Latest news with #Herald
Newsroom
an hour ago
- Sport
- Newsroom
Our sports queen honoured by the King
Suzanne McFadden has been made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the King's Birthday Honours for her services to sports journalism and women. In this Q&A, the founder of our LockerRoom section and passionate advocate for better participation, media coverage and recognition for women in sport, reflects on a 40-year labour of love. How hard was it starting out in the 80s as the only woman in the room in sports departments, press boxes and media conferences? Initially it was tough to get a foot in the door. I tried a couple of times, but naively I had no idea how difficult it was as a young female to get a start in sport, which was the only job I ever wanted. It wasn't until a defendant in a district court case I was covering threatened to kill me, that the Herald bosses finally agreed to transfer me from news to the sports department – just in time for the 1990 Commonwealth Games. I was there when gymnast Nikki Jenkins, then 14 years old, won gold on the vault, and her parents had been my PE teachers. I stayed working in sport for the Herald for 10 years – and I had incredible opportunities to cover events around the world, like the America's Cup. And even though I was the only woman in the department through that decade, it felt more like being part of a tight sports team. There was one time, though, at a sailing regatta, I was made to feel like the 'new girl' who'd only be there for 10 minutes… 30 years later… Did you get pigeon-holed into writing about women's sports? In my first job, at the Bay of Plenty Times, I was a general news reporter, but the sports editor, Kevin Savage, asked me to cover the local netball competition. I was not impressed – I'd only ever played 10 minutes of netball at school (fell over, grazed my knees on the asphalt, and never walked onto a netball court again). But he told me to write about the people more than the sport, and that's become my compass. Sir Terry McLean, who I was privileged to work alongside when I first started in sports journalism, once told me, 'The human story is the best story'. So even if I was assigned to women's sport, it was okay, because I was weaving the stories of interesting and often outstanding people into the match reports. Have you ever had a woman boss? Who are your female mentors? I've never had a female boss in sports reporting, but some of the best editors I've worked with in my freelancing career have been women. The wonderful Carroll du Chateau at Canvas taught me how to craft a feature story and was an incredible mentor. Michelle Crawshaw always trusted me with fascinating assignments. And my cousin Fiona Rotherham, then editor of Unlimited magazine, made business stories relatable and human. Among the women I look up to today is Shirley Hooper – vice president of World Netball and heavily involved in artistic swimming in New Zealand – and also a cousin. Storytelling runs in our McClean genes. Speaking of, my parents were both great mentors – Dad gave my sister and I our love of watching sport, and Mum taught me how to write. Ashley Stanley and Suzanne McFadden at Eden Park. Photo: Paul Enticott How much has it changed in sports journalism for young women? I honestly don't think the dial has moved enough. It's just as hard to get a job in a sports newsroom now as it was back in 1986. There are some excellent female sports reporters right now – Dana Johannsen at RNZ is a multiple-time sports journalist of the year; the TVNZ sports team has a strong female representation, including the super-talented Jordan Oppert. Yet we're still the minority, and the only way that's going to change is with more female sports editors. Something I've been really proud we've been able to do through LockerRoom is introducing more female voices to sports writing, and giving two women – Ashley Stanley and Merryn Anderson – scholarships to work at Newsroom. Through these wāhine, I discovered I love mentoring. What's your approach when setting out to interview someone? Great question! For a LockerRoom long read (you know all my stories are long!) I research, but not to the point where I think I know everything about the person. There needs to be that element of curiosity, where I want to learn more for the readers, so I can share something new. And I never call it an interview – it's always a chat. And there's no such thing as a stupid question. Suzanne McFadden first wrote about the late Sir Peter Blake's America's Cup red socks superstition. What stories do you look back on with most pride? What makes you happiest about stories you find and publish? During the 1995 America's Cup in San Diego, I wrote a story about Team New Zealand's superstitions on Black Magic – Sir Russell Coutts always the last man on the boat, and Sir Peter Blake wearing his lucky red socks. The rest is history. I've loved telling stories about women that show how resilient they are, and how much more they have to do to be successful. Sportswomen who've returned to the top as mums, especially in the 'From Here to Maternity' series in LockerRoom. What makes me happiest about publishing stories? When one person tells you they read it, and it helped them through