BOARD MEMBERS 2022-23
Laurence Arthur [President]: Laurence Arthur works for the Swiss National radio and other French speaking Swiss print media, such as Tribune de Genève/24 Heures and Ats which is the Swiss equivalent of AFP. Occasionally, she broadcasts for Radio Canada. Laurence is Swiss, born in Geneva, where she did Political Science and Arts before being hired as a junior journalist to undertake the official journalist school in Lausanne. She worked there full time, in the daily newspaper 24 heures in the economy section. Then, she decided to move to Melbourne and, here, she is enjoying the local coffee culture. However, she is not convinced yet about the quality of local cheese, not to mention chocolate!
Peter Hadfield [Vice President]:
Peter makes feature programmes for BBC radio, as well as reporting news for Canadian Broadcasting (CBC) from Australia and East Asia. He has been a journalist for 35 years, covering events from Burma to North Korea for the Sunday Times, US News and World Report, the Sunday Telegraph, the South China Morning Post, USA Today, the Guardian and New Scientist magazine. He was also a regular feature writer for Britain’s Sunday Times Magazine and Observer Magazine. He is the author of “Sixty Seconds that Will Change the World,” (Simon and Schuster 1991) translated into five other languages. In the early 90s he moved into radio and TV, reporting for the BBC, CNN, ABC (USA), NPR, Deutschewelle and CBC.
Robert Cockburn [Honorary Secretary]: Robert Cockburn has been a reporter and program maker for over 40 years, and is a writer of fiction and drama for stage and screen. He reported in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq in the 70s and 80s as a freelance correspondent for the UK Observer and BBC.He has worked widely for BBC Radio and Television and London Times, and for CBS, CBC, NHK, Radio NZ, SBS, ABC. He has contributed to the UK Guardian, Financial Times, Geographic, the American Prospect, the UK satirical Private Eye, Amnesty International, and for the Age, Sydney Morning Herald and Bulletin.
Robert is a lead writer for the peered-reviewed Public Library of Science Medicine with African medical regulators and Oxford University doctors to expose the criminal racket and the cover-up of deadly fake pharmaceutical drugs. His film exposing child malaria deaths from fake drugs, The Malaria Parasites, is on: Trac Productions. His film outfit, TRAC Productions makes exclusive programs that go around the world for National Geographic TV and Journeyman Pictures. Robert has worked for the National Institute for Dramatic Arts, Sydney Theatre Company and Melbourne Playbox.
Liz Lacerda [Treasurer]: Based in Australia since 2011, Liz Lacerda has been working as a Foreign Correspondent for the major news organisations in Brazil, including Terra Networks – where she worked for five years – Folha de São Paulo and O Globo newspapers, IstoÉ magazine, Globo TV and Record TV, among others. She has also worked from Brazil as a Foreign Correspondent for Channel 7 Australia. In Sydney, Liz was also a Casual Producer for SBS Radio Portuguese. With a Bachelor in Communications, a Post-Degree in Video & Television in Spain and a Masters in Media Arts and Production at the University of Technology – Sydney (UTS), she has two decades of experience in broadcast, print, radio and online news, current affairs and documentaries.
Raj Suri [Executive Board Member]: Raj is the Australian representative of the Indian TVW News. Professional photographer, digital media producer and presenter. Raj Suri works across multi platform industries – media, film, Australian TV, fashion, talent, international education and lifestyle. A content producer for over 15 years. Raj has co produced 2 feature films and is the former judge/panelist of Australian SBS TV series Bollywood Star, which was aired nationally in Australia in 2012. Currently working on two documentaries and Australian Indian diversity youth mentoring. Raj is also the chair of the FCA sub committee for website content management, online briefings and social media. Producer and presenter of FCA Members Talk video podcast.
Barbara Barkhausen [Executive Board Member]:
Barbara represents a number of newspapers in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Luxembourg as their Asia-Pacific foreign correspondent. Her articles have been published widely by well-known papers like “Die Welt”, “Tagesspiegel”, “Rheinische Post”, “Die Presse” or “Luxemburger Tageblatt” , Barbara also works as a TV and radio producer for German and Australian media outlets like SBS Radio for example. She has published several books about Australia covering immigration, the country’s history, culture and politics, wildlife and tourism. Before immigrating to Australia Barbara worked for several German TV and production companies. Barbara has a Master in Communication, English Literature and Art History from the Ludwig-Maximilian-University in Munich and has also spent some time at UCLA in Los Angeles during her studies.
Thorsten Joses [Executive Board Member]: Thorsten is an accomplished lighting cameraman and videographer with over 30 years of film & video industry experience. He works regularly as a freelancer for the ABC and has worked on documentaries, reality television and current affairs productions for many major broadcasters worldwide. Thorsten is a member of the Australian Cinematographic Society (ACS) and available for jobs around Australia, the Pacific Islands and South East Asia.
Rocio Otoya Watanabe [Executive Board Member]:Rocio Otoya, a Peruvian-Japanese journalist, has been a correspondent in Australia for Agencia Efe (Spain’s International News Agency) since 2011. In addition, she has been based in Peru and Japan and worked as a digital and radio producer for SBS Spanish. Currently, Rocio is collaborating with the Journalist Risk Global Hub with research about the impact of COVID-19 on the Peruvian pres people while studying for a master’s in strategic communication at UTS.