White House staffer and now University of Melbourne researcher Cory Alpert will speak at the festival event.
Local author Fleur Ferris says a Festival of Stories panel at Echuca Library will give audiences the opportunity to hear from four media personalities whose own lives offer as much intrigue as the stories they tell.
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Cory Alpert, Terri Cowley, Joel Crane and Andrew Mole will join Ms Ferris for Storytelling Through the Media on Saturday, 17 October, from 10am to 11am.
Ms Ferris says the discussion brings together international politics, Australian stories and local journalism, with plenty of room for the unexpected.
“This panel brings together so many things I love, media, Australian stories, politics and local voices,” Ms Ferris says.
“The more I learnt about these four, the more questions I had. Their biographies introduce them, but I want to hear the stories behind those biographies.”
Mr Alpert served for three years in the Biden-Harris White House and advised on the humanitarian response and war crimes investigations in Ukraine.
He now researches the impact of artificial intelligence on democracy at the University of Melbourne.
“What has he seen? What has surprised him? And what does he think we should be paying attention to?” Ms Ferris says.
“We get to have that conversation right here in Echuca.”
Author Fleur Ferris will host Storytelling Through the Media at Echuca Library on Saturday, 17 October, from 10am to 11am.
Magazine editor and podcaster Terri Cowley brings a different perspective through her work with RM Williams OUTBACK magazine and the people and places of regional Australia.
“Terri works on magazines I’ve read and studied throughout my life,” Ms Ferris says.
“I’ve been mesmerised by the photographs and stories that make you want to throw on a backpack and go and experience Australia for yourself.
“I want to ask her how you create that feeling – how words and images can make someone stop looking at a page and start imagining themselves in the story.”
Local content creator Joel Crane will bring the discussion to visual storytelling and the ways people connect with stories on screen.
“Watching the flood documentary made me want to hear more about the people behind the stories and the decisions they make about what we see,” Ms Ferris says.
“I’m interested in what Joel chooses to capture, how he finds the story within the footage and how he decides what makes the final cut.”
Veteran journalist Andrew Mole brings five decades of media experience, including founding the Red Gum Review because he believed local stories deserved greater attention.
“I’ve sat beside Andrew at work for five years, so I know far more than I probably should about this man,” Ms Ferris says.
“He has met the Queen, nearly died in quicksand and worked in newsrooms where the cigarette smoke was so thick you could barely see through it.
“There are some stories there that deserve an audience.”
Outback's Terri Cowley is a magazine editor and podcaster with Australia as her beat.
A former police officer and ambulance paramedic, Ms Ferris is the author of six novels and writes and researches for the Parliament of Victoria.
“I’ve spent years asking questions. Some people refuse to answer. These four have agreed to spill the beans,” she laughed.
“I want people to come along, hear something unexpected and meet the people behind the stories. We have an hour together, and I intend to make the most of it.”
Storytelling Through the Media will be held at Echuca Library on Saturday, 17 October, from 10am to 11am, as part of Festival of Stories.
