News Corp Australia’s annual Indigenous Sport Week has kicked off. Running from May 20-26, the editorial campaign celebrated the rich history, and future, of Indigenous Sport in Australia through storytelling.
Each year, News’ sport newsrooms across the country prioritise supporting the AFL and NRL Indigenous rounds and super netball first nations round. The coverage is amplified across the business to inspire, inform and engage readers about Indigenous representation in sport.
The 2024 campaign will include a dedicated focus on Australia’s Indigenous Olympic athletes in the lead up to the Paris Olympics. Those who have made history in the past, those who are making their mark today, and those who are poised to emerge as champions in the future.
Featuring an exciting exploration of what it means to don the green and gold, how athletes express their cultural identity through sport on the global stage, and initiatives like the Indigenous coaching scholarship program, among others.
“The inspiration behind this year’s Indigenous Sport Week comes from Olympian Patrick Johnson, the only Australian to break 10 seconds in the 100m,” said Tim Morrissey, national deputy sports editor and lead editor of Indigenous Sport Week.
“As chair of the Australian Olympic committee’s Indigenous advisory committee in an Olympic year, Patrick has a simple yet powerful message for all Olympians and Australians alike: ‘Don’t walk in front of us, don’t walk behind us, walk with us’”.
“This year we are also incorporating elements of Aboriginal artist and former Olympic boxer Paul Fleming’s artwork Walking Together into our campaign. Paul’s artwork, which will feature on every Australian Olympian’s competition uniform in Paris, draws inspiration from the power of the Olympic Games to bring all people together as one. As he explains: ‘We’re all athletes and it doesn’t matter where you come from’”.
The company-wide collaboration brings together state and regional mastheads, news.com.au, The Australian, CODE Sports, and Kommunity TV to give the campaign the voice it deserves.
For the launch today, the Indigenous Sport Week artwork by Paul Fleming is integrated into the mastheads of The Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun, The Courier-Mail and The Advertiser, as well as Cairns Post, Gold Coast Bulletin, Toowoomba Chronicle, Townsville Bulletin, The Mercury, Geelong Advertiser and NT News.
