By Gabriella Payne
The Star News Group has helped foster the careers of many talented young journalists over the years, and two former employees have gone on to reach new, well-deserved heights in 2021.
Mitch Clarke and Matt Cunningham, two highly skilled reporters who previously worked at the Pakenham Gazette, have taken out top journalism awards for their passion and dedication this year.
Matt Cunningham, now the Sky News Darwin Bureau Chief, was chosen as the ‘NT Journalist of the Year’ at the 2021 NT Media Awards recently while Mitch Clarke, who transitioned from the Gazette to the Herald Sun just this year, took out News Corp Australia’s ‘Young Journalist of the Year’ award last week.
Having only finished up at the Star News Group in February this year, it’s safe to say that Mitch has had a meteoric rise through the ranks and has now become a household name at the Herald Sun – and we decided to catch up with him for a chat about his whirlwind year.
During the pandemic, Mitch quickly went from breaking news to politics and was soon front and centre at Premier Daniel Andrews’ numerous press conferences, always asking the tough questions and holding those in power to account.
At just 25 years of age, Mitch is now the Herald Sun’s state political reporter and has achieved a remarkable amount in his short career.
Despite going from strength to strength, Mitch said that being named News Corp’s ‘Young Journalist of the Year’ took him by surprise and was something he felt incredibly humbled by.
“It came as a bit of a shock honestly,” he said.
“I think it hasn’t really sunk in yet.
“I didn’t think I would get this, but it’s a pretty big honour to be recognised for something like this, especially after the year we’ve all had.”
Mitch said that he felt very “grateful” for the opportunities he had been given this year, and that there had been many highlights along the way.
“Moving to politics within my first month at the Herald Sun was pretty cool – I didn’t expect to be able to move onto a full time round straight away, and I’ve learnt so much in the short space of time that I’ve been doing it,” he said.
“I wasn’t really across it until I started with the Gazette and I was able to learn all the intricacies of local politics with the likes of Jordan [Crugnale] and Brad [Battin] -so that definitely put me in good stead to do this.
“What I’m doing now is what I love and I will continue to work in this space until at least the next election,” he said.
Mitch said that it had been “a privilege” to cover the daily press conferences this year and a memorable experience to say the least.
“It was a privilege to be reporting on something that impacted the lives of Victorians as significantly as Covid and to be at the forefront, pressing Dan and Jeroen on these unprecedented times has just been a real highlight.”
Mitch said that there were many aspects of working for a local paper that he missed, but at the same time, he was looking forward to seeing where his career would take him next.
