Robert Ovadia is an Australian journalist. Ovadia is currently a reporter and fill-in presenter for ''

Seven News ''7NEWS'' is the television news service of the Seven Network and, as of 2021, the highest-rating in Australia. National bulletins are presented from Seven's high definition studios in Martin Place, Sydney, while flagship 6pm bulletins are ...

'' in Sydney.

Career

Ovadia studied Communications and French at Macquarie University, and began his career in regional television in

Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 56,000 as of June 2018, Wagga Wagga is the state's la ...

. Eighteen months later, he took a senior reporting job in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

with Network Ten. In 1999, he took a job with

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, while he toured

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

and parts of

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

. Ovadia joined ''

'' in 2000, just after the 2000 Olympic Games. While working with Seven, Ovadia has reported on a range of stories, including the 2002 Sydney bushfire crisis and the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق ( Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict and the War on terror , image ...

, before being promoted to Crime Reporter in September 2003. Ovadia has broken many major stories of statewide and national significance. In 2008, he and colleague

Aela Callan Aela Callan is a documentary filmmaker and journalist based in Berlin, Germany. Callan began her career in Perth at 6PR radio in 1999, before moving on to work in the Canberra press gallery, Sydney's 2UE radio. and Seven News in Sydney, New Sou ...

won a prestigious

Walkley Award The annual Walkley Awards are presented in Australia to recognise and reward excellence in journalism. They cover all media including print, television, documentary, radio, photographic and online media. The Gold Walkley is the highest prize and ...

for Television News Reporting for breaking the Iguanagate scandal that engulfed the NSW and federal governments. In 2009, he was the MC at the funeral of the Lin family who were murdered outside their North Epping home in 2009. He was chosen ahead of

Nine 9 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 9 or nine may also refer to: Dates * AD 9, the ninth year of the AD era * 9 BC, the ninth year before the AD era * 9, numerical symbol for the month of September Places * Nine, Portugal, a parish in the ...

reporter Jessica Rich. The event was held at

Sydney Olympic Park, New South Wales Sydney Olympic Park is a suburb of Greater Western Sydney, located 13 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Parramatta Council. It is commonly known as Olympic Park but officially nam ...

. From 2011, Ovadia has filled in as a news anchor on various news bulletins, including '' Seven Morning News'' and '' The Morning Show'' as well as late night news updates. Ovadia is credited as Sydney's crime reporter, and fills predominantly crime and justice related stories. In late 2013, Ovadia won his second Walkley Award for his exposé into an Australian Defence Force sex scandal cover-up. On 13 December 2013, Ovadia filled in on ''

Today Tonight ''Today Tonight'' is an Australian current affairs television program produced by the Seven Network. It aired from January 1995 to November 2019 in Adelaide and Perth. Editions in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne were previously produced befor ...

'' while regular fill-in presenter

Kylie Gillies Kylie Gillies (born 4 May 1967) is Australian television presenter for the Seven Network, based in Sydney, Australia. Gillies is the co-host of '' The Morning Show'' with Larry Emdur. Career Gillies was born in Tamworth and attended Tamworth Hi ...

was on holidays. On Christmas Day 2013, 2014 and 2015, Ovadia presented the ''

'' weeknight bulletin in Sydney. In October 2019 Ovadia reported having his name circulated and receiving death threats after escorting pro-Beijing actress Celine Ma to safety from a mob of protesters. Ovadia criticized what he saw as weaponization of disinformation from

Apple Daily ''Apple Daily'' ( zh, link=no, 蘋果日報) was a popular tabloid published in Hong Kong from 1995 to 2021. Founded by Jimmy Lai, it was one of the best-selling Chinese language newspapers in Hong Kong.

, which selectively edited footage of Ma's assault as Ma attempting to instigate violence.Oz newsman tells of death threats after helping out bloodied actress
The Standard. 14 October 2019

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ovadia, Robert Australian television journalists Living people Crime journalists Australian Sephardi Jews People educated at The Hills Grammar School Year of birth missing (living people)