Neary Ty

Growing up in Noble Park North, Neary dreamed of becoming a police officer or fashion stylist but didn’t have a clear career goal by the end of year 12. She started a Deakin Bachelor of Arts but dropped out when she found herself disinterested in the subjects. Instead, she spent about six years working in retail at Chadstone Shopping Centre, indulging her love of fashion.

‘Then after working so many Boxing Day sales until three in the morning, I was like, “hang on a minute, I really need to figure out what I want to do,”’ Neary recalls. ‘I looked back and asked, “what am I good at and what do I love?” I love writing, I always loved finding out what was happening in my area, I’ve always been interested in crime.’

This led to a return to Deakin with a renewed focus – to study journalism – where she thrived.

Through Deakin, Neary enjoyed the opportunity to intern at Cleo and Girlfriend magazines in Sydney but didn’t enjoy the slower pace. Then she stepped into the newsroom at Nine.

‘I was like, “oh my goodness, this place is so exciting,”’ she remembers.

During her internship at Nine, also through Deakin, she recorded a few practice piece-to-cameras and followed the reporters around asking questions, soaking up as much as possible.

After she’d had a taste for Nine News as a student, Neary found her goal.

‘I kept emailing the news boss being like, “hey, whatever you’ve got, please, I would die to work here,”’ she recalls.

She eventually landed her first job as communications coordinator, which involved sitting in the corner of the room with a radio scanner, listening in to the police, ambulance and SES communicate, then relaying breaking news incidents to the chief of staff and sending out the helicopter and news crews to the scene.

Next, she stepped up the ranks in news desk coordination, footage archiving and producer roles, supporting the team to organise other journalists’ stories.

‘As a producer, I was helping other journos put their stories together, helping them with graphics, sorting out live crosses, writing news breaks with Peter Hitchener, which is one of the highlights of my career, and I used to go out and shoot stories for Jo Hall then I’d write them for her and she’d voice it,’ Neary explains.

‘Then one day after producing for like a year, my news boss was like, “Hey, I’m going to get you to do a story today.” I was like, “Me? My own story? Like, me? To air!?!”

After her first story went to broadcast – about a sex attacker at The Tan in Melbourne – the entire staff started clapping for her.

‘It’s a really good culture at Nine – we encourage everyone,’ she smiles.

Since joining the on-air team, crime has been a major focus of Neary’s reporting.

She broke a big exclusive story of a truck crash involving football legend Glenn Archer and received award nominations for her coverage of the murder of Melbourne icon, Sisto Malaspina.

While she can’t describe the big, tragic stories as her ‘favourite moments’, she reflects on the small, funny memories with the crew and hanging out for hours with other journalists in the field.

‘People think TV news is really glamorous but it's not. You might be stuck at a crime scene for 12 hours because you need to wait for the police to come down, see if you can interview the victims, try to get CCTV footage. Sometimes it’s in the middle of nowhere and there’s no bathroom and no food.’

Even during the toughest times when people are facing huge trauma and grief, Neary’s been amazed to see waves of strength and kindness.

‘The hardest part of my job is when someone’s just been killed, and you go and do the “death knock” on the door to ask the family to speak. Most of the time they’re like, “Come on in, sit down, would you like a drink?”

‘When I do my stories and try to shed light on something or bring justice for families, I find that really rewarding.’

Neary is happy to report that ‘newsrooms have come a long way’ from the tough conditions of the 80s and 90s. But she’s still had to put up with a few intolerable experiences out in the field, including being racially abused while reporting on a home invasion, which she felt was important to call out on social media.

‘I think people don’t always realise how hurtful comments can be and sometimes it’s casual racism that can do the most damage,’ she says.

While there have been some improvements, Neary believes a raft of benefits would come from more diversity in the industry.

‘It’s really important to be sensitive when reporting about certain cultures, and that comes when we have more diverse people in the newsroom.’

After a decade in the field, Neary’s still ‘always chasing a story’ and describes her ‘drive and passion’ for breaking exclusive news as part of her personality.

Since having her two young daughters, she’s been enjoying the balance of working in the office three days per week and mostly finding and pitching her own stories.

‘Victims will message me on Instagram or I’ll make calls and try to find stories or follow up on something I’ve heard,’ she explains.

With many viewers shifting online in recent decades, Neary is resolute about the important role TV news still plays in society.

‘It’s exciting to see so much content out there, but a traditional journo with a well-researched, accurate story that’s well presented and beautifully written – nothing can beat that,’ she says.