Future Careers in Journalism

Bec Zajac works for Overland magazine, broadcasts on 3CR community radio and is undertaking a Master of Journalism at the University of Melbourne. She has written for the Age, the Sunday Age, Crikey, The Brooklyn Rail, The Citizen, Overland and New Matilda, and produced work for Channel 31.

Before returning to study and throwing herself into journalism, Bec worked as a book publicist for independent publishing houses in New York and in communications for the National Multicultural Broadcasters Council of Australia. She is currently working on a project investigating Australian detention centre operations and on a series of special reports about violence against women.

Connor Tomas O’Brien was the Wheeler Centre's Digital Content Producer from May 2015 to June 2016. He was also inaugural director of the Digital Writers’ Festival and Digital Programs director at the Emerging Writers' Festival. He is also designer of Voiceworks magazine and co-founder of ebookstore platform tomely.com. He is working on a novel examining the nature of memory in our hyperconnected, hypermediated 'like economy'.

Helen Sykes is the Director of Future Leaders, President of the Trust for Young Australians, Chair of The Australian Collaboration, Associate of Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute, Member of the Future Justice Executive, Summit Governor of the Hillary Institute, Board Member of the Council for the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences and of the Public Interest Journalism Foundation. She has published and edited many books.

Liam Mannix is a 23-year-old journalist recently arrived at the Age from InDaily in Adelaide, South Australia. He specializes in journalism innovation - in particular in the growth fields of data and interactive journalism, work for which he has won two Young Australian Journalist of the Year Walkleys.

He is interested in seeing what possibilities technology offers to find and tell untold stories.