something they were facing. Like the RED-S stories we've told over the years. If you can make a difference in one person's life, it's a win. Your RED-S stories opened a lot of people's eyes. How'd that story come about? American athlete Mary Cain broke her silence on the mistreatment she received while she was training under the all-male support team at the Nike Oregon Project, and how the win-at-all-costs mentality had made her ill. She had all the symptoms of RED-S, a syndrome I hadn't really heard of, but it turned out there were Kiwi athletes who weren't fuelling their bodies to match the energy they were expending. The more we wrote about RED-S, the more athletes came forward with their own health battles. Hopefully, we've helped some young women spot the signs in time. Are women in sport getting a fair crack now at representation, competition, professionalism, payment, crowd support, media? Look, the three World Cups hosted by New Zealand in 2022 and '23 were phenomenal for women's sport here – they opened so many eyes to just how entertaining and enthralling women's sport is. The media coverage of women's sport spiked to 28 percent – higher than I ever expected to see in my career. But things have slipped away since then – it's as though we need the big events, like the Olympics, to remind the public how talented our female athletes are. Covid hasn't helped the situation – if there's a funding cut, it's most likely the women's programme in a sport will be the first to feel it. Pay equity in some sports is still a pipe dream, and there aren't enough women's coaches at the top level of most sports. There's still so much work to do. But LockerRoom has had amazing readership, as recently as the past fortnight, which highlights that people still want to read interesting stories about women in sport. McFadden with the great Black Fern Portia Wickliffe Woodman. Photo: Supplied Who would you most want to spend time with, write about – for LockerRoom or for a book? That's a tough question! Portia Woodman-Wickliffe, Emma Twigg and Sophie Devine immediately come to mind. Writing a book is hard yakka though, and I don't think I'll be rushing back into one. But the two books I've written, Striking Gold and Honey, are two of my proudest achievements (alongside my two sons, and two grandsons, obviously). And, what was your first thought when Government House sent you word of your MNZM nomination? It was a Friday, I think, and I wasn't feeling 100 percent, so I'd just had a nap. I woke up to an email from Government House and I immediately panicked. I thought it must be a long weekend, and this email was the media list of honour recipients, and I'd quickly have to prepare a LockerRoom story for Monday! Then I opened it, read it, and read it again and bawled my eyes out. A recognition like this is 'ginormous', as my four-year-old grandson would say. I feel incredibly proud, humbled, and grateful to everyone who's guided me along this crazy path, and all who've come with me. And that includes you, Tim. Thank you.
NZ Herald
9 hours ago
- Entertainment
- NZ Herald
Herald morning quiz: June 2
When was Halley's Comet last visible? Photo / Getty Images Can you score 10 out of 10? Test your general knowledge with the Herald's morning quiz. Share your score with friends, family and colleagues, and find out who has the sharpest mind. Be sure to check back on for today's afternoon quiz.
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Yes, immigration is a flash point in Boston's mayoral race. A debate confirmed it
Good Monday morning, everyone. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu made nationwide headlines earlier this year with a defiant appearance before a U.S. House committee probing the city's immigration policies, which bar local cops from cooperating with the feds in civil matters. Wu's main challenger in this year's race for City Hall, philanthropist Josh Kraft, in a rare instance of agreement in what's become an increasingly thorny campaign, said he was onside with that approach. So far, so good, right? Maybe not. Kraft, the son of billionaire New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, got some serious pushback during a debate in Dorchester last week after he told a packed house at Prince Hall that he's 'completely against President Trump's mass deportation plans,' and 'will stand with our immigrant community wholeheartedly, no matter who is in the White House.' 'I think it's absolutely abhorrent that federal agents could walk into your place of work, your house of worship or your children's schools and remove you, even if you have zero connection to violent crime,' Kraft said, according to The Boston Herald. The response prompted some in the crowd to stand up and hurl jeers in Kraft's direction, the Herald reported. In turn, an organizer had to take the stage to settle things down. The pump got primed by a question from the debate's moderator, Yawu Miller of Flipside News, the newspaper reported. 'In today's political climate, immigrant communities are increasingly under threat. How would you defend these communities and push back against harmful actions by ICE or a hostile federal administration,' Miller asked, according to the Herald. He had to stop to say 'excuse me' as the majority-Black crowd reacted to his question, the newspaper reported. 