Peter Greste is former journalist, academic and director of the Alliance for Media Freedom.

Peter is best known for the 400 days he spent in an Egyptian prison on made-up terrorism charges along with several of his Al Jazeera colleagues. He was released in 2015 and meant to serve time in Australia, which the Australian government never enforced.

And yet Peter is so much more than just this highly covered experience – he was a seasoned foreign correspondent operating mostly from Africa and the Middle East, and an exceptional talent whose career was cut short by his experience in Egypt. As we discuss in our chat, it turns out terrorism charges – even bogus ones - make international travel a little tricky.

Peter has since become an academic and a leading advocate for media freedom speaking at international events and pushing for a Media Freedom Act in Australia. As we discuss, Australia does a terrible job in terms of its media freedom, and it’s getting worse. Peter wrote an amazing book on his experience in Egypt and on the global threats to journalism called The First Casualty, and in February this year filming wrapped for a movie based on Peter’s experience called The Correspondent.

Our conversation touches on…

📰 Peter’s thoughts on the latest threats on media freedom, notably Julian Assange’s recent guilty plea to espionage offences and the jailing of Australian whistleblower David McBride

🎥 His formative early newsroom experience at GMV6 in Shepparton and the book that inspired him to become a foreign correspondent

🏤 How a drink in a London bar and a cute girl led him to cover stories in war-torn Yugoslavia

🕵‍♂️ Peter’s view on how everything changed after 9/11 and why the media itself has become a battleground for ideas, often with very real-life consequences

🌍 His love of sub-saharan Africa and losing his esteemed colleague Kate Peyton, who was shot right next to him

🧘‍♂️ How exercise and Vipassana mediation helped Peter keep his sanity in prison and make peace with himself

🆓 And Peter’s thoughts on the threats to journalism freedom today

Tim Elliott is a senior writer with Good Weekend, author and podcast host.

Tim is one of Australia’s best feature writers and if you haven’t read his pieces in the Sydney Morning Herald’s Saturday magazine, Good Weekend, you’re really missing out.

Tim started his career writing for Sydney surf mags before heading to Bolivia to write for The Bolivian Times in his early twenties. He’s loved writing ever since he was a kid copying out Times New Roman Font in his notebook and after a career as a freelancer and news journalist at the Sydney Morning Herald, Tim now works for Good Weekend, producing feature stories on anything and everything you can imagine.

Tim co-produced the 2022 podcast Inside The Tribe with fellow journalist Camille Bianchi on an Australian cult which won best true crime podcast at the Australian Podcast Awards. He’s also a Kennedy Award-winner for his feature writing and can claim one to have written one of the most engaged-with pieces in the Sydney Morning Herald ever – a 2014 piece on his father’s suicide which led to him being inundated with thousands of emails, letters and texts.

Our conversation touches on...

 Why a single feature article can take Tim 6 weeks of research to complete and involve up to 72 interviews

 How he wrote a recent piece on Katherine Folbigg and the lawyer who helped secure her freedom, Rhanee Rego

 Tim’s love of words and why reads the work of other writers to get inspired

 How he ended up writing for The Bolivian Times in South America and patrolling jungles with DEA agents

 How Tim got a job as a feature writer for Good Weekend magazine and why he chose to write a very personal story on his father’s suicide

 How he came to write his award-winning podcast Inside the Tribe about an Australian cult

 The subtle things Tim looks for when he’s interviewing a person for a profile and why he doesn’t like interviewing celebrities or performing arts people

 And how his childhood experience of family mental illness made him a more sensitive writer today.

For a full episode transcript and links to Tim's work visit our website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://bylinespodcast.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow my Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/bylines_podcast/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Subscribe to the weekly podcast newsletter for a behind-the-scenes post about each episode: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://eepurl.com/iLgLy6⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Sound production by Jonathan Koster: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/djjonnysounds

Michael West is an independent journalist and owner of Michael West Media.

Since 2016, Michael has achieved the extraordinary feat of running his own independent Australian media company, Michael West Media. The decision to start his own company and take on the highly concentrated Australia media market dominated by big players came after he was made redundant by then-Fairfax’s Sydney Morning Herald.

