Massey distance student earns spot in Youth Press Gallery

Emma Westenra, a Massey distance student, is one of 20 Kiwi students selected for the Youth Press Gallery as part of this year's Youth Parliament. 

Youth Parliament is a triannual event which selects 143 young people from across the country to represent their communities as Youth MPs.  

The Youth Press Gallery is part of the event, selecting up to 20 young people with a strong interest in media to report on it. Participants include young Kiwis with an interest in media. 

In this role, Westenra will act as a real journalist — producing articles reporting on Youth Parliament events and interviewing youth MPs. 

“We will be writing stories about Youth Parliament and following specific youth MP’s ... writing stories in the lead up to the event as well as recapping it after it’s all done.” 

Westenra holds a Politics and Anthropology degree from Otago and is now studying Journalism postgrad at Massey.  

She first heard about the Youth Press Gallery during a bootcamp for her postgrad, when two Press Gallery members gave her class a tour of Parliament. 

After looking it up online, she found that applications were closing in less than a day — so she quickly submitted an application.  

“I was quite surprised and excited to find out I was selected,” Westenra recalled.  

The Youth Press Gallery has already commenced and will be finishing at the end of August.  

“It will be great to learn more about the process of parliament from a Press Gallery perspective.” 

Westenra credits her selection to her teaching staff, saying, “It was only because of the amazing teaching staff that I even knew about this opportunity.” 

Westenra was thankful to her postgrad lecturers for helping hone her writing and journalism skills. 

“Our first week of class really opened my eyes to what journalism can offer.” 

Journalism lecturer Teresa Housel said that while her students have been covering local and central government, and court, Westenra has jumped right in to learn about political reporting.  

Housel said, "Emma has been able to cover local and central government as it impacts her region ... This is fantastic training for her future."