News Olympics team will run rings around Tokyo
News Corp will send to Tokyo its largest contingent of journalists to have been assembled for a Games since Sydney 2000.
The degree of difficulty in covering an Olympics in the COVID-era may be extreme, but it’s a challenge that will be tackled head-on by the largest contingent of News Corp journalists to have been assembled for a Games since Sydney 2000.
The 30-strong squad will be headed by some of the company’s most experienced Olympic writers, including Julian Linden and Jacquelin Magnay, but several younger journalists will also be covering the event.
“A key change this time is we have decided to take a handful of less experienced reporters from around the country to give them a taste of what it is like to cover an international event,” News Corp Olympics editor Mick Carroll said.
“It’s a great opportunity to blood them on covering major news events overseas. The extra complications of COVID-19 will test how resourceful they are in getting news that no one else has. It will also help educate the next generation of reporters, gearing up for Paris 2024 and beyond.”
Sky News presenter and reporter Gabriella Power, 27, is a member of the “young gun” cohort heading to Tokyo. Her most vivid Olympic memory is eating ice blocks as a six-year-old in a grandstand while watching the beach volleyball with her family at the Sydney Olympics.
“I’ll be doing anything and everything in Tokyo,” Power said.
“It’s going to be an Olympics like no other.”
She admits that the opportunity to cover an Olympics arrived earlier in her career than she expected. “It’s almost a Steven Bradbury moment — how lucky I am to be given this opportunity. I’m thrilled.”
The Courier-Mail’s state political reporter Hayden Johnson is also Japan-bound, with the 26-year-old chosen for his impressive online news-breaking skills. Fellow Queenslander Erin Smith, 30, who has worked for several of the state’s community titles over the past decade, was also a standout selection for her online work.
“They were after people who have strong social media and online skills, and a strong social media presence, and I’ve put a lot of effort into that, in terms of getting news stories out there,” Smith said.
Carroll said a key aspect of News Corp’s Tokyo coverage would be delivering quality content to readers across the major metropolitan markets as well as those in a “hyperlocal” setting.
“One of the main proposals this time is to use our digital platforms to provide in-depth coverage to some of the lesser known Olympic sports that have communities that play and love those sports. We will also cover closely the fortunes of all of our athletes, not just the superstars and medal winners, and feed that back to the hundreds of smaller communities they call home — most of which we service with local newsrooms.”
There will be some serious logistic challenges for the media in Tokyo. Access to athletes won’t be easy, and interactions with locals and fans will be restricted.
Host television broadcaster Seven will have Bruce McAvaney anchor the network’s coverage from its Melbourne studio.
Australian Olympic Committee head of public affairs, Strath Gordon, said “on-the-ground” protocols would not be locked in until closer to the Games.
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