What is your role at The Australian and what does an average day look like?
My role is Political Editor. I don’t have an average day or a normal day or a day that is the same as the day before.
How does your role at The Australian help deliver the news?
My job is to try and provide insights into what is happening beneath the surface of the public political rhetoric.
What is the structure of the team you work in and how do you work together?
Our Canberra bureau is one the biggest in the Parliamentary Press Gallery and works seamlessly as a team; offering news and commentary online as well as updating the news for the newspaper.
How do you work with other people/teams at The Australian to create compelling content?
We are constantly talking to our bureaus around Australia and across the world to ensure our political coverage meshes with the business, news and even sport pages, so that politics isn’t seen in isolation from the rest of the
news.
What is your proudest achievement during your time at The Australian with relation to making the news?
My most exciting and tense time was reporting from Washington DC on September 11, 2001 as smoke rose from the Pentagon. I also take pride in my recent coverage of the resources boom and Government taxes which dominated the final days of Kevin Rudd’s prime ministership.
How would you define ‘quality journalism’?
The best journalism informs people about what is going on, concentrates on what is both important and interesting, resists any pressure to distort the truth and tries to do everything to ensure there is a fair representation of what is really happening.
Why do you think quality journalism is important to Australians?
Quality journalism is central to a free and democratic society and keeps people informed of the facts and analysis they need to make their own decisions.
How do you think the articles you write benefit Australians?
I just hope I tell people things they may not know or that they appreciate the analysis through the blizzard of information and opinions thrown at them every day.
How do you see the industry is progressing and what are your hopes for the future?
I believe journalism will go from strength to strength with more need every day for quality analysis and information sifting from professional journalists who use whatever outlet necessary to get the news to the public.
image : https://www.abc.net.au/