'What concrete strategies would you implement to ensure the safety and protection of all residents in Boston, regardless of immigration status?' he continued. Domingos DaRosa, another mayoral aspirant, offered a more conciliatory answer, saying the city had to look after the interests of immigrants and native-born Bostonians alike. Wu, meanwhile, defended the city's immigration policies. 'In Boston, 29% of our residents are immigrants who were born in a different country,' Wu said, according to the Herald. 'We, as a city, have a responsibility to make sure that everyone is getting what they need. I just want to say in this room and in every room, that part of the strategy of those who are trying to make us turn against each other and point fingers is to say there's not enough.' Robert Cappucci, who's also seeking the city's top spot, said he'd work with the Trump administration. 'There are a lot of people very upset in terms of who got here legitimately, who got to live here illegitimately, and again, you go back to love God and love thy neighbor,' Cappucci said, according to The Herald. 'My job would be to try to settle this argument.' The relative comity between Kraft and Wu on the flashpoint issue was a rare oasis of calm in a week in which the two candidates warred over Kraft's Boston bona fides and a flood of dark money into the race. Wu accused Kraft of trying to buy the race after reports surfaced that he planned to inject $2 million of his own money into the campaign, a move that effectively would erase the incumbent mayor's cash advantage. It also was revealed that a pro-Kraft super PAC had dropped more than $1.4 million on attack ads bolstering his candidacy. 'Most Bostonians don't have a billionaire father to buy them a condo so they can move in to run for an office they've never voted for, live in a ward they don't know and spend millions from their family wealth and connections to try to buy the election,' the Democratic incumbent said in a statement released through her campaign. Kraft's campaign fired back. 'Josh Kraft purchased his home with his own money. He has voted in multiple elections as a Boston resident. And he has worked in and around the neighborhoods of Boston for 35 years ― long before Michelle Wu came to Harvard by way of one of the wealthiest suburbs of Chicago,' the campaign said in a statement to MassLive. 'She would rather resort to personal attacks ... than address her record of failures as mayor of Boston - from housing to the Boston Public Schools, from managing the budget to managing her own personnel problems inside City Hall.' One veteran observer put the current tensions at 5 out of a possible 10. But it's still only June, and there's nowhere to go but up. U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-8th District, is officially in the running to become the next top Democrat on the powerful House Oversight Committee. That's the one that Boston Mayor Michelle Wu appeared before earlier this year in a headline-grabbing appearance over the city's immigration policies. Lynch, of South Boston, had been unofficially minding the store after U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly, of Virginia, who had been the panel's ranking Democrat, announced in late April that he was stepping aside to deal with a recurrence of cancer. Connolly, 75, lost that fight earlier this month, succumbing to the esophageal cancer he had been diagnosed with last November. Connolly's passing opens up what is essentially a generational fight for the top spot on the Oversight Committee, with Lynch, 70, and U.S. Rep. Kwesi Mfume, 76, of Maryland, at the older end of the leadership contest. U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia, 47, of California, and Jasmine Crockett, 44, of Texas, and a frequent inquisitor of President Donald Trump, are leading the youth brigade, according to Axios. Lynch made his pitch in a three-page 'Dear Colleague' letter his office shared last week. It stressed his hardscrabble roots in Southie, his background in labor and his involvement in every big committee probe of the last quarter-century. 'I will also always welcome regular input from our caucus as we continue to prepare an investigative oversight record that will be primed and ready for a Democratic majority to hold President Trump fully accountable,' Lynch wrote. A vote on the post is set for June 24, according to Axios. The rent, in case you were wondering, is still too darn high. A single person needs to earn $127,000 to rent an apartment in Greater Boston, making it the third-most expensive metro area in the nation, according to an analysis by Zillow. The top two markets were San Jose, California ($137K) and New York City ($145K), according to the analysis. The three most affordable markets were Buffalo, New York ($55K), Oklahoma City, Oklahoma ($56K) and Louisville, Kentucky ($57K). The analysis found that renters need to make six figures to 'comfortably' afford rent in eight major markets across the country. That's up from four markets just five years ago. Since April 2020, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the rent for a typical U.S. apartment soared by 28.7% to $1,858 − which would, like, get you a couch, in the Seaport. Rent for a single-family home nationwide increased by an eye-watering 42.9% to $2,256, or a garage in Wellesley, probably. The median household income, at the same time, has only risen by 22.5% to around $82,000, vividly reminding people, in case they needed it, that wages haven't kept up with skyrocketing housing costs. Another reminder from Zillow: Boston remains one of the handful of U.S. cities where renters are on the hook for broker fees ― usually the equivalent of a month's rent — that come on top of security deposits and advance payments. And that also drives up costs. Lawmakers on Beacon Hill are weighing competing plans to spike them. But success is, by no means, assured. 