Report: Kiwi Media Mafia

There’s usually a buzzing (and somewhat loud!) excitement when you get a group of motivated Kiwi women in a room together. The night of Tuesday 17 September was no different. 100 women came together at London’s Hospital Club to hear success stories from New Zealanders who have made their name in Britain’s media industry.

Interviewed by media consultant Linda Rose, 11 women gave insights into the highs and lows of working in the UK, all with exciting and positive stories to tell. Some were former print journalists who had seen the industry change remarkably, others worked on the production side and we heard fascinating accounts from women who had covered the Mumbai terror attacks and first hand of being live on air when Saddam Hussein was caught. 

 

Represented were public relations gurus, journalists, production managers, reporters, movie financiers, BBC presenters and social media experts among many others. The surprise debate of the evening was whether the Kiwi accent sounds ‘uneducated’ to a British audience – with the suggestion that in the media we may need to occasionally change the way we pronounce certain words, but that times have changed from when Antipodean reporters working for UK media outlets needed to disguise their own accents completely. 

All 11 panellists were positive about the future, stating that there’s never been a better time to be a New Zealander in the industry as we’re seen as hard working with a certain ‘exoticness’ to us and that the New Zealand passport is able to take you places that many others in the world are unable to get to. 

Once again, thank you to all who attended, to our Chair and fantastic speakers. The network has never been more interesting or exciting and we’re enjoying carrying on its momentum. Like the sound of this evening? The network covers a variety of industries and we look forward to seeing you at a similar event soon.