Digging deep, reporting with purpose

Despite a changing media landscape, members of the press gallery have retained unprecedented access to both members of parliament and the political process in order to keep the public informed and hold MPs accountable.

One individual tasked with that job was Mitch Clarke, who until recently served as state political reporter for the Herald Sun.

Clarke began as a member of the press gallery in 2021 and was by his own admission ‘thrown into the deep end’ covering COVID press conferences. He gained an immense appreciation for the role. 

‘I really grew to love covering parliament each day and getting to know MPs on a personal level,’ he said.

‘It’s exhilarating, because there’s so much happening in politics and each day is different…what’s happening in parliament really does shape the news cycle.'

Unlike journalists covering some other fields, political reporters have the added layer of working closely alongside those from other media organisations as a part of the larger press gallery. 

‘There is a real sense of collegiality in the press gallery. We have the shared goal of holding the government, the opposition and all members of parliament to account,’ Clarke said.

And while some of his closest friends are members of the press gallery from other media organisations, there is still a level of competitiveness amongst the group.

'Everyone is trying to get the story. We work for our organisation first and foremost, and we will always put that as the priority,’ he said.

Despite this, Clarke said the press gallery’s wider responsibility forces them to act as one singular unit when required. 

‘We will absolutely team up and stick together and have a line of questioning that we want to prosecute. We'll always stick together and fight for the greater good of transparency,’ he said.

Nationals MP and Member for Mildura, Jade Benham entered parliament with decades of media experience behind her and since becoming an MP in 2022 has used that experience when working with the press gallery.

‘You’ll have much more success in the media with relationships. If you have good relationships, you can help journalists with getting stories every now and then and they will also help you,’ she said. 

Although the relationship between MPs and journalists can be mutually beneficial, Benham highlighted the difficulties that can arise when existing so closely with the press gallery. 

‘Even when you're socialising with your “friends” in the press gallery, you have to be very conscious about what you say. You have to be very conscious about what messages you are putting out there and how they may be perceived by others, and how a journalist that's looking for a headline might spin that,’ she said.

President of the press gallery and current state political reporter for The Age, Kieran Rooney didn’t begin work as a political journalist but has since grown into the role.

‘I’m loving life as a political reporter. It’s one of the most exciting things you can possibly do,’ he said. 

While other journalistic roles might garner more fame and attention, the benefits of working the political round are not lost on Rooney.

‘You can change so many things for so many people’s everyday lives,’ he said. 

Although there is ‘a lot more colour and movement’ on sitting days of parliament, Rooney recognises the importance of other parliamentary processes such as committee inquiries. 

‘It’s one of the unsung, more interesting parts of parliament, some of where the more interesting policies get made.’

Across her time in parliament Labor minister Gabrielle Williams has grown to ‘embrace and respect’ her moments with the press gallery.

‘As a backbencher, I didn't have all that much to do with the press gallery but as a minister they are a regular part of my weekly schedule - you get used to it over time,’ she said.

‘The press gallery have a very important role in covering the important debates that take place at parliament. This is a challenging job in an age where social media dominates most people's news consumption, and when attention spans are short,’ she said. 

‘It's not always fun or comfortable, and we don't always agree with media interpretation, but it's an important part of our democracy,’ Williams highlighted.

As a political reporter, Mitch Clarke recognised that relationship building with MPs was both a vital and challenging part of the job. 

‘I think it's a really tough balance to strike, because we want to build relationships so these people feel like they can trust us to tell us information and get stories out there, but at the same time we need to also hold them to account,' Clarke said.  

While the media landscape may be changing, Clarke understands the need for a well-functioning press gallery. 

‘It's a really important round, because we know the importance of having a good government and holding the government to account and having a good opposition to hold the government to account as well,’ Clarke said. 

And even though the public may view the relationship between MPs and the press as antagonistic, at the end of the day MPs and journalists all get along, according to Jade Benham. 

‘I think that would be the most surprising thing for the public to learn, that there are good relationships there,’ Benham said.

‘I think they'd be very surprised to know that we'll go and have a beer together after the day is done.’