At Large with Toby Manhire

Behind the Story: When should a journalist tell their own story?

Gabi Lardies and Liam Rātana discuss when to tell a story from your point of view and when to defer to others.

07 Mar 2025

Behind the Story: When should a journalist tell their own story?

More about the episode

This week we published a deeply researched and reported story by Liam Rātana. It takes an inside look at what many people face when they are considering starting a family – tricky ethical choices and less than ideal medical and legal systems. When Liam pitched the story in our weekly editorial meeting a few weeks ago, it was a personal experience, but he chose to focus the final article on others’ experiences and interviews with experts in the field. I wanted to know the thinking behind his approach, and what the process of reporting had been like for him.

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