Behind the Headlines: Meghan Lawrence

Pictured is NZME reporter Meghan Lawrence. Photo / Doug Sherring

Name: Meghan Lawrence

Age: 28

Job: Live News Reporter

Location: Auckland

Number of years as a journalist: 4.5 years

The best story I've worked on, and why:

My favourite kinds of stories to work on are investigative features. With this in mind, my favourite story - or stories - would be the two features I have done on youth crime and youth prisons in New Zealand.

Raising the youth justice age and Where NZ's criminal teenagers end up took months of work, dozens or interviews and long hours of reading reports, but in the end I was left with the satisfaction of really knowing the subject and having an abundance of material to work into an article.

The one that got away:

While I was still a student, I did a story on Jess' Underground Kitchen.

At the time, Jess Daniell - the founder of the business, had only just started up and was working and cooking meals from her home, and the idea of cheap, pre-cooked meals available for pick-up was a new one.

I wrote the story for an assignment and was hoping to get it published, but I was subsequently told I could no longer use the story as she had guaranteed first publishing rights to a much larger magazine.

This is one of the only times I've had a story completely pulled from under my feet, and it has always bugged me as the business went on to become much larger and popular - so I lost the scoop!

Career highlight:

There is no big 'wow' moment for me, but many small reminders of why I do this job.

This can be anything from a front page or double page spread, to a kind message from someone thanking me for what I have written or applauding me for how I have written it.

However, one moment I will never forget was when I interviewed a woman under witness protection.

As I sat in her home and heard the shocking details of her life and what she had been through, I was overcome by the feeling of honour and appreciation that this woman entrusted me with her story.

It really hit home for me the importance of my job, and how lucky I am to share in so many people's lives and stories.

I love journalism because:

Each day is different, especially as a live news reporter. I am lucky to work in a job where no day is the same, no story is the same and I am always learning new things.

But most of all, I feel privileged to be able to talk to complete strangers, from all walks of life, and hear their stories - stories that would otherwise go untold or heard by others.

But if I couldn't be a journalist, I'd...

Social work or youth work is something that also really interests me. I became a journalist because I have always loved writing, but the job is also hugely about connecting with people.

The stories I have to write are not always happy stories, with many highlighting deaths, injuries or difficult situations people are in.

In these times I wish I could do more than just write about it and highlight the issues, but to also make a real contribution and help the people at hand.