TWO Sky News stars quit for the ABC in defection no one saw coming: TV gossips are all saying the same thing about why they left… now INSIDE MAIL has the real story
As regular readers will recall, there have been more than a few murmurs within the ABC that the public broadcaster is heading in a more populist, accessible direction under the leadership of chairman Kim Williams.
Strangely enough, the veteran media exec reckons the content produced by the taxpayer-funded broadcaster should be relevant to more taxpayers.
It’s a suggestion so outrageous that it’s enough to make Aunty’s inner-city progressive types splutter on their soy lattes (it’s a cheap gag – but I couldn’t resist).
But they need not worry. I mean, it’s not like the ABC has started recruiting political reporters from conservative news channel Sky News or anything.
Oh wait, what’s that? The ABC has started recruiting political reporters from Sky News?
That’s right: two of Sky’s brightest political journos, Fiona Willan and Olivia Caisley, both quietly defected to the public broadcaster over the summer.
Olivia Caisley, once a rising political reporter at Sky News, has defected to the ABC
Caisley and fellow ex-Sky News political journo Fiona Willan (left) quietly left the network and resurfaced last month at the public broadcaster
Their exits sparked the usual rumour that does the rounds whenever a promising young reporter leaves Sky: they realised that, unless you’re prepared to take a political handbrake turn to the right, you can only get so far at a network where prime-time conservative pundits reign supreme.
But apparently that’s not the case for Willan and Caisley, who both had glowing praise for Sky when I spoke to them and made no mention of the station’s political slant.
And as for why they left? Sources tell me it was just a case of eyeballs – there are more on the ABC than on Sky.
Willan had only been with Sky for a year after joining last January from Nine, where she’d carved out a reputation as a hard-hitting newsbreaker on the federal political beat.
‘I enjoyed my time with Sky last year – particularly the experience I gained as a news anchor,’ she told Inside Mail.
‘After 13 years with the Nine Network, it was interesting to see for the first time how a 24-hour newsroom works.
‘However, I was very excited to be offered my current role with the ABC.
‘As a senior journalist in the Sydney newsroom, I not only get to cover the big stories of the day, but I also have the chance to hunt for my own stories and work on some longer-form packages for Stateline (and that’s a real treat, as I do love having the chance to explore issues in greater depth, as I’m sure you’ll understand!)
Willan announced on LinkedIn she was working at the ABC’s secondary HQ in Sydney’s west
‘And yes, I’ll certainly be focusing on political stories as the ABC’s NSW metro federal election lead (part of a team covering electorates around the country). Looking forward to being part of the coverage!’
Caisley had been a political reporter with Sky for twice as long, having joined from The Australian almost two and a half years ago.
She told us she had also loved her time at Sky but was equally excited by the opportunities on offer at the ABC.
Although we hear Sky News had been keen to retain both of their service, neither could be swayed, and we understand the opportunity to reach a larger audience at the public broadcaster was a key factor in their decision to switch channels.
Now, we would usually make some sort of wisecrack right about now about Sky News only having three viewers.
But not this week… because who knows? One of them might be away on holidays.
Read the full edition of INSIDE MAIL tomorrow, exclusively for Mail+ subscribers. Last week’s column can be found here
