Neary Ty

Since completing a Bachelor of Arts (Media and Communication) at Deakin in 2013, Neary Ty has been on the front line at Nine News. She’s broken numerous crime stories and reported on major events including bushfires, terror attacks, royal tours and lockdown protests.

She's proud to have come such a long way since her parents arrived as refugees from Cambodia in the 1980s with ‘nothing but the clothes on their backs’.

‘Now, young Asian students message me and say, “We love seeing you on TV representing us – thank you so much, keep doing what you’re doing,”’ she explains.

Growing up in Noble Park North, Neary dreamed of becoming a police officer or fashion stylist. Without a clear goal after Year 12, she started a Bachelor of Arts but dropped out when she found herself disinterested in the subjects. She then spent about six years working in retail, indulging her love of fashion.

‘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. She thrived.

While at Deakin, Neary had opportunities to intern at Cleo and Girlfriend magazines but didn’t enjoy the slower pace. Then she did an internship at Nine. ‘I thought, “oh my goodness, this place is so exciting,”’ she remembers.

During this internship, she followed reporters around, taking in as much as possible. She also recorded a few on-camera practice pieces.

With this new taste for reporting, Neary set her goal.

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

She eventually landed her first job as communications coordinator, listening to police, ambulance and SES communications on a scanner. She'd relay incidents to the chief of staff and dispatch news crews to the scene.

Neary moved up the ranks through news desk coordination, footage archiving and producer roles. ‘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. 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 a year, my news boss said, “Hey, I’m going to get you to do a story today.” “Me? My own story? Like, me? To air!?!”

After her first story - about a sex attacker at The Tan in Melbourne - went to broadcast the entire staff started clapping. ‘It’s a really good culture at Nine – we encourage everyone,’ she smiles.

Crime has been a major focus of Neary’s reporting career. She broke an 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 ‘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 by 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’ll say, “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’ but she’s still had to put up with a few intolerable experiences in the field. This includes being racially abused while reporting on a home invasion, which she felt was important to call out on social media.

‘People don’t always realise how hurtful comments can be. Sometimes it’s casual racism that can do the most damage,’ she says.

While there have been improvements, Neary believes more diversity in the industry would have benefits. '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.

With two young daughters, she enjoys a balance of three office days per week, 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.’

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.

With a busy work and home life, Neary has only recently started connecting with the Deakin alumni community in the past few years. 'It honestly feels so special to be part of this group,' she says. 'Seeing everyone’s success stories and hearing about where students are today, especially making a difference in the world, makes me so proud to be a Deakin alum!'

Neary recently served as a volunteer judge on the Deakin 3MT® (Three Minute Thesis) final. 'I'm always wanting to learn more and connect with people,' she tells us. 'I have plenty of experience broadcasting to a wider audience, spending most days trying to condense a lot of information into 90-second news packages,’ she tells us. ‘I was so intrigued by how the researchers condense years of study into three-minute talks. Let me say, I was absolutely blown away by everyone's passion, commitment and talent.’

Neary loved the experience of judging the competition and the opportunity to give back to Deakin. 'It’s always so nice to reconnect. If you’re thinking of volunteering at Deakin, or you haven’t started thinking about it yet give it a go. This was my first time volunteering as a Deakin alum and I would absolutely do it again!'