12 // 70TH ANNIVERSARY | REFLECTIONS
reflections from past editors AUTHOR // VARIOUS
Andrew Podger Andrew worked at Woroni in 1970 when it was a sub-sect of ANUSA, and most editors were student politicians. He took on the role as a fill-in, and balanced the position with a full time job in the public service and part-time study at the ANU. Woroni was published weekly, and one of Andrew’s most memorable editions featured Princess Anne’s teeth. Upon graduating, Andrew began an incredible career in social policy, seeing him work for various departments of the public service. Andrew was appointed a departmental secretary by the Keating government in 1993, and ended his public service career as the Public Service Commissioner in 2004. Since then, Andrew has re-joined the ANU as a professor of public policy, and maintains an interest in media as a member of the Australian Press Council. “Editing Woroni was fun, as was participating in student politics. But such activities are more than fun - they teach you and those around you about issues of public interest and about ways to explore and debate them. For me, they also led to life-long friendships with a cohort of extraordinary men and women who have contributed in all sorts of ways both in Australia and internationally.”
Uma Patel Uma studied a dual degree of law and psychology at the ANU, and during her time she was an editor at Woroni and founded Woroni Radio. Uma was an editor at Woroni in 2011, the first year of an independent ANU Student Media, separate from ANUSA. She has gone on to work as a correspondent and bureau chief for Sky News New Zealand, a political reporter for the ABC, and she currently works as a strategic analyst for the Financial Times in London. “I think I’m the only Woroni editor who decided to go straight into TV, which probably means I’m the most dynamic ex-editor with the hottest face. That face has been fortunate enough to have a career filled with a ton of insane and illuminating adventures – I’ll always look at Woroni as the crucial first step along that beautiful unkempt path.”
