Journalism student Chaad Hewitt landed a spot on Channel 9's Today Show after a class assignment went viral.

It’s the kind of break most aspiring journos only dream about. When second-year Bond University journalism student Chaad Hewitt posted a class exercise to social media, he didn’t expect what would come next.  

“I do a video journalism class with (Semester Teaching Fellow) Sara Kirby. We’ve got these amazing facilities, so I wanted to put together a news report,” Chaad says. “I posted it online and it got about half a million views!” 

The video that started it all

With 447,000 TikTok followers and over 21 million likes, plus another 311,000 on Instagram, Hewitt is no stranger to going viral. So he figured the clip might do well, but there was one response that took him completely by surprise. 

Today Show host Karl Stefanovic saw the video, followed Hewitt, and reached out with an unexpected offer that would catapult the young journalist onto national television. 

“Karl said, ‘We would love to have you on the show… we’d love to see what you can do’. To be honest with you, I thought he was joking. I didn’t think he was being serious.”  

But when the producers called and booked his flights, it hit Chaad: this was really happening. 
 
“Karl actually said, ‘Let's bring you on the Today Show and you can be the anchor!’ In a matter of about two hours, they had everything sorted.”

Sara Kirby brings more than a decade of experience as a presenter and reporter with the Seven Network, working nationally on prime time shows and internationally on Beyond Tomorrow (Discovery Channel). She studied journalism at Bond herself before launching into a full-time contract with Seven in Sydney. 
 
“I remember the hands-on experience at Bond as being instrumental in giving me the courage to take a giant leap of faith and relocate to Sydney to pursue my career,” she says. “It’s wonderful to see the same exciting opportunities afforded to this next generation of Bond students, albeit with new tools at their disposal to reach audiences in different ways.” 

Ms Kirby says the media landscape is evolving rapidly but the fundamentals remain.

“The landscape is changing rapidly but audiences still reward good journalism. Students need to be prepared with a strong foundation of skills and real-world experience, which is the Bond University ethos.” 

Dr Caroline Graham, Acting Discipline Lead for Communication at Bond University, agrees.

“We’re passionate about empowering the next generation of journalists to discover and achieve their dreams, whether that be legacy media jobs or new opportunities in social media, podcasting and digital production,” Dr Graham says.

“In our journalism classes, we do everything we can to get the students ready for industry. We get them out in the field doing interviews, or in the audio studios making podcasts, or in the pool learning underwater videography.  It’s so exciting to see Chaad make the leap from being in our TV studio learning the ropes, to a live national TV segment before he’s graduated.”

FSD Tech Support, especially Rose Tunks and Simon Claridades, were also instrumental in helping Chaad film the original clip, the one that sparked it all.

What’s next for Chaad? 

For Chaad, stepping into the Today Show studio was a surreal moment, especially at just 21 years old.

“I woke up at about 2:30 am. I got there and even being taken up by security, meeting the producers, getting taken around. It was full-on,” he says. “I would say I was the youngest in the room by far, but I kinda liked that. Everyone was joking about it.”

Chaad met Karl Stefanovic and was given the heads-up that there’d be some classic on-air banter. 

“It was just really good to see how operations worked in the studios.” 

What really stood out to him was how calm the crew was under pressure.  

“For a space that’s so intense, with the load being put onto anchors and staff to create the stories, everyone was super charming and relaxed. That to me was the most impressive part. Each person knew their jobs, they knew how to deal with any scenario and it felt like a really safe space to be in.”

Word quickly spread at Bond.

“I’ve had so many people at Bond come up to me and say, ‘Oh my god, I saw you on TV!’”  

With national exposure under his belt and Nine keen to stay in touch, the experience has only strengthened Hewitt’s drive to pursue broadcast journalism.  

“I’ve always wanted to be a journalist, and social media has definitely helped open some doors. It’s shown me that if you’re consistent and passionate about what you do, opportunities can come your way."

It was that mix of drive, timing and preparation that helped Chaad land the Today Show spot.

“Richard was away and it just happened that I posted my video the day before he went on holiday. So the timing was incredible. I was very lucky, but at the same time, it wouldn’t have happened without spending those extra hours at uni with the dedicated staff and students. It took luck, but it also took a lot of time and effort.”

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Published on Wednesday, 16 July, 2025.