Michael Rowland’s appreciation of oxygen and lolly snakes

What was your first job?
Management trainee at Westpac. Yes, the possibilities…. There’s a Michael Rowland who is ANZ’s chief financial officer, and I have often thought about asking him about a job-swap. Given he probably earns more in a month than I do in an entire year, I don’t reckon he’d be tempted. I am in journalism for the love of it anyway…

Facebook or Instagram?
Heavy user of both, but Instagram is a bit more fun!

Recommend a podcast…
I have been really getting into ‘The Daily Aus’. In 5 to 10 minutes you get a summary of all the day’s news, plus a really engaging deep dive into a big issue. Zara and Sam do a brilliant job at presenting the top stories. I’m (just a bit) outside of their youthful demographic, but I love it all the same!

What’s one vice you wish you could give up?
Snakes. (The lolly kind).

The song that’s always on high rotation?
Flame Trees, by Cold Chisel. I just love this song.

What are you reading?
‘Media unmade: Australian media’s most disruptive decade’, by Tim Burrowes. It is a bracing account of the massive upheaval the media sector has gone through over the last 10 years, as reader and audience habits rapidly changed. It has particular resonance for me, as I have lived through the pivots the ABC has made (and is continuing to make) to go to where the eyeballs are.

Favourite movie of the past decade?
Spotlight. It chronicles the dogged work by Boston Globe reporters to expose systemic child sex abuse within the local Catholic Church. It is a film that shows the power of good journalism, and its ability to changes lives.

Top of your sporting bucket list?
Watching the mighty Western Bulldogs win the AFL 2016 Premiership. I live in Melbourne’s west, and the community party went on for weeks!

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
News Editors and Executive Producers have used variations over the years of: ‘Don’t **** it up!’ I always take that gentle advice on board.