Rahni Sadler

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Rahni Sadler (born 1972) is an Australian reporter and television journalist. She is sister of Matthew Sadler^[1] who is a TV and radio presenter and journalist for the ABC.^[2]

Contents 1 Early life 2 Journalist 3 Publicist 4 Other 5 Notes

[edit] Early life

Sadler attended Santa Sabina College in the Sydney suburb of Strathfield, a day school for girls K-12. She completed a Bachelor of Arts degree at Sydney University, taking part in the Honours program in the Political Science (Government) Department.

Sadler had an early inquisitive mind for news and politics and is reported as saying the following with references to the sacking of the 1975 Whitlam government. "The first time I heard about 1975 was when I was standing in a lift. I was seven and we were going to Singapore and we were getting our injections and mum whispered ‘That’s the man that sacked the Prime Minister,’ and I said ‘Oh, so.’ It meant nothing to me, mum said ‘Oh, that’s Sir John Kerr.’ And I remember for years it played on my mind: ‘How could you possibly sack he Prime"Minister?^[3]

[edit] Journalist

Sadler had “always wanted to be a journalist” and eventually in 1993, after doing work experience in radio landed a job at WIN TV, the Channel 9 affiliate in regional NSW. She said she got the job when a “girl I had had lunch with for half an hour remembered me and recommended me” to someone at the station. Her break as a correspondent in the Parliament press gallery came when she met Channel 7’s Glenn Milne in Thredbo landslide where they were both covering the mudslide that killed 19 people in the winter of 1997.

When learning the trade she is reported to have said "The Good correspondents were not good teachers, nor good developers of talent. …This is not only a fault of individuals. There is something in the culture of the profession…that acts against the education and inspiration of those who are making their way up."^[4]

"I got up there and it was the hugest world, there was so much to know, there is so much to know. There’s so many things happening all the time, it’s hard to keep your head across everything. And it’s not just a matter of reading nine papers in the morning and constantly checking the box. It’s the feel of the place, it’s the rumor mill, and it’s the nuances of the whole thing."

Sadler finds the best way to learn on the job is to “just listen a hell of a lot”. Asking questions helps, but she says you can’t ask too many because of the need to maintain an air of “I know what’s going on”. She says it’s necessary to become a media junkie, reading all the papers and watching as much television news or current affairs as you can handle. Networking, especially with the press secretaries, is also a useful way to pick up political knowledge but not much comes from senior gallery personnel: "I wouldn’t say a lot of advice comes down from the top. I felt it was just presumed that I would know a lot of stuff".

Sadler was a reporter for Channel 7 in Sydney until she switched to Network Ten in 2003 where she became a correspondent in the channels' Los Angeles Bureau. Channel 7 poached her back in February 2007, although this time in its Los Angeles Bureau^[5]. She controversially replaced Channel 7's Los Angeles Correspondent Louise Pennell, who was informed of her impending replacement by the Bureau's Chief Cameraman Trent Miller ^[6]. Trent knew what was going on because he was Rahni's boyfriend. Trent was forced to reveal the details to Louise after another member of Seven's L.A. Bureau told her accidentally. Louise launched legal action and later reached an out-of-court settlement ^[7].

[edit] Publicist

Sadler was a fiction student at UCLA and became a publicist for her teacher's book, "Gentle's Holler. She says she did this as she wanted to know what she was getting into for when it came her turn for her own book. ^[8]

[edit] Other

Sadler was reported to have broken down while reporting on the death of Australian born movie star Heath Ledger in New York on 23 Jan 2008. This occurred after discussing how Ledger had not liked fame or participating in interviews. Ledger has been interviewed by Sunrise on previous occasions and was once told off by his sister for appearing arrogant in interviews.^[9] It was later revealed Sadler was merely out of breath as she ran to Heath Ledger's Soho apartment from a New York G'day USA press conference, where she was when news of his death broke.

Sadler has a trade mark, characteristic and distinctive accent that some say is like a lisp or as if she is taking with clenched teeth ^[10] neither of which is true. Her accent is probably more to do with the time she has spent in the US.

[edit] Notes