**Pete McKenzie (New Zealand ) is an AFPC Scholarship Awardee for 2022. (Left: Nancy Prager Kamel, Chairwoman of the AFPC-USA)**

Pete McKenzie is an award-winning New Zealand journalist based in New York. He is an AFPC Scholarship Awardee from the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents in the USA for 2022. He writes for The New York Times, The Guardian, and New Zealand magazines like North & South and New Zealand Geographic. He is a qualified attorney and previously served as an infantry officer in New Zealand's Army Reserve. He focuses on politics, foreign affairs, and the environment. Within that beat, he has written about everything from the ethical dilemma posed by traumatised mercenaries coming home from war, to the fiery debate over indigenous knowledge in academia, to how two New Zealanders saved the CIA’s Argo operation during the Iranian hostage crisis. Pete was named Feature Writer of the Year (Longform) – New Zealand’s most prestigious feature-writing prize – at the 2022 Voyager Media Awards, New Zealand’s annual celebration of journalistic excellence. In 2022 he was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study a master in global politics at Columbia Journalism School.'

Pete McKenzie from New Zealand received her award from Cameron Batten, Senior Vice President and Chief Communications Officer, Volkswagen Group of America, during the Annual Foreign Press Awards Ceremony on December 15, 2022, in New York.

What was the primary reason you chose to pursue your master's studies in the United States as a foreign journalist?

Earlier this year, thousands of protestors descended on New Zealand’s capital to protest – they said – vaccine mandates. They erected tents, toilets, and a temporary donut stand. For the first few days it felt like a carnival. But when I ventured into the encampment for The New York Times, I saw its darker elements. As I wove through the maze of vehicles, I saw anti-vaccine placards and ‘Trump 2024’ flags. I saw banners decrying a global ‘Great Replacement’, signs denouncing ‘Jew-cinda Ardern’, and large ‘Q’s daubed across campervans. Protestors called for “Nuremberg trials”. Some demanded political executions. I asked one group what would happen if police tried to evict them. One protestor answered, “There might be bloodshed.” A second insisted, “But it’ll be peaceful.” The first paused, then said, “We’ll stay to the end.” Weeks later, as police began clearing the encampment, protestors pelted them with bricks and lit bonfires using propane tanks. Police used rubber bullets to disperse the resulting riot.

New Zealand is supposed to be among the world’s most stable democracies: what happened? My reporting for the Times made clear that pre-existing social fractures had been exacerbated by exported American disinformation. “Everything which you would associate with QAnon … is here,” one researcher told me.

As a journalist, I am fascinated by how ideas in one part of the globe can change realities in another. And as I looked at the issues confronting the region I am most passionate about – the Pacific – I kept seeing that American connection. American climate efforts will determine the future of many islands, for example, and American imperialism continues to shape American territories and states in free association like American Sāmoa and Guam. After realizing how interwoven America is with the Pacific, I decided I had to leave New Zealand (for now), pursue a master’s in global politics and journalism, and deepen my understanding of American politics and the ideas driving it. That, in turn, will help me untangle its global impact and explain my region to a global audience.

You were recently awarded a scholarship from the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents in the United States. How did you feel about this recognition?

It's incredibly humbling. I would never have been able to attend Columbia without generous financial support from organisations like Fulbright, Universities New Zealand, and now the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents in the US. Each of those organisations recognises that they aren't just investing in me: they're investing in high-quality journalism that untangles global connections in compelling ways. I'm more determined than ever to live up to those expectations and help contribute to that journalistic future.

As a journalist, how do you expect your studies and the support from the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents in the United States to help you advance your career?

As a writer, you do much better work when you're less worried about whether you'll be able to pay rent! More seriously, the Association's support means I'll be able to spend more time focused entirely on deepening my understanding of the world around me. It also empowers me to work on much more ambitious and complicated projects than I would be able to otherwise, explaining hidden connections that take time, effort and resources to explore. It's a remarkably generous and forward-thinking contribution for the Association to make

What made you decide to become a journalist? How do you hope to make an impact in the journalism field of your country of origin?

I have a pretty eclectic background: I trained as a lawyer, worked as a judge's clerk, served as an Army Reservist, and spent years volunteering for a local soup kitchen. But in each of those roles, what interested me most were the people around me: their stories, their journeys, and their aspirations. At its core, journalism is about engaging with and amplifying people's stories. I can't think of anything more powerful.

The Pacific has long been marginalised in global media. It is at the forefront of the most important challenges in the world right now: accelerating climate change, intensifying Sino-American competition, spiralling economic inequality, deepening threats to democracy, unsustainable resource extraction. Yet its stories are frequently ignored or passed over. I'm in awe of the talented cadre of journalists who are trying to change that by highlighting these stories and their significance for the rest of the world; I'm determined to add my skills and knowledge to that mix.

As a foreign journalist, what defines your mission?

Foreign journalists by nature have an international perspective. I'm passionate about untangling the way political forces in one part of the world change people's lives in other parts – and, in particular, how the Pacific is shaped by the rest of the world, and shapes the rest of the world in turn.

What do you think is the greatest threat to journalism today?

To address the enormous challenges our world faces, first we need to understand those challenges. That makes journalism more important than ever. Yet in many countries, democracy, civil society and journalism are under increasing pressure. Many governments see journalists as an irritation or a threat. They undermine their work through fake news or online pressure, obstruct access through visa fees or expulsion, and intimidate them with outright threats. Journalists need to be clear-eyed with regards to those challenges, and clear in how we explain to the public the consequences of obstruction, intimidation or lies.

What is the state of press freedom in your country of origin and how do you hope that your work will encourage more people to access independent and credible information?

I'm enormously lucky to be from Aotearoa New Zealand, where civil society is free and open. But even there the media is under pressure. Conspiracists like those at the parliamentary riot earlier this year routinely threaten and harass journalists (especially women and people of colour). Meanwhile, wider trust in journalists' work continues to slip. I hope to push back on those challenges in two ways. First, by diving into what is driving that conspiracism and explaining its impact on the world, I hope to identify ways of deradicalising people and emphasise the importance of civil cohesion. Second, by compellingly and accurately telling individual people's stories and explaining how they embody wider forces, I hope to inspire trust in journalism more broadly and highlight the ways in which it is a force for good in the world.