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youthcentral roving reporters - where are they now? - Thuong Du

Clutching a degree in Media and Communications from Melbourne University, Thuong Du was intent on making a career out of journalism. She was working for the City of Melbourne as a Youth Communications Officer when she got a couple of gigs - one as a roving reporter for youthcentral, the other as an Australian Publishing Association intern.

When Thuong wrote an article for youthcentral about "My first foray into the world of publishing", little did she know that her internship would blossom into a full-time position at Cambridge University Press, where she now works as a commissioning editor, developing educational textbooks.

So much for the career in journalism. Thuong has been surprised to find that she actually likes the nine-to-five world. "I'm happy where I am for the moment." But being a roving reporter did help develop communication and organisational skills that Thuong uses every day in her work. And she also got to witness a moment in history.

"My favourite assignment was the National Apology story," said Thuong. She and a couple of other youthcentral roving reporters were sent to Federation Square to join the crowds watching Kevin Rudd's speech, in which he apologised to the Stolen Generation on behalf of the Federal Government, on the big screen.

"The best thing about it was that we were thrown into the deep end, we approached people and talked to them. And it was great, the feeling on the day, and then writing about what I saw and how I felt."

As it so happens, that story is still coming in handy for Thuong: "One of the photos I took on the day ended up being used in one of our legal studies textbooks."

At the time she was a roving reporter, Thuong was busily involved with VoiceBox - a media group for empowering young Vietnamese women, which had a weekly radio show on 3CR. But a fulltime career has meant her involvement with VoiceBox (now known as Her Productions) is taking place more behind the scenes than behind the mic.

"The Her Productions teams went to Vietnam - back to the Mother country," said Thuong - but the trip was for three months and she couldn't make the journey. Even though she has had to let some things slide, she is passionate about the change she can bring about through her current work, by helping to produce worthwhile educational books.

For more about the roving reporter team, including how to join up, check out www.youthcentral.vic.gov.au/join. For more articles about Work & study, check out our Articles archive.

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