Jumping the ranks through experience

By Seth Tenkate

Lisa Carty is chief reporter at the Illawarra Mercury, a Fairfax newspaper in Wollongong, an industrial city in New South Wales. She has been a journalist for the last 21 years.

"I have on the job training," she said. "I have done small courses such as the Fairfax in-house legal course". Carty rose to her position with no qualifications.
"I started out as a cadet for a Sydney newspaper when I was 17, and I love my job."

Carty likes the fact that journalism is not monotonous. "You never know what is going to happen."

Carty writes her own stories. "I find them myself. Basically the stories come through my own contacts. Every story I do I always look for the next story, you must keep generating ideas."

She says her research for a story usually depends on her own working knowledge. "Sometimes I do a lot (of research), sometimes I have to do a little. For example, if you have to do a profile on a person from out of town- then you have to do the research."

When choosing who to interview, Carty looks for the people who stand out in the article. "(Interviewees) usually choose themselves," she said. "Front runners are obvious. So are people who slag other people off."

Carty mainly reports on Wollongong City Council. Most of her interviews are over the phone with those she has developed a working relationship. However, some interviews need to be done in person.

"You can get much better results if you are in person," she said, referring to interviewing the general public. "I try to strike up a rapport, especially with victims of crime. When the court case comes up, you already have your source."

Carty writes about three articles daily. "Writing is only a small part of the job," she says. "It can take a far longer time to do the information gathering that is needed."

"When you are writing a story, people get bogged down in the introduction. When you are asked at home 'What did you cover today?' Whatever you tell them should be your introduction."

"I like to think that journalists are a conduit. You need to tell readers what has happened and why it should be of interest to them."