Aaron Kearney
Aaron Kearney (born 3 July 1971) is a multi-award winning broadcaster, journalist, sports commentator and the 44th MEAA Prodi Journalist of the Year. He has covered some of the world's major sporting events from the Olympics, to the FIFA and Rugby League World Cups and AFC Champions League and Commonwealth Games. He is the creator of a 'Sports Broadcast for Development Commentary' system used at the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in France. It was first adopted in Australian indigenous communities in Tiwi Islands and later the basis for Pacific-wide coverage of the 2015 Pacific Games in Papua New Guinea. On 7 June 2020, he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for service to the broadcast media as a radio presenter. He is currently working in media consultancy, sports diplomacy and broadcast development in Australia and overseas. Early years Born in Newcastle, Kearney is the son of journalist Malcolm Kearney and Pennie Kearney, a former schoolteacher and now Chief Executive of welfare organisation Mai-Wel. Kearney's family moved to Woodville, near Maitland when he was five years old. He has three younger sisters, Karlie, Salena and Amber. Kearney was school captain of St Peter's High School and earlier attended Maitland Marist Brothers and St John's Primary School. He studied Communications at the University of Newcastle, Australia and holds a master's degree and Graduate Certificate in Communications from Griffith University, Australia. Early Career (1990–2005) Kearney began his career as a cadet journalist for Fairfax Media in 1990 and was the Chief Writer and co- Editor of the Hunter Valley Weekend newspaper before joining Prime Television's fledgling Hunter news service in 1993, working as a police a political reporter before becoming the Sports presenter. An all around sports-lover, Kearney has had the opportunity to cover a range of sports across Australian media. In the year 2000, Kearney was the chief reporter for Prime's Olympic Team at the Sydney Olympics, and sports presenter and sports editor for Prime Television from 1994 to 2001. He was also master of ceremonies for the arrival of the Olympic Torch in the Hunter in front of an estimated crowd of 50,000. He has previously presented and produced Pirate TV, a television show about the now-defunct Hunter Pirates basketball club, and provided radio commentary for National Basketball League games. Kearney hosted a popular sports/talk drive time program on 2HD from 2001 to 2003, and was a sports correspondent for Austereo Stations KOFM and NXFM in the early 2000s. His works as a documentary producer and presenter include 'Inner Mongolia' – a one-hour documentary tracing a four-wheel drive expedition from the far south to the northernmost regions of Asia, 'Hunter Holidays' – a Getaway style program that was co-hosted with well-known Australian presenter Penny Cook, 'Knight Fever' – a one-hour documentary tracing the Newcastle Knights historic win in the 1997 Australian Rugby League Grand Final, and 'Cape Town to Cairo – The Ultimate African Safari.' The 'Cape Town to Cairo' Series consisted of four one-hour documentaries following