'The greatness of America, the greatness of Harvard is reflected in the fact that someone like me could be invited to speak to you.' — Abraham Verghese, Stanford University professor, infectious disease doctor, best-selling writer and immigrant, as he delivered Harvard University's 374th commencement address last week. Many foreign students already fleeing Harvard University due to Trump order Sen. Warren, Mass. pols demand answers from Trump on 'attacks on international students' 'Global order has been upset': World Affairs Council gauges tariff war impact on Western Mass Mass. AG sues Trump administration over cuts to scientific research Mass. Gov. Healey slams ICE over migrant arrests on Nantucket, Vineyard No more 'fricking barber poles': Gov. Healey says as Mass. looks to shred regs A 'historic battle': Mass pols protest Medicaid cuts in 'Big Beautiful Bill' | John L. Micek With the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill just a couple of weeks away on June 17, Massachusetts Secretary of State Bill Galvin holds a briefing this Tuesday morning on events celebrating the big day. He'll be joined at the 10 a.m. news conference at the battlefield site at 43 Monument Square in Charlestown by Simone Monteleone, who's the acting superintendent for the National Parks of Boston, his office said in a statement. Galvin, in case you were wondering, is the chair of the Massachusetts Historical Commission, in addition to serving as chief overseer of the state's elections. Singer Halsey brings her 2025 tour to the XFinity Center in scenic Mansfield at 7 p.m. Wednesday. (tickets and more info here). From the film 'Ballerina,' here's the latest single 'Hand That Feeds.' Amy Lee, of Evanescence, also guests. There's no doubt that every shooting death is a tragedy, and it leaves survivors with mental and physical scars that last a lifetime. But new research shows that, when it comes to the lasting mental trauma of these explosions of violence, not all shootings are created equal. In April, research published by the journal Nature Mental Health found that people who survive 'commonplace' gun violence, such as robberies or domestic violence, had reported longer-term mental health symptoms than people who had survived mass shootings, according to The Trace, a publication that tracks gun violence nationwide. Here's the germane bit: ''What surprised us a bit was that people who experienced non-mass shooting gun violence were more likely to have their symptoms last a year or longer,' said Jillian Peterson, executive director of the Violence Prevention Project Research Center at Hamline University in Minnesota and the study's lead author.' 'A mass shooting — defined in the study as four or more people shot in a single incident — is a shared experience that prompts public attention and communal social support, said the study's coauthor, David Pyrooz, a sociology professor and criminologist at the University of Colorado's Institute for Behavioral Science. 'And that helps to resolve some of the distress that comes from it.'" ''When we had the King Soopers shooting, there was 'Boulder Strong,' donations, and an outpouring of support from the community,' he said, referring to the 2021 mass shooting. 'But when there is a robbery with a firearm, you don't get that same sort of outpouring.'' 'The largest discrepancy was in long-term post-traumatic stress symptoms. Among non-mass shooting survivors, 60% of those threatened with a gun, 65% of people who were shot at but not hit, and 44% of those who were hit reported long-term PTSD.' 'By comparison, long-term PTSD among people who experienced mass shootings ranged between 20 and 30%, depending on the type of exposure. The researchers surveyed a nationally representative sample of 10,000 adults.' 'Survivors of isolated incidents are often specifically targeted, which can hinder recovery. And the violation of safety and trust inherent in violence by someone you know can lead to more severe PTSD than mass shootings, said Mayer Bellehsen, a clinical psychologist at Northwell Health in New York.' That's it for today. As always, tips, comments and questions can be sent to jmicek@ Have a good week, friends. The piece of the Mass. budget that passes all understanding | John L. Micek A 'historic battle': Mass pols protest Medicaid cuts in 'Big Beautiful Bill' | John L. Micek Mass. Rep. Trahan's 'Les Miz' moment on Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill' | Bay State Briefing Read the original article on MassLive.
