Back in October, 2009, yarraReporter met with journalists and editors of The Age to discuss the project and even published a story (Check the Media section). They were impressed by the yR concept and have offered work placements for budding writers in 2010.

The first yR to undertake a placement will be Akech Yangidt, who trained with yarraReporter in 2009. He has since enrolled in an online journalism course, is finishing his Sports and Exercise degree at V.U  and has had his work published in Culturalista and Bespoken. 

He will do his placement in early August for two weeks and will work on the Sunday Age, with a story hopefully published in the magazine at the end of his training.

In the lead up, he will be mentored by Graham Betley and Jacqui Cheng. Graham now works as a freelance journalist and social worker but used to work for The Age and Jacqui has experience in teaching ESL. This will help him fine tune his writing and story production skills.

For more information on Akech and other yarraReporters, visit our staff section.