“I learnt that ‘hot metal’ was not an alternative description of thrash metal, just as ‘cold type’ did not mean a frigid virgin.” – from today’s NZ Herald (scroll down for the link).
NZME sub-editor/reporter Mata Mihinui, a Maori journo who was a pioneer in the media ‘boys club’ in the 1970s, reflects on her years at daily newspapers, including the Rotorua Daily Post, Hawkes Bay Herald-Tribune, the Timaru Herald, and the subs bench at the NZ Herald.
At the Herald, she learned how to read a cricket scorebook and write a story from the book. “That was a huge achievement, as to my father cricket was even more alien than soccer!”
At school, she studied Latin, French, English and German – “but Maori was not an option”.
“In Timaru, the editorial staff was overwhelmingly male – except for the Lady Editor … I kid you not.
“I loved working at the Herald,” she says. “But it was one of the most testing times of my life – my soulmate died in a head-on collision. The Herald editorial management team went the extra mile for me, and never docked my pay.
“From that time on, they had my undivided loyalty.”
- Read the full interview here
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