As we discuss in our interview, running a media organisation is no easy task and Michael puts in incredibly long hours to make the business work. He commission, publishes, and sometimes researches and writes stories himself, all while doing HR, business finances, and fending off regular defamation threats.

The business model, which he admits isn’t a huge money-maker, has nevertheless seen him build a growing audience across multiple platforms, a success he puts down to the failure of the mainstream media to engage in hard-hitting investigative journalism untainted by vested interests.

Our conversation touches...

💻 How Michael handles running his own small media company doing everything from HR to researching and publishing stories and dealing with defamation threats

🗒 How an accidental cadetship at The Australian Financial Review nurtured his interest in business journalism and exposing ‘scams'

⚖ Why Michael thinks identity politics is a danger for democracy and why the media has failed here.

📰 How Michael’s experience as a stockbroker helped him at The Australian newspaper writing his column, Margin Call, where he wrote often satirical pieces about dodgy business people.

💵 Michael’s expose’s on multinational tax avoiders in Australia which led to a widely covered senate inquiry and massive change.

👨‍💼 And how the failure of the mainstream media has created opportunities for small independent creators like Michael.

For a full episode transcript and links to Michael's work visit our website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://bylinespodcast.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Tips or improvements? Email me: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Subscribe to the weekly podcast newsletter for a behind-the-scenes post about each episode: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://eepurl.com/iLgLy6⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Sound production by Jonathan Koster: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/djjonnysounds

Liz Hayes is a veteran journalist with 60 Minutes, author, and the host of Under Investigation With Liz Hayes.

Liz Hayes is a household name in Australia and an icon of Australian news television. She’s appeared on our TV screens for over forty years making her a true veteran of the industry in a career that has tracked the rise of TV current affairs journalism in Australia. And yet Liz came from humble beginnings: the daughter of a dairy farm, Liz grew up mostly without a television. Liz has stayed true to her calling as a journalist through it all and today produces her own investigative program with 60 Minutes.

In 2023 she published her memoir, I’m Liz Hayes, which tells her extraordinary story from farm girl to Australian TV royalty, and the thousands of amazing stories she covered in between, mostly as a journalist for 60 Minutes, where she criss-crossed the globe on the sometimes exhausting hunt for exclusive yarns. Liz has interviewed several prime ministers, reported from a helicopter above a live volcano in Iceland, helped catch Australia’s most wanted paedophile, interviewing dozens of the highest-profile celebrities and musicians, covered crime in Australia and overseas, interviewed warlords in Afghanistan, visit Guantamano Bay and so much more.

As I discover in our chat in her beautiful Sydney apartment, Liz has some sage advice to offer as someone who has experienced the pressure of appearing in front of TV cameras for four decades.

Our conversation touches upon...

🕵‍♀️ Liz’s latest endeavor, Under Investigations, and her foray into the world of not just true crime but international unsolved mysteries

📔 Her decision to write a memoir to hopefully inspire others to dream big

🏃‍♂️ Her childhood growing up on a dairy farm as a potential star runner and the dreaded pre-competition “egg flip”

📰 Her experience court reporting at The Manning River Times in Taree and how that nurtured her interest in journalism

🎤 The steep learning curve becoming a TV journalist in Sydney and how Liz still finds it tough being in front of a camera today

🚁 The time she had to make a narrow helicopter escape while reporting on emerald mining in the Andes

👦 Why she prefers human interest stories to celebrity stories

📺 And why Liz left breakfast TV to join 60 Minutes and escape public attention.

For a full episode transcript and links to Liz’s work visit our website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://bylinespodcast.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Tips or improvements? Email me: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow my Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/bylines_podcast/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Subscribe to the weekly podcast newsletter for a behind-the-scenes post about each episode: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://eepurl.com/iLgLy6⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Sound production by Jonathan Koster: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/djjonnysounds

Charles Miranda is a senior correspondent for NewsCorp Australia and a non-fiction author.

Charles has collected some incredible stories over his career as - to put it in his words - a “death and mayhem correspondent” for NewsCorp Australia. He was one of the first people to stumble upon the cockpit wreckage of MH-17 in Eastern Ukraine in 2014 and the actions he took that day before Russian rebels rode in and carted away the evidence would play an important role at a war crimes investigation in The Hague and the breaking of international news stories. He spent a year tracking down a USB containing vital video evidence suggesting that the plane had been shot down by a surface to air missile fired by the Russian-backed rebels, killing all 298 passengers on board including 38 Australians.  

