Liam and Liam, the Canta Legends
Liam Donnelly (left), and Liam Stretch (right), the 2021 editing team at Canta.
Source: Liam Stretch.
Liam and Liam are friends, flatmates, and talented Canta alumni – who both edited the UC student mag in 2021 and have stayed firm friends ever since.
In 2021, during lockdown, Covid, and a time when journalism was more essential than ever, Liam Donnelly became Canta managing editor, and Liam Stretch was his print editor, his friend, and his 2IC.
Donnelly, who still has a soft spot for the mag, now works as a morning show weekday radio host at RDU, 98.5. He is also the programme director, and RDU is a non-profit arts organisation, so “it’s a lot of hard work and there’s lots to be done,” Donnelly said.
Years ago, Canta had a regular show on RDU, and when Donnelly became managing editor of Canta, in the first year of its new structure, he was very eager to implement more multimedia and bring the show back. Donnelly’s radio segment was democratically called Canta Banta, and the current Canta podcast plays a tribute to the RDU show, named Canta Ranta – to keep to the rhyming theme.
Donnelly was offered the RDU host role when his successor stepped down, and given just a few days to decide on his new career. He told Canta, his biggest fear about taking the role was the early mornings.
Prior to RDU, Donnelly was marketing manager at a popular business in town. Three years ago, he “jumped at the opportunity” to join the station full-time, and said Canta gave him a passion he has never forgotten.
But at first, Donnelly’s Canta career was short-lived. At 19, Donnelly became managing editor for the first time, and said he had “no idea what it took to edit a magazine”. After 4 short months, Donnelly was fired from the mag, and in 2021, he made the absolute most of his second chance.
“I was much better the second time around” Donnelly said.
“I loved Canta, I always did … I look on it very fondly.”
According to Donnelly, “university is a world within a world, and it’s such a delight to be part of that atmosphere.”
Hand-in-hand with Liam Stretch, Donnelly wrote for the UCPols Canta column as an undergraduate student, and he said, “those pieces were really hilarious.” but his favourite ever piece was a feature article called “The Bro Job”, an article about “homosexual behaviour displayed in male heterosexual relationships.”
Donnelly called it the best writing he had ever done, his “unicorn piece.”
“I’ll never recreate that,” he said.
“I hope print journalism makes a comeback” Donnelly told Canta. “You get a tangible thing for all your hard work. Something to hold.”
According to Liam Stretch, print journalism is an art, and the other Liam told Canta, the importance of print journalism, and student media, “is so vital”. According to Stretch, through student journalism, “people are able to have their voices heard, and exercise their muscle; their political muscle, their arts muscle, their satirical muscle.”
Stretch is the former print editor of Canta, and now, he’s the editor-in-chief of Avenues magazine, and has been for the last 2 years. Avenues is a monthly magazine, distributed with The Press on the last Friday of every month. The mag is published online, and in print, and Stretch puts together the paper each month, collecting and writing content.
According to Stretch, Canta was the springboard for his editorial style, and at Avenues, he explained that “each month has a different theme, just like Canta.”
Stretch did his post graduate diploma in journalism, and after university started freelancing, writing adverts, and feature writing for local publications. Avenues was a client, and eventually Stretch became a feature writer, and then a sub editor… until the editorial role came up – which he then took.
There is something remarkably special, Stretch told Canta, about seeing your writing on paper. “I still remember the very first article I wrote, and the joy it brought me to see it in print.”
The experience at the mag led Stretch to run for editor at UCPols, which meant he had a regular column in Canta, and in later years, he sub-edited the mag, eventually returning after his graduation to work as the print editor. On the UCPols exec, and later as president for the club, Stretch wrote the club column for Canta, which gave him an opportunity to engage with students in a political way. He quickly fell in love with magazine writing.
As print editor, his role was to curate written content for Canta, and work alongside managing editor Liam Donnelly as 2IC. Stretch told Canta, his highlight of working with the student magazine definitely came during his time as print editor, and he interviewed New Zealand Television Host Suzy Cato, who became a semi-regular fixture at the paper, and remains a friend to Stretch to this day.
Journalism has allowed Stretch to “meet a lot of interesting people, and go to a lot of interesting things,” but Suzy Cato remains his favourite interview for Canta.
“She was as lovely as you’d expect her to be,” he said. Liam and Liam started a segment called Comedian Corner, which Cato featured in. The segment focused on up-and-coming comedians, and quickly become a feel-good fixture.
“[She is] probably the coolest number I have in my contact list,” Stretch said.
Stretch told Canta, “I love what I do, I love being able to write”, and Donnelly could not agree more.
Canta was the start for this Liam and Liam pair, but it certainly wasn’t the end, and these Canta legends have a lot more to offer the world of media in Aotearoa.