Interview with Remy Varga, journalist at The Australian

Remy Varga is a Sydney based journalist for The Australian. She has a Master’s degree in Journalism from the University of Technology Sydney and Bachelor of Arts in Modern History and Spanish and Latin American studies. Follow her on Twitter at @RemyVarga.

When did you first decide to be a journalist?
About four years ago while I was travelling in Colombia. I always planned to study law after the completion of a BA as a way to justify studying something regarded as frivolous. When I received my acceptance email into law I realised I had no interest in pursuing a career as a lawyer and instead wanted to pursue something more adventurous.

How important is it for a journalist to master social media?
Extremely! Social media is not just networking but a rich resource which captures the world in real time. Journalists need to know how to dig and filter through it like they would a data sheet.

What does a press release need to interest you?
I guess a strong news value? I write general news stories mostly so I’m looking at how significant an announcement is to the general public.

What’s your process for finding a fresh angle in a story?
Take a story and knead it in your mind until you can feel the lumps in the dough.