News Corp saddles up national racing newsroom for spring carnival

News Corp Australia is pooling the talents of the country’s best turf writers to create a national newsroom to meet soaring demand for coverage.

National racing editor Stephen Brassel has gathered the nation’s best turf journalists to provide unprecedented coverage and racing tips for punters. Picture: Aaron Francis

With the spring racing carnival soon to hit its stride, News Corp Australia is pooling the talents of the country’s best turf writers to create a national newsroom dedicated to serving punters’ soaring demand for coverage of the sport.

The media group has hand-picked journalists from its metropolitan mastheads, and from the biggest racing news site in the country, Racenet, to form the ­national racing newsroom, which will launch on Tuesday.

The team of 14 journalists will be led by national racing editor Stephen Brassel, who has 30 years experience covering the industry.

Brassel says the enlarged team of expert racing journalists will “free people up to deliver really rich content” and remove duplication across the company’s various platforms.

The stories will feature across News Corp’s newspapers, websites and Racenet’s site.

Racenet, which was acquired by News Corp at the end of 2018, attracted an audience of about one million unique visitors over the course of the spring racing carnival last year.

News Corp Australia managing director of sport, wagering and gaming, Michael Wilkins, said the racing industry was a key audience driver across its platforms, and the national racing newsroom was designed to ensure it meets audience demand.

“The combination of the best talent from our metro mastheads and digital platform Racenet will also guarantee that the racing clubs and our related commercial partners have the best racing coverage in the world,” Mr Wilkins told Media.

“No media in Australia comes close to the number of racing fans we engage with each week, and certainly none of them can match the expertise of reporting, analysis — and, most importantly, informing the punters’ next bet — that we provide.”

National sports editor Matthew Kitchin said the national racing newsroom would be a “one-stop shop for racing”.

“Readers will see a whole new level of national racing coverage and a far more specialised service to help punters back a winner, as well as quality reporting at the track, on the industry and behind the scenes,” he said.

“The timing couldn’t be better leading into the spring racing carnival and we’re champing at the bit to show we’re the best racing newsroom in Australia ahead of the 100th Cox Plate, The Derby, Melbourne Cup, and the Everest.”

The creation of News Corp’s national racing teams follows the transition in June from state-based newsrooms to national teams with dedicated editors for the AFL, NRL, cricket and franchise sports to deliver premium sports journalism.

Among the high-profile recruits to the racing newsroom are Ray Thomas, Leo Schlink, Ben Dorries and Clinton Payne.