Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Residential property listings
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Rural
  • Sport

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Rotorua Daily Post

Primary school pupils get the buzz to become journalists

By Western Heights Primary School Journalism Students Michaela Fawthrop, Danayla Wilson and Ebony Large
Rotorua Daily Post·
3 Oct, 2017 05:00 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Western Heights Primary School pupils had a great trip to the Rotorua Daily Post and NZME office. Photo/supplied

Western Heights Primary School pupils had a great trip to the Rotorua Daily Post and NZME office. Photo/supplied

Children from Western Heights Primary School had a taste of what it takes to be a journalist last Wednesday.

Fifteen students from the school's journalism class were invited to the Rotorua Daily Post to experience a newsroom in action and interview a real-life reporter.

The reporter was Kelly Makiha. She has been a journalist since she was 17 years old but has been interested in journalism her whole life.

"When I was a just a little girl I was so nosey and always wanted to know what was going on. When I heard sirens, I would get my mum to take me to wherever the sirens were, to see what was going on" Mrs Makiha said.

Over the years Mrs Makiha has interviewed over 25,000 people. She said that meeting people was one of the best bits of the job. She loves being a journalist because every day you are writing different stories so every day is different and exciting.

"If you love what you do, you won't have to work another day in your life," Mrs Makiha said.

There are lots of things to remember when you are journalist. But the two most important things are to be a good listener and be accurate.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"The thing that annoys people the most is when journalists get information wrong," Mrs Makiha said.

A day at the Rotorua Daily Post starts at 8am and finishes around 4.30pm, but as people know the news never stops so you never know what the day might bring.

Journalists get to cover all sorts of events and go to all sorts of places. Just that morning of the school visit Mrs Makiha had been at the Rotorua District Court reporting on a burglary. She has also been to murders, car accidents, special events, elections and much more.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

You must work fast when you are journalist because you have to meet deadlines. Once the editors at the Rotorua Daily Post have chosen the best stories to go in the paper they are checked for mistakes then sent to Auckland in the early evening where the paper is printed.

The papers are then put onto a truck which comes back to Rotorua and are delivered to shops and homes early the next morning. All of that happens while we are sleeping.

But journalism is not just about writing it is also about talking on the radio, as the students found out when they were lucky enough to visit Paul Hickey from The Hits radio station.

Two students, Michaela Fawthrop and Danayla Wilson were given the opportunity to speak on air.

"It was so cool talking on the radio station, I have never done anything like that before," said Michaela.

The students' journalism teacher Dana Haimona said it was a great trip and she is so thankful to Mrs Makiha and the Rotorua Daily Post team for the opportunity.

"It was a wonderful opportunity for the journalism students to experience a real-life news room and radio station. Hopefully it will inspire them to be journalists in the future. Who knows, we may one day see some of these students as Daily Post reporters."

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Rotorua Daily Post

'Shocking' cuts: 160-plus jobs at risk, campuses face closure

Rotorua Daily Post

Kea Kids News: The small rugby player making big moves

Watch
Rotorua Daily Post

'No significant changes': All calm after quake swarm at Ruapehu


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

'Shocking' cuts: 160-plus jobs at risk, campuses face closure
Rotorua Daily Post

'Shocking' cuts: 160-plus jobs at risk, campuses face closure

With declining student numbers, 'it is just no longer viable to operate in this way'.

14 Jul 11:58 PM
Kea Kids News: The small rugby player making big moves
Rotorua Daily Post

Kea Kids News: The small rugby player making big moves

Watch
14 Jul 11:26 PM
'No significant changes': All calm after quake swarm at Ruapehu
Rotorua Daily Post

'No significant changes': All calm after quake swarm at Ruapehu

14 Jul 11:23 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP