I am not trying to pick on Nicola in any way: she has worked to get funding (so do we all) but so have her peers going after the same funding prize. I am rather surprised that 4 very credible people are openly supporting one person…

you're drawing a long bow if you want to suggest the school is responsible for the country's media issues.

Well, they're either industry leaders or they're not, are they?

But look, I don't want to being endlessly painful – I've even voted for Nicola way back then, and wish her…

I've taken the leap in order to do a masters in a foreign country (Australia, and I got it for free), and…

I'm not sure how much influence Columbia has over the media environment in the United States, but you're drawing a long bow if you want to suggest the school is responsible…

Being a Fulbright fellow, Nicola is required to return to New Zealand for a minimum of two years. Regardless of that — and how tasty the grass on the other side of the fence surely is — her education is in…

any definite promise on that?

I've seen quite a few ANZ writers funded to go overseas on the understanding they'll return and grant us all the benefit of their overseas experience.Or, writing from overseas for Literary Fund grants on the understanding they'll return home…

But mostly I'm mystified by the idea that we need to send our young promising journalists to Columbia university.

New Zealand journalism schools are funded about $10,000 per student and are often staffed by people out of touch with the media environment. Columbia is around $70,000 and is staffed by…

and, I am not at all convinced that a foreign degree in *journalism* is going to enhance her skills for working *here*…

She's also done a *lot* to raise most of the rest of the money, got into an extremely prestigious university, won a Fulbright scholarship...I think that moves it a bit beyond great networking skills.

Yes, but presumably other people vying for that money also worked hard, right?

But mostly I'm…

In other words: she's got great networking skills! Nothing wrong with that, I presume it's how you win these things – it is, as the post points out, a popularity contest.

She's also done a *lot* to raise most of the rest of the money, got into an extremely prestigious…

I find some of the stories of the people with under ten votes extraordinary. Can't they all get a…

This is sort of by the by. I applaud Nicola's obvious mad networking skillz,

I think it's more that quite a few people with such skills have met Nicola and decided she's bright, motivated and deserving.

There's a lot of them..