR best engage with you and the team? 
I prefer email and most of my busy colleagues would probably be the same.

Answers submitted by Melissa Nightingale, Reporter at New Zealand Herald

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