I was grateful and privileged to have my research project published in the Interesting Journal, Edition 6. Interesting Journal is an annual peer-reviewed journal compiled of passionate work produced by undergraduate students from the Faculty of Arts at the University of Auckland. Titled “Blind Spot – Television Rugby League Commentary and the Visually Impaired Viewer: Case Study”, this project was written for my Communications, Sites of Contest: The Media Sports Nexus, course. It investigates whether television rugby commentary is accommodating to the visual impaired viewer.
Thanks for joining me! I’m Ite Lemalu, I am a New Zealand born Samoan with experience in writing (Grad Dip Arts – Film, Media & Television Studies, University of Auckland) and playing and teaching music (BMus, University of Otago).
I am privileged to be the Media Relations Manager for the Fale Dojo professional wrestling training school and fitness facility based in South Auckland, NZ. Fale Dojo is known internationally as NJPW New Zealand Dojo which is an official part of the New Japan Pro-Wrestling training system.
My journey in writing began in 2016 while studying Media, Film and Television at the University of Auckland. I had returned to university to upskill and transition from music to writing. It was at that point where I grew a keen interest in pursuing a career in writing. However, it was a sociology paper I took that completely changed my outlook as well as reaffirming my values. I wanted to hold onto my beliefs while working in the media, an opportunity arose to work with Fale Dojo as a content writer which was exciting having been a wrestling fan since childhood, and much of my values such as community and culture aligned with the Dojo’s philosophy.
My role at Fale Dojo has evolved into media relations, and I have had the pleasure of interviewing some of New Japan’s most notable stars such as Bad Luck Fale, Toa Henare, ‘Switchblade’ Jay White, Hikuleo, Robbie Eagles and Gino Gambino. I also had the pleasure of assisting NJPW English speaking commentary with background information of the Fale Dojo graduates that competed in the NJPW Southern Showdown tour of Australia.
My writings have been published on the University of Auckland’s Faculty of Arts’ Interesting Journal. In addition, my wrestling content has been shared by Tagata Pasifika and Coconet TV.
My professional wrestling content is exclusive to Fale Dojo / NJPW New Zealand Dojo.
Fale Dojo Media Relations Manager
Email: itelemalu@faledojo.com
Website: https://itelemaluwritings.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itelemalu
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IteLemaluWritings
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Ite_Lemalu
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.nz/itelemaluwritings
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ite_lemalu