This session was a conversation between Charlotte Glennie and Lauren Quaintance, who both worked for New Zealand and international media reporting on international news, and on Charlotte’s recent book Every Second Counts on her experiences in her work and life.
As an introduction, Lauren and Charlotte reflected on how long they have known each other and how they met as young journalists, and on Charlotte’s “great voice.” Charlotte recalled that she has in fact been recognised solely on her voice by the public.
Lauren asked Charlotte about her background and how she came to journalism. Charlotte came from a busy household with her mother working as a social worker and her father a doctor. Her family was involved in service and a socially conscious one. She recalled ‘helping’ her doctor father on rounds at Middlemore Hospital. Growing up, she and her family constantly watched and listened to news and she had decided on journalism by age 14. Even when she studied things other than journalism at university, she always came back to it and sees it as “a fantastic career and a great profession.” She always had rebelled against injustice and worried about the downtrodden.
Charlotte’s comment that through her work, “you could not not care if you’re been there”, Lauren raised the issue of journalism and objectivity. Charlotte said that it wasn’t a struggle for her and she had a clear idea of her role. You can still bring empathy to the story but still follow the foundational aspects of journalism.
More of a struggle was leaving the stories, especially in situations where you know injustice remains. She talked about the challenges of reporting in places like Tibet and the Rohingya crisis in Bangladesh, with the barriers in getting to the story in the first place, or knowing what people were telling you about was continuing to happen. Lauren asked if these stories might be even harder to tell now and Charlotte agreed. Being a journalist might block access to places at all, and she recalled that she had been able to visit area of China only because her passport was not associated with her journalist status at the time.
Charlotte helped to establish an Asia Bureau for TVNZ, adamant that a NZ perspective matters. Lauren asked if she thought this was still the case (lacking one now)? Charlotte argued that the world affects NZ and we are part of the Asia-Pacific region. The more we can understand around the people and places around us, the better. She also sees it important to look at and communicate geopolitics from a New Zealand perspective.
Lauren asked whether the demand for international news was there – “people are parochial”. Charlotte thought that even if people are, they are interested in international news. While they can get this from international outlets, why not tell the international stories from a New Zealand perspective to a New Zealand audience. She did note that news overload for people is an issue, but it was still important to report on events, talking about her experiences of reporting the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami and being able to report the perspectives of a New Zealand couple in Phuket: who else would have found and talked to them?
Lauren and Charlotte both reflected on the double standards women face in journalism around appearance (the absurdity of making sure you have makeup even in a disaster zone for a live cross!). But Charlotte said that in TV’s defence, the journalist should not be a distraction from the story, and keeping a ‘neutral’ or expected appearance helps.
Both speakers reflected on reporting and trauma. Lauren reflected on how reporting live from New York during 9/11 had impacted her and her behaviour. Charlotte said that it was definitely something she brushed at the time, and she’d always been a focused and stoic person during the work. But on reflection and later in life, the effects raised their head. But she felt lucky that she was able to keep working unlike others who were more significantly affected.
Lauren asked Charlotte about an important part of her book, Charlotte’s accident in 2001. Charlotte saw this as what put her on the path she became known for. She was towards the end of her OE and intending to look for work in London. But in Croatia, she fell from a cliff and underwent a 2 ½ year recovery in the UK and NZ and during this time, she was inspired with the idea of an Asia Bureau for TVNZ. The lesson she took was that bad things happen, but they don’t have to be walls, they can be doors that open in new directions.
To finish, Lauren asked that given the significant changes for journalism (and changes to come), would Charlotte encourage her sons to become journalists? Charlotte replied that she would still encourage young people to become journalists, and that we will always need motivated and interested people. But that journalism was at an inflection point and something had to change with the existing collapse of revenue and the future potential changes from AI. But she thought that journalism will endure even if it looks different.
This was a fantastic session and it was enlightening to hear about journalism and the life of a foreign correspondent from two people who had seen and done so many things throughout the careers.
WORD Christchurch Festival 2026
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