Miami Herald
15 hours ago
- Sport
- Miami Herald
St. Thomas Aquinas' Crowley and Stein are the Broward Lacrosse Coaches of the Year
At St. Thomas Aquinas this year, a familiar face led the boys' lacrosse team to yet another state championship and a new face helped the girls' lacrosse team stay among the top teams in Broward County. Now, Terry Crowley and Kristina Stein the Miami Herald's Broward County Lacrosse Coaches of the Year. Crowley is the Herald's Boys' Coach of the Year for the fifth straight season after hoisting his fourth state championship trophy with the Raiders. Crowley also led St. Thomas Aquinas to state titles in 2016, 2017 and 2022, and he also took the Raiders to the title game in 2015, 2019 and 2023. In 2024, St. Thomas Aquinas went into the region playoffs with a losing record before making a run to the final four and that experience primed the Raiders for a return to championship form in 2025. St. Thomas Aquinas brought another trophy back to Fort Lauderdale by blowing out Ponte Vedra, 13-4, in the Class 2A title game May 10. Along the way, the Raiders lost only one game to another Florida team—an overtime loss to Benjamin in April. Stein is the Herald's Broward County Girls' Lacrosse Coach of the Year after sustaining the Raiders' status as one of the top teams in the county in her first year as coach. St. Thomas Aquinas reached the Region 4-2A championship, making a deeper run in the postseason than any other Broward team, and went undefeated against county rivals. In the region playoffs, the Raiders won their first three games each by at least nine goals, only to narrowly fall 7-6 to Vero Beach in the 4-2A championship May 2. Stein, who spent the last two seasons as the coach at Stoneman Douglas, was previously an assistant at St. Thomas Aquinas and is off to a good start in building on the Raiders' legacy of recent success that includes a state title in 2021 and a trip to the state championship in 2023.
Miami Herald
15 hours ago
- Sport
- Miami Herald
St. Thomas Aquinas' Finch and Campbell are the Broward Lacrosse Players of the Year
St. Thomas Aquinas stuffed its lacrosse trophy case once again in 2024 and now the Raiders have some individual awards to add to it, too. James Finch and Jordan Palmer are the Miami Herald's Broward County Lacrosse Players of the Year. Finch, a junior, is the Herald's Boys' Lacrosse Player of the Year for the third straight year after helping the Raiders win their fourth state title. The attack scored 76 goals and added 76 assists as the engine of one of the top teams in the state. Finch also had 34 ground balls and seven takeaways for St. Thomas Aquinas, which won yet another state championship with a well-rounded style of play. 'It was the greatest feeling ever, I was bawling my eyes out,' Finch said. 'It was always the talk I heard from the 2022 team, how good it was to win state. Their grit, their determination. That's the team we wanted to model ourselves around.' Finch is already orally committed to Ohio State and is closing in on 200 goals in his career, topping 50 in each of his first three seasons in Fort Lauderdale. Most importantly, he now has a championship on his resume after narrowly missing out in each of his first two seasons of high school. Palmer, the Herald's Girls' Lacrosse Player of the Year, was one of the most well-rounded players in the county and helped the Raiders come just one goal short of a trip to the final four. The midfielder had 69 goals, eight assists, 30 ground balls, 12 caused turnovers and 53 draw controls this season to wrap up her career at St. Thomas Aquinas. The Raiders reached the Region 4-2A championship, but came up just one goal short against Vero Beach. The senior was especially dominant in the postseason, scoring 13 goals in the region playoffs, including two in the season-ending loss to the Indians. Palmer scored 14 hat tricks, including at least four goals in five of her last six games in high school and seven in a thrilling shootout win against Bradenton Manatee—another region finalist—in March. Palmer is heading to UCF in the fall and will keep playing lacrosse as a club sport there. 'We did so well and played for each other the whole season,' Palmer said. 'We won a lot of really close games and games we haven't won in the past. Overall, it was amazing.'
