Two ABC presenters share stories of 35 years in media

ABC radio's Mark Gibson and Nadia Mitsopoulos celebrate 35 years in media In a cutthroat and ever-changing industry, 102.5 ABC Perth's Mark Gibson and Nadia Mitsopoulos have each reached a significant milestone — working in the media industry for 35 years. This is how it all began. Nadia Mitsopoulos: I always wanted to be a journalist in high school. I remember very vividly watching TV news one night with my father. Brian Burke was on the TV, who was our then premier. And I said to my dad, "Oh, what were his qualifications to become a premier?" And he said he was a journalist and actually a very good one. And that's where I thought, "Ah, OK, yeah, that's the job that sort of fits in with what I want to do". Mark Gibson: I vividly remember also watching the news with my dad because in our house, the TV wasn't allowed to go on until the evening news. And Dad was glued to the commercial news, then the ABC news, then the 7.30 report. And we just watched news. Nadia: I went to Curtin University. I was there for three years doing a journalism major. In my third year, halfway through, GWN were calling out for cadets. I applied for one, didn't get it. The person that did get it left three months later. I rang the news director back and said, "Hey, how about it?" And then I called him every day for eight days until he offered me the job. I think he was just sick of my phone calls. He gave me a week to get down to Bunbury. And that's where it started. Mark: I was always good at English, loved to write, so thought I would be a print journalist and started the same Curtin journalism degree. I was only in my first year when I learned about a WAAPA (Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts) broadcasting course. I auditioned and I got in. They only accepted 18 people. In August of the second year, I specifically remember it being pinned on our notice board at WAAPA, there was a job going for a radio announcer at Northwest Radio in Karratha. The salary was $17,000 a year. I got the job and I left in the August. I didn't finish the course so I have no tertiary qualifications. The advice I got at the time was just go for the job. The job is better than any piece of paper. Nadia: Gibbo, I was making $1,000 more than you with my first job, $18,000. I thought it was absolutely the best. I did Bunbury and then got moved to Albany and had an absolute ball. With regional postings, you do everything. You're the political reporter, the council reporter, the sports reporter, the environment reporter. You name it, you do it all. It's a really good way to learn how to establish contacts in a town. Also, appreciating the sensitivities of a town when there are horrible stories. And I've got to say, in Albany we had plenty of them. Mark: Nadia launched straight into journalism. My job was more the radio announcing and playing music and DJing at the local pub to start off with before I really moved into the news path. I left Karratha after nine months and I didn't even have enough money for an airfare home. My parents said, "No worries, we'll meet you at the bus station." And I caught the bus back from Karratha, 24 hours on a bus. I had about $2 to my name, moved back in at home with Mum and Dad. I was 20 years old and thankfully within a few weeks, I got a job in a radio newsroom in Perth and started again. After their country stints, Nadia moved to Perth to work in commercial television news, eventually specialising in state politics, while Mark moved to Sydney, working at radio station 2GB, covering crime. Mark: In Sydney in the 90s, I was covering murders, serial killers, I ended up covering the backpacker murders, the trial of Ivan Milat, some horrific things, I mean, we're talking Sydney. I remember covering the New South Wales police royal commission with the most horrible stories of police corruption and the protection of paedophiles, you name it. This was eye-opening stuff for someone in their 20s from Perth. In the 90s, journalists operated without the internet or mobile phones. Mark: I still have no idea how we did it. I just remember picking up landlines. In radio days, pulling over on the side of the road and filing a story from a public phone box, that's how you would do it. And then those early days of reporting in Sydney was around the time we were getting the huge mobile phones. I remember going out to law courts with a bag over my shoulder that contained a huge phone. I would then be able to step out of the court and file a story. I thought that was so fancy. Nadia: We would call the office on a public phone box; we could reverse charges in the country areas. We had the telex machine and that would spit out the weather. The electoral roll would be on microfiche, and we'd have to put it under the little telescope to find John Smith, who lives in Karrinyup, but I'd have to ring 28 John Smiths to get to the one I wanted. It was laborious work. Mark: And the