Nas Campanella

Nas Campanella is the National Disability Affairs Reporter for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and frequently appears on ABC News. She lost her sight at the age of six months and has been a news reporter for ABC since 2011.

Career

Campanella earned a degree in communications at the University of Technology Sydney. After University, she joined the ABC as a cadet journalist in Sydney in 2011. Her first job was as a regional reporter and newsreader in Bega, and then in 2013 she became a newsreader for JJJ. In 2020 she became the ABC's first Disability Affairs Reporter.

Campanella holds the distinction of being the world's first blind newsreader to operate the studio herself while delivering live broadcasts. She is also a motivational speaker to students, educators, parents, and professionals, addressing a wide array of topics, such as inclusive education, and adaptive technology. She also mentors people with disabilities and mental health challenges.

Disability

Campanella lost her sight at the age of six months, when blood vessels in her eyes burst, causing her retinas to detach. She also suffers from Charcot-Marie Tooth syndrome, so that she is unable to read Braille.

Because she cannot read the auto prompt on live TV, she relies on screen reading software called Jaws which scans text on the screen and plays it in her headphones, along with other audio streams such as a timer.

Personal life

Nas was born in 1989, and grew up in Western Sydney in a large Australian-Italian family. After initially struggling with reading because of her disabilities, she did well at school and became dux of her High School. She is now married to Thomas Oriti, who is also an ABC presenter, and they have a son Lachie