La Trobe’s Associate Professor Lawrie Zion hosted a discussion with three distinguished colleagues who have taken redundancy and discovered life beyond our shrinking metropolitan newsrooms.

Kirsty Simpson – former Business Editor of The Age  

Phil Kafcaloudes – veteran ABC journalist and Radio Australia presenter

Louise Graham – former News and Fairfax picture editor and co-founder of MediaXpress

Since 2012 about 2000 journalists have left newsrooms across Australia as the media industry has been shaken by tough economic times and profound structural change. For some, redundancy has been a traumatic experience, emotionally and financially. For others, the change has been a welcome opportunity to reclaim a work-life balance and explore new career directions. New Beats – a five-year research project at La Trobe University – is tracking the experiences of hundreds of those who have taken the big “R” over the past three years.