old-fashioned contact book. I found my original contact book not long ago and I had a home phone number for Carmen Lawrence, who was the premier at the time. It was the only way to get people. Nadia: Everyone picked up the phone back then. We didn't have call screening, so you didn't know who was ringing you. The phone would ring; you'd pick it up. Sometimes, people would just smack the phone down. The other thing you would do was rock up at their door, and that would happen a lot. We had time to investigate stories, find the right people to talk to. We only had to worry about the 6 o'clock bulletin; back then we didn't have to worry about multiple platforms. Mark: Now, it's get the story and get it out on every platform quickly. That's changed a lot, but you've also got the benefits of technology. Now you can report live on TV from anywhere at any time. In the old days, you had to set up a satellite truck and it would take forever and you just couldn't do it. These days, it's all just so immediate. Nadia: I spent 13 years up at parliament and when a report was tabled, and this is in the early 2000s, I had time to read the report because I had time between that report being tabled at 12 o'clock and my 6 o'clock bulletin to actually go through it and get the good stuff, not just the two-page executive summary at the front. You had more investigative capabilities back then because you had more time, but the newsrooms were bigger, there was more staff. What have been some of the highlights of your careers? Mark Gibson: For me, it all culminated with the Sydney Olympics in 2000. I was the chief Olympics reporter for Channel 10 and covered every single minute of the Olympics. That was just incredible. We got housed out near Homebush for three weeks. I travelled around the world; went to Greece for the lighting of the Olympic flame; went to Uluru for the Olympic flame arriving in Australia; travelled around the torch relay; ended up in Sydney. It was just the most amazing event to cover. And it all was so positive, so happy. Then not long after returning to Perth in 2001, there was 9/11 and the following year I was sent straight up to Bali for the Bali bombings, which was the most challenging assignment I've ever covered in my life. Nadia: I love my politics. Laurie Connell being released from jail. And we were out there from 4am and it was pouring with rain. But of course, he just gets released at 9 o'clock like every other prisoner does and there was the big media pack. I managed to get on my hands and knees and crawl into the pack and I went, "Excuse me, Mr Connell, excuse me," he looked down and I said, "What's the one thing you're looking forward to?" And he said: "A big plate of seafood." I also witnessed Brian Burke being released from jail. They were huge stories. I used to bother Brian Burke quite a bit and he once told me I am like death and taxes — I'll never go away. I took that as a compliment. On coming to radio after decades in television, Nadia joined 102.5 ABC Perth in 2012 as a producer, moving into presenting in 2018, while Mark came on board to present the breakfast program in 2024. Mark: It's full circle for me, which is great. I had 25 years in TV. To come back to radio where I started is so much fun because it's just a whole different way of storytelling and communicating directly with people. It's really rewarding. Nadia: I went straight into TV, which was kind of rare. I'd always liked radio. I did some segments with Geoff Hutchison when he was doing the morning show. Then I actually just got to a point where I think the TV industry was changing and I wasn't changing with it. An opportunity came up when my kids were young to work part-time with Geoff Hutchison. So I took it. I loved the immediacy of it. I've always loved the chase of a story and as a producer, you can do that when there'd be some big breaking story. And I still had a damn good contact book. Mark: Radio allows you to tell the story properly, unedited, unfiltered and giving people that platform is such a joy. Do you think about what your next role in media might be? Mark: I honestly don't think about it. I get up every morning, and I honestly say that I bounce into work and love what I do. And that's all you can hope for. I don't really think now about anything that comes next. I just love the fact I get to do this every day. Nadia: I do think about a conversation that I had with Russell Woolf, about two weeks before he died and he said, "I think this will be the job I will have until I retire." And I did say to him, "I think I feel the same way." I don't know when that will be though because I'm in no rush. Mark and Nadia are celebrating the milestone with an event at the new Edith Cowan University city campus on August 27, when listeners and media students will turn the microphone on them as they share the highs and lows of surviving (and thriving) for 35 years. [Image text:] RTH PERTH PERTH 102.5 RTI 5T 000102.5 PERTH PI 8.5