Charles has been in the media for decades working predominantly for NewsCorp Australia including 10 years spent as a Europe and Middle East correspondent covering security, defence, foreign affairs and transnational crime. He is the author of a non-fiction book, Deception: The true story of the international drug plot that brought down Australia's top law enforcer Mark Standen, which we discuss in the episode.

Our conversation touches upon...

✈ Charles finding the MH-17 wreckage and breaking the revelations to the world via his news reports, plus his overage of the war 2014 and 2022

🔫 Charles’s experience growing up in Spain under the Francoist regime and his surprise upon arriving in Australia to find out his primary school peers didn’t know how to fire a handgun

🎸 Charles’s early career as a music writer for the Canberra Times following Dire Straits on tour

🏛 How Charles got his first gig covering federal politics by observing the weapons guards were carrying outside parliament house

🗺 His time in East Timor covering conflict there with US marines; why Charles thinks good foreign reporting has to involve boots on the ground rather than writing behind a screen

🛬 Charles’s career post-911 including the time he thought his end was imminent aboard a troop transport plane in Afghanistan

👮‍♂️ The time Charles nearly went to prison in Wandsworth in the UK for his reporting, and why he can’t talk much about it;

📰 His extraordinary exclusive on Australia’s most corrupt top cop Mark Standen

👤 And the time Charles was briefly held hostage by armed rebels in The Philippines.

For a full episode transcript and links to Charles’s work visit our website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://bylinespodcast.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Tips or improvements? Email me: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow my Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/bylines_podcast/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Subscribe to the weekly podcast newsletter for a behind-the-scenes post about each episode: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://eepurl.com/iLgLy6⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Sound production by Jonathan Koster: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/djjonnysounds

Kerry Lonergan OAM is a former journalist, podcast host, and founding father of ABC’s Landline current affairs program.

Kerry is a legend of Australian journalism although you’d never hear that from him. His career started in the 1960s as a freelance writer and he later moved to Brisbane with Channel Nine covering state politics, including the colourful and scandal-plagued era of the Joh Bjelke-Petersen government. That was before Kerry and his colleagues were sacked for writing negative stories about the so-called “Hillbilly dictator”.

After moving to the national broadcaster Kerry successfully started the program that would define his career. Landline, a country program for country people, emphasises positive stories about news in Australians regions and has since become a regular fixture of Australian television, having run now for over three decades.

Kerry is semi-retired but he still hosts a weekly podcast about the Australian beef industry, Beef Weekly, still contributing his vast knowledge of the sector even after all these decades. In 2013 he received an Order of Australian Medal for his services to broadcasting and in 2015 was inducted in the Rural Press Club Hall of Fame.

Our conversation touches upon Kerry’s upbringing in the NSW Hunter Valley, his early love of radio and current affairs and how he learnt to read the Sydney Morning Herald aged five or six; a memorable interview with legendary comedian Spike Milligan; why Kerry thinks the national broadcaster needs more contrarians with diverse political views; why he wanted Landline to be emphasise positive rural stories; the demise of state and local investigative journalism in Australia; and Kerry’s experience reporting on the Joh Bjelke-Petersen government for Channel Nine in Brisbane before being unceremoniously sacked – along with all his colleagues - by the new owner Alan Bond.

For a full episode transcript and links to Kerry's work visit our website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://bylinespodcast.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Tips or improvements? Email me: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Sound production by Jonathan Koster: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://lnkd.in/gNJgfWUc⁠

Matt Wordsworth is a director at Blue Hill PR and a former ABC news journalist and presenter.

Matt is a familiar face to many Queenslanders as the former presenter for the ABC’s 7pm news bulletin, and if you’re a little older than me you’ve also probably seen him hosting various ABC current affairs programs including 7.30, Lateline and Stateline.

Matt spent just over two decades at the national broadcaster covering mostly politics in Queensland, New South Wales and Canberra. In 2023, at the height of his career and while still presenting the primetime evening news, Matt shockingly left journalism to run a public relations firm with his wife. Matt says it was the right decision to make and he’s still a passionate advocate for the ABC; his iconic departing words at the end of his final news bulletin were: “Long live public broadcasting.”

