Helen Vatsikopoulos is an Australian journalist, academic and documentary film-maker.

Helen Vatsikopoulos
Born (1960-01-01) 1 January 1960 (age 64)
Alma materUniversity of Technology Sydney
Occupation(s)Journalist, academic, documentary film-maker
Employer(s)Special Broadcasting Service, Australian Broadcasting Corporation
TelevisionDateline, Foreign Correspondent, Lateline, Asia Pacific Focus

Life

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Helen Vatsikopoulos was born in Florina and early in her life lived in Laimos, a village in Western Macedonia, Greece.[1] One of her grandmothers was a Slavophone Macedonian, her father identified as a Greek and some members of her family as Macedonian.[2] She and her parents immigrated to Australia in 1965 and lived in Adelaide, South Australia.[1] Vatsikopoulos was raised in a working class family and they were involved in the local Greek community.[3] In her youth, she had a patriotic Greek upbringing and on weekends attended Greek language school.[4] Vatsikopoulos considered herself Greek Macedonian during the Macedonia naming dispute.[5]

For 27 years, Vatsikopoulos was a journalist and served as an international reporter early on in her career.[6] As a reporter, she worked for the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) and also hosted their Dateline current affairs program.[7][5][8] At the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) she was a reporter for the Foreign Correspondent program, a reporter and producer for Lateline and was host on the Asia Pacific Focus program and the Australia Network.[7][8]

Later in life, Vatsikopoulos researched her family history and for her doctorate, the topics of migration, complex ethno–linguistic identities and the Greek Civil War.[9] In September 2011, Vatsikopoulos joined the University of Technology, Sydney and is a lecturer in Journalism and holds a Doctorate in Creative Arts (2019).[8]

Awards

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In 1992, Vatsikopoulos won a Walkley Award for All Media/Best International Report for her body of work on the dissolution of the Soviet Union, for SBS's Dateline.[10]

References

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  1. ^ a b Vatsikopoulos 2022, p. 3.
  2. ^ Vatsikopoulos 2022, pp. 12–13.
  3. ^ Vatsikopoulos 2022, p. 4.
  4. ^ Vatsikopoulos 2022, pp. 6–7.
  5. ^ a b Vatsikopoulos 2022, p. 9.
  6. ^ Vatsikopoulos 2022, p. 2.
  7. ^ a b Baker, Richard; McKenzie, Nick; Spencer, Sue; Besser, Linton; Welch, Dylan; Vatsikopoulos, Helen (2012). "Panel discussion-investigative case studies". Pacific Journalism Review. 18 (1): 45.
  8. ^ a b c "Biography of Helen Vatsikopoulos". University of Technology, Sydney. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
  9. ^ Vatsikopoulos, Helen (2022). "Bearing Witness: Becoming Greek in the Diaspora". In M. F. Gerry, Thomas (ed.). Legacies of Ancient Greece in Contemporary Perspectives. Vernon Press. pp. 2, 14–17. ISBN 9781648894459.
  10. ^ "Walkley Winners Archive - Helen Vatsikopoulos". The Walkley Foundation. Retrieved 8 December 2017.