When she’s not lecturing, Ms Hopkin is writing investigative pieces regularly featured in The Guardian, and this year she has been nominated in two categories at the 2024 WA Media Awards held by the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA).  

The nominations for her bodies of work, which include a powerful piece about the domestic violence-related murder of two women in Floreat and the decline of Little Penguin numbers at Penguin Island, have prompted her to reflect on the importance of keeping journalism alive and inspiring the next generation.   

"As a journalism lecturer, I believe that my teaching influences my reputation in the media industry. The way students perform after leaving my classroom is a testament to how effectively I've prepared them to be skilled journalists or communicators," Ms Hopkin said.   

It is really important to me that I teach students to be the voice of the people and to do so with integrity—it's about driving positive change in our society by asking the right questions and reporting information in a responsible way." 

Another focus of Ms Hopkin’s teaching is adaptability, and equipping students with the skills needed to be able to think on their feet.  

This was a skill she put into practice during her story that was shortlisted for the Hugh Schmitt feature writing prize.  

No phone signal, a six-hour drive, filing news copy all afternoon and actively helping with a mission to rescue 47 pilot whales that had stranded themselves at Cheynes Beach in Albany led to the story ‘As shots rang out, the battle to save Western Australia’s stranded pilot whales was over’.   

The whales re-stranded themselves, and authorities made the decision to euthanise the remaining animals.  
 
“It was hard work, not just because it was late, and I was cold and tired, but because I was in a remote caravan park with no phone signal and extremely limited internet,” she said. 

“I couldn’t phone anyone else or google facts and spellings – this was old-school reporting inside a heatless tin cabin, with just my notes and my keyboard to get the job done,” she said.   

“As I typed, I could hear the gunshots. One after the other – for hours. My heart broke for the vets working late into the night. As I sat working after dark, I wrote this piece from my heart and with tears in my eyes. I tried to use words to paint a heartbreaking scene that sensitively and accurately tells the story of a desperate mission to save a dying pod on a remote beach.” 

This story is an example of the importance of sensitivity and nuance in the journalistic field, and Ms Hopkin said it was critical thinking and hands-on experience during training that helped develop the strongest journalists.  

The skill to critically analyse and ethically report has never been more valuable and students in my course are sort after for a range of jobs, not just in the media,” Ms Hopkin said.  

“I find because the students also learn key digital content creation skills, like podcasting, vertical video and interactive graphics, it makes them an asset in corporate and non-for-profit worlds too.” 

Ms Hopkin’s students have gone on to win media awards themselves.   

“I’ve had students travel to Indonesia to investigate shark fishing and meet celebrities, politicians and sporting greats, it’s a very exciting career. 

“No two days are ever the same.” 

The MEAA’s WA Media Award winners will be announced on September 21.