For the first time, News Corp Australia will draw on its talent from across the whole business, including Sky News and Fox Sports, to send a single team to cover an Olympic Games.
The 44-strong team, the largest since Sydney 2000, will be led by Fox Sports head of television Steve Crawley, who has been appointed News Corp Australia Olympic director, and The Sunday Telegraph’s editor Mick Carroll, who will be Olympic editor.
News Corp Australia is the official and exclusive print partner and an official digital partner of the Australian Olympic Committee.
“This team represents a 2020 approach,” Crawley said. “There has been a traditional way media cover an Olympic Games, but the world has changed and so have we.
“We’re a world-leading media company and we’ll bring our Australian audiences a completely new approach, from both on and off the track.”
The team includes specialist sports writers and photographers, digital experts and best-selling authors Trent Dalton and Andrew Rule.
“The Olympic Games are not just a sporting carnival,” Olympic editor Mick Carroll said. “They are a global festival that takes over its host city and showcases a nation’s culture to the rest of the world.
“At every Games it is always striking how many great stories happen outside the games arena and this year our team is organised to capture those stories first and best.
“While other media focus solely on the sports, our reporters will also immerse themselves in the life of the Olympic city to provide audiences with unique insights of what fans will experience. From sumo to shrines, sashimi to Samurai, we’ll cover every angle from an Australian perspective.”
Australian interest will also be broadened with the Olympic debut of sports including surfing and skateboarding.
Along with award winning journalists and photographers Leo Schlink, Scott Gullan and Phil Hillyard, the News Corp team includes Fox Sports stars Matty Johns and Yvonne Sampson, as well as Sky News’ chief news anchor and recent Rugby World Cup host Kieran Gilbert.
News Corp Australia’s expanded reporting team is also matched by its commercial solutions across its leading brands. This allows clients’ access to the largest audiences before, during and behind the scenes of Tokyo 2020.
Commercially, this opens new levels of integration for clients with Tokyo takeovers across our Sport, News, Food, Travel, Women, Prestige, Home, Business and Auto Networks.
The News Corp Australia team for Tokyo 2020 includes:
Steve Crawley (News Corp Australia Olympic Director), Mick Carroll (Olympic Editor), Matt Kitchin (News Editor), Heath Kelly (Masthead Digital Editor), Cameron Tandy (Photographic Editor), Wally Mason (The Australian), Luke McIlveen, Matty Johns, Trent Dalton, Andrew Rule, Paul Kent, Yvonne Sampson, Phil ‘Buzz’ Rothfield, Kieran Gilbert, Leo Schlink, Jessica Halloran, Jacqueline Magnay, Jamie Pandaram, Jon Ralph, Peter Badel, Ben Horne, David Riccio, Will Swanton, Brent Read, Wayne Smith, Jai Bednall, Reece Homfray, Miranda Wood, Scott Gullan, Julian Linden, Emily Benammar, Lauren Wood, Joe Barton, Selina Steele, Chris Paine, Alex Coppel (photographer), Phil Hillyard (photographer), Adam Head (photographer), Sarah Reed (photographer), Jason Brookes (video), and production staff.
Photo [L-R]: Jessica Halloran, Jamie Pandaram, Andrew Rule, Yvonne Sampson, Matty Johns, Kieran Gilbert, Phil ‘Buzz’ Rothfield, Miranda Wood