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the team

PMC profile photograph

Del Abcede, a former AUT design student, does the layout/production of the PMC research journal Pacific Journalism Review and book publication designs, including Being the First.

She also edits the PMC newsletter Toktok.

PMC profile photograph

Alex Perrottet is a journalist undertaking a Masters in Communication Studies at AUT University and the contributing editor of Pacific Media Watch.

He also has Bachelors of Laws and Arts degrees from the University of Sydney and has worked as a practising solicitor in New South Wales.

Alex has a strong interest in Pacific affairs and took up the Pacific Media Watch contributing editor role in AUT University's Pacific Media Centre in mid-2010.

He is involved in youth development projects in the Pacific and won a highly commended award for the best online current affairs report in the Journalism Education of Australia (JEA) awards in 2010 for a series of reports on reconstruction in Samoa one year after the September 2009 tsunami.

In 2011, he researched and was co-author of the Pacific Media Watch and Pacific Journalism Review Pacific Media Freedom Report 2011.

His masters thesis is focusing on comparative journalism on development issues in the Pacific, looking at reporting on development from Fiji, Vanuatu and New Zealand.

More Alex Perrottet stories on PMC Online

Alex Perrottet stories on Pacific Scoop

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Professor David Robie is an author, journalist and media educator specialising in Asia-Pacific affairs.

He holds a PhD in history/politics from the University of the South Pacific and a masters degree in journalism from the University of Technology, Sydney.

Dr Robie was head of journalism at both the University of Papua New Guinea and USP in Fiji for a decade and has been a resource person for media workshops in Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu.  He was the 1999 Australian Press Council Fellow, winner of the 2005 Pacific Islands Media Freedom Award (PIMA) and a 2009 'Atenisi University Fellow, Tonga.

He is the founding director of the Pacific Media Centre and editor of Pacific Scoop and PMC Online. Among a range of research and publication activities, he was co-founder of Pacific Media Watch, New Zealand correspondent for Reporters sans frontières (Reporters Without Borders) and a Pacific researcher for Freedom House.

Founding editor of Pacific Journalism Review, David is also the author of nine books on Asia-Pacific media and politics, including Mekim Nius: South Pacific media, politics and education. In May 2011, he was awarded a Vice-Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching.

His blog is Cafe Pacific

His AUT staff academic profile

Promoting Asia-Pacific Journalism

David Robie appointed professor at AUT

David Robie on NZ Herald Online

Order David Robie titles at Wheelers Books

PMC profile photograph

Daniel Drageset, 27, is a Norwegian radio journalist enrolled in the Master in Communication Studies degree at AUT University.

From Ålesund, Norway, Drageset completed his Bachelor of Journalism degree at the University College of Volda in 2008, majoring in radio journalism.

Drageset worked as an all-round radio news reporter in the nationwide public service broadcaster Radio Norge from June 2008 to January 2012. In 2010, he received the Norwegian Radio Talent of the Year Award, winning a NZ$3200 prize. He was nominated for the best feature radio stories of the year in both 2011 and 2012, and was a highly recognisable "voice" in Norwegian radio.

“One of the appealing aspects of working at Radio Norge was the diverse tasks I was set to do. One day I could interview the prime minister, another day I could interview African prostitutes trawling the main street of Oslo trying to sell their services in biting cold weather," he says.

"I cherish the opportunity to voice the opinion of sources that are rarely heard in mainstream media. I found that to be true when I interviewed the African prostitutes, which were a group of people never before heard in Norwegian media. I have a wide range of interests, and I love to explore all kinds of topics, something I think is a vital quality to have for a journalist.”

The most dramatic moment of his career happened on 22 July 2011, when Norway experienced two terror attacks, leaving 77 people dead. Drageset was at work in the capital of Oslo when the bomb struck just 400m away from the newsroom of Radio Norge.

“I had never thought I would experience a terror attack in my life. Experiencing such a traumatic event as a journalist led me to the realisation that I should never take anything for granted. Even though you think you are in a safe place where nothing happens, that can literally change the next second.”

While Drageset is new to the Pacific region, he has taken a keen interest in issues such as climate change, conflicts and press freedom. He has visited both Samoa and Tonga, and has been appointed Pacific Media Watch contributing editor for 2013.

Daniel Drageset stories on PMC

Daniel Drageset stories on Pacific Scoop