Growing up in Brisbane, Tanya Weingarth’s journey to studying a Bachelor of Arts (Communications) at UniSC was led by her passion for competitive sport.

Drawn to the Sunshine Coast in pursuit of a professional career as an Ironwoman, Tanya unexpectedly found a career in news instead. How? Well, it has a lot to do with the influence of her tutors.

Tanya says she feels lucky to have chosen the University of the Sunshine Coast and to have had such encouraging lecturers, specifically Rosanna Natoli (who lectured at the University for more than 20 years and is now Mayor of the Sunshine Coast).

“Both Rosanna and (the late) Stephen Lamble were working in the industry while lecturing and inspired me to follow that path,” Tanya says.

“After learning from them, I knew that if I didn’t become a professional athlete, I wanted to be a journalist.”

Alongside this, Tanya was encouraged to apply for the UniSC internship program. She managed to nab one of five spots available at Channel 7 and had the opportunity to work with sport journalists, Justin Veivers and Chris Pace. And so, Tanya entered a period where her two passions, competitive sport and news, came together. She slotted into a niche where she’d compete in a race and then grab a mic to interview fellow athletes. It was a harmonious coupling that did unfortunately have to come to an end.

Impressing so much during her internship, Tanya was invited back to Channel 7 at the age of 19 and interviewed by Ross Dagan for a sports journalist role. A fork in the road emerged as she was offered the job but also still thrived as an up-and-coming Ironwoman. At this time, Tanya had just come second to Australian Champion Karla Gilbert in the Ironwoman Queensland Titles.

She had to weigh up continuing to train as an athlete at such a high level or focusing on a career in journalism. She chose the latter and the rest (as they say) is history.

Tanya worked for Channel 7 for six years before moving to Channel 9 in Sydney, where she stayed for more than a decade. She was executive producer of 9’s flagship 6pm News bulletin until last year when she decided to return to where her career began, Channel 7. Tanya is now the executive producer of 7News Sydney’s 6pm bulletin, leading a team of journalists and producers to break some of the country’s biggest stories, including most recently the Bondi Beach attack.

She says her "sporting background has helped with being a team player and rallying the troops when news has to keep rolling out of hours".

Tanya likens working in the newsroom to playing team sports because, "you're never on your own", she says, but also that "people need clear direction".

She attributes her ability to both lead and be a team player to her background in competitive sport.

Reflecting on her journey so far, Tanya says, "it's funny how the world works because I went to uni to support my sporting career and ended up on a totally different path".

"I'm very confident I wouldn't be where I am now, had I not gone to UniSC.

"The internship program was a game-changer and the confidence built around me thanks to my tutors helped pave the way for my career today."