Shock and awe

One of the many differences that I have noticed between practicing journalism in Australia and in Germany, is that things are a lot tougher Down Under.  Be it in the workplace, or in the media market itself: there is a no-holds-barred attitude to reporting here. Whereas you need to be at the Bild Zeitung before you can really confront the reader in Germany, I feel like it is completely par for the course in Australia.

I’m still not immune to the pain of real tragedy. I was really shocked and saddened by the shooting massacre that happened in the gay nightclub, Pulse, in Orlando. No matter how often these horrible tragedies occur in the USA, the loss of life is chilling. The fear of those innocent people in the Pulse nightclub is terrible to consider.

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Sports presenting on ABC TV

Since February I have been presenting sports on ABC News 24, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s round-the-clock TV news channel. The work is pretty full on – and on any given Saturday afternoon it can involve reporting on four different versions of “football” as well as coverage of sports as diverse as netball, surfing and V8 motorcars.

How do you win the Coleman Medal in the AFL? Where is The NRL Bunker located? And, what’s the original name for 1300 Smiles Stadium? I now know the answers to these very specific questions and more… even if you don’t want to know 😉 Continue reading →

Review: Death of a Gentleman

After the success and positive feedback of my last review, which looked at the quirky cricket book “The Grade Cricketer”, it seems high time that I have a closer look at another cultural cricket offering out this month.

“Death of a Gentleman” is a documentary film from cricket journalists Sam Collins and Jarrod Kimber and has been highly anticipated in the cricketing world for years. Now showing regularly in the UK, the film is set to come out on DVD soon in Australia – and it’s sure to be already turning heads amongst the cricket establishment. Continue reading →

The Grade Cricketer: recommended reading

Grade cricketer_bookcoverBased on the cult Twitter account of the same name, “The Grade Cricketer” tells the story of a mythical 30-something Grade cricketer and his club, as he struggles from minor success to failure every Saturday, summer after summer.

As you can probably imagine, I’ve read a lot of cricket books in my time… a lot of them. But here is a book I wanted to write about especially, as it really stood out for me. “The Grade Cricketer” is unique for two reasons. Firstly, because it unmasks the often forgotten engine room of Australian cricket, known to those that play it, simply as “Grade.” Secondly, because it dances a cheeky and at times crude jig in the face of the new, highly-marketed image of Aussie cricket. Let me explain what I’m getting at…
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