Finding her wavelength

At the start of her second year at Otago, Bonnie Harrison says she “found her people” when she joined the team at Radio One 91FM (the Otago student radio station).

Bonnie joined Radio One in early 2018, as part of a 10-minute political panel slot and says she was “very scared and nervous” but determined. Soon she was running a weekly choral music show. However, she decided that working behind the mic wasn’t for her.

A passionate consumer of the news, she soon moved into the News Manager role at Radio One, a role which she would hold for two years.

“I loved being behind the scenes and helping volunteers.

“I was a nerdy kid. I wasn’t super musically aware, but I was very interested in radio and everyone welcomed me with open arms at Radio One. I wasn’t judged and many of them are still close friends.”

Originally from Blenheim, Bonnie spent her first year at the University’s Arana College in 2017 and came to Otago on an Entrance Scholarship.

One of her proudest moments as News Manager was seeing one of her 20 fearless volunteers interview New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters, while he was on campus for the 2020 election.

“Winston was being Winston, he started off by correcting her and telling her what was wrong with the media in Aotearoa, but she was so brave and she got the story.”

Another feature of her time as manager was presenting the daily Covid-19 figures from home during the first lockdown to keep listeners updated.

“That was my life, updating Covid numbers on-air. It was so specific and so intense.”

Bonnie completed degrees in Law and Arts (Classics and Politics) in 2022 and received scholarships for both degrees and a 300-level Politics scholarship during her studies.

Her Classics research paper supervisor was Associate Professor Gwynaeth McIntyre, who was an inspiration.  

Bonnie had to finish the last few months of her Otago studies while she was working full-time in Auckland. She says Associate Professor McIntyre was highly understanding and supportive during this stressful time.

In addition, Bonnie says, “Politics Professor Janine Hayward is just a superstar and that whole department are amazing.”

She says during her time at Radio One, Radio New Zealand (RNZ) felt like a faraway island, which was her dream employer. Bonnie currently works as a producer for RNZ’s Nights programme hosted by Emile Donovan.

She says Nights is run by a team of Otago alumni: herself, Emile Donovan, who completed a BA in English and Music, and former Otago Daily Times reporter Tim Miller, who has a BA in History and Political Science from Otago.

“We all lived it, experienced it and we still love Otago,” she says.

In her current role booking interviews for the Nights programme, she says she talks with Otago Law Professor Andrew Geddis more often than she did when he was her lecturer.

Along with her time at Radio One from 2018-22, Bonnie also loved her work on the OUSA Capping Show and was a co-director in 2020.

Then, early in 2022, she was put in touch with Sarah Robson, a former Salient (Victoria University student magazine) editor who was producing the RNZ/Newsroom daily news podcast The Detail and looking for a new associate producer. After interviewing for the job successfully, she relocated to Auckland to take up the role.

After spending two years at The Detail, she has moved to her producer role at Nights.

Bonnie says Radio One is a wonderful training ground.

“Student media is as much a training ground as broadcasting and journalism schools are for talent.

“There is a real network of ex-student radio and student magazine people throughout the country.

“I came into Radio One as a nerd and was welcomed with open arms. Every day was so cool getting to work with a bunch of passionate, motivated people. It was such a wonderful place to work.”

She says working on Radio One made her a champion of Kiwi music and she is sure she will continue to be one for the rest of her life.

“Here’s to Radio One’s next 40 years. I owe so much to it as part of my university experience and I am so very grateful for all that I learned and the people that I met during my time there.”