Media and Communications: Graduate & alumni profiles
Doug Hendrie
BA (Media & Communications) Graduate
Student journalism prize to Uni media course graduate
Friday 18 February 2005
A University of Melbourne's Media and Communications student has won the Melbourne Press Club SENSIS Student Journalist of the Year (2004) with a story on conflict between followers of the Falun Gong and Chinese authorities.
Doug Hendrie, who completed the three-year Media and Communications program last year, says he was 'ecstatic' with the win, for his second-year story in an online youth magazine about the Chinese government's attempts to suppress the practice of Falun Gong in the People's Republic of China.
Falun Gong is based on the ancient Chinese discipline of quigong, and aims for the cultivation of heart, mind and body through physical practice and principles of truth and honesty. The Chinese government disapproves of Falun Gong because of its spiritual nature, which contravenes the Communist Party's atheist stance for the nation and its people.
Mr Hendrie says the most interesting aspect of his research and story was the way the Chinese government has been able to exert influence through a variety of media channels, including Chinese language newspapers in Australia. The politicisation of the movement is also a feature of his story.
"As much as practitioners deny it," he writes, "Falun Gong is fast becoming a political movement, at least in the sense that [followers] are actively dissenting [against the government]".
"It may well herald the beginning of an unashamedly political movement, since the Falun Gong's goal of freedom to practice basically requires moving a gargantuan state out of the way. The real issue now is whether Falun Gong poses a genuine political threat to the Chinese government; if they do, they'll be the first significant domestic challenge the Communist Party has had."
Media and Communications lecturer Peter Collingwood says Mr Hendrie's story is a "dense mix of local experience, reflection and political analysis of the situation for Falun Gong followers in China", and believes his former student has a bright journalistic future ahead of him.
Mr Hendrie, who was editor of the University's student newspaper, Farrago, for a year, says he plans to travel for six months before seeking a cadetship in the print media.
Read his work at www.vibewire.net: The cheaters are prospering and Thunder from the Silent Zone
Lucille Wong
BA (Media and Communications) Graduate
"Melbourne University is a place of opportunities. It wasn't all textbooks and essays.
During three years of uni, I made three movies for Media Production 1A, learnt French... worked at the Melbourne Magazine, wrote essays on Buffy and The Simpsons, and my writing was published.
I learnt skills such as writing, research and analysis, how to come up with ideas and how to present them, how to source information, analyse and condense it, how to think laterally, how to write professionally, and how to edit effectively."
Evelyn Quek
BA (Media & Communications) Graduate
"What did I reap from my study at Melbourne University's Media and Communications? - Plenty.
The extensive and flexible programme structure has equipped me with the skills set to be ever ready for challenges in the corporate world.
The multidisciplinary course structure gave me the liberty to customise my undergraduate studies for the destined vocation I am in and to pursue my passion in Cultural Studies. On the same note, the multidisciplinary course also trained me to think laterally, adapt quickly, and analyse issues with a keen eye.
Working in a PR consultancy firm, what makes me stand out is the ability to think out of the box and to have the foresight so that I could be at edge of the next upcoming trend or event. This is what Melbourne University has prepared me for.
Media and Communication has a team of excellent staff who is caring and approachable, and has always gone the extra mile for their students. I appreciate the lecturers and tutors who have moulded me to become a successful PR practitioner.
I truly enjoyed my study at Melbourne University and this course opens up infinite possibilities!"