Our conversation touches upon why Matt left journalism at the height of his career and his experience running a PR firm focused on the ag sector with his wife Stacey; why authenticity is key to public relations success; how studying philosophy while working as the nightly news presenter improved his writing and analysis; how Matt is continuing the Wordsworth family legacy which yes, includes a distant link to the great William Wordsworth; how reporting at The Queensland Times nurtured his love for journalism and his decision to quit an ABC cadetship after 12 months to travel overseas; Matt’s experience covering the end of the Kenneally NSW government and what makes for good political coverage of an election; why he thinks journalism has become too focused on Canberra at the expense of investigative state and local reporting; and his approach to interviewing politicians for ABC’s leading current affairs programs including 7.30, where his guests wouldn’t always appreciate the tough questions he was asking.

For a full episode transcript and links to Matt’s work visit our website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://bylinespodcast.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Tips or improvements? Email me: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Subscribe to the weekly podcast newsletter for a behind-the-scenes post about each episode: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://eepurl.com/iLgLy6⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Sound production by Jonathan Koster: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/djjonnysounds

Anne Kruger is a university academic, news verification expert, journalist, and former CNN news anchor.

I met Anne earlier this year at the University of Queensland where she teaches journalism and strategic communications. Anne is an experienced journalist with a storied career at CNN, Bloomberg and ABC News Australia, and she is also a leading expert in news verification tackling the wicked problems of misinformation and disinformation in the media. She was an integral force in establishing Australia’s first disinformation and misinformation code of conduct for digital platforms and still sits on the sub-committee – in her own time – that regulates complaints against big media companies.

Misinformation and disinformation are key issues in journalism today and issues which Anne is clearly passionate about in our interview. Anne first came across the seriousness of disinformation while working in Hong Kong, first as a CNN news anchor during the SARS outbreak and later for Bloomberg. In Hong Kong Anne thrived in the high-pressure roles – which included anchoring the CNN World News – and developed an appreciation for the importance of fast and accurate information.

Our conversation touches on Anne’s experience on a subcommittee tasked with enforcing a disinformation and misinformation code of conduct on Australia’s digital media giants; her upbringing in Toowoomba and how a degree in classical music shaped her career in journalism; her move to Hong Kong and how she landed a role at CNN; her experience at the Cable News Network during the early-2000s SARS outbreak, where she worked with fellow Australian Stan Grant and learnt the value of fast and accurate reporting; witnessing the extremes of poverty and wealth in the city and the challenge of Westerners doing journalism there today; and the high pressure job of a anchoring the world news for CNN and what happens when things go wrong.

For a full episode transcript and links to Anne’s work visit our website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://bylinespodcast.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Tips or improvements? Email me: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow my Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/bylines_podcast/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Subscribe to the weekly podcast newsletter for a behind-the-scenes post about each episode: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://eepurl.com/iLgLy6⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Sound production by Jonathan Koster: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/djjonnysounds

Paula Doneman is an experienced crime and investigative journalist, author, and true crime podcaster.

Paula’s been in the news industry for over three decades now reporting mostly on crime in Queensland, which makes her one of the state’s most experienced and still-active journalists. She made a name for herself while still a student at the University of Queensland, breaking major stories on the state’s prison drug trade and deaths in custody which led to a Commission of Inquiry, a huge achievement for anyone, let alone a university student.

Since then, Paula’s covered high-profile murders, written a book – Things A Killer Would Know - on serial killer Leonard Fraser, and produced several true crime podcasts including Little Girl Lost about the unsolved murder of Leanne Holland and Pendulum, about the unsolved murder of Margaret Kirstenfeldt. Paula’s career has covered print and broadcast journalism and she's won a Walkley award for her reporting on an Australian Defence Force sex ring.

Our conversation touches on Paula’s experience at UQ’s Weekend Independent newspaper under the tutelage of journalism veterans Bob Bottom and Evan Whitton, and where her exclusive yarns on the prison drug trade led to a commission of inquiry, Paula being stalked on campus, and blowback from government ministers; her latchkey childhood in Brisbane in a big family with a police officer father and a psychologist mother; her frosty newsroom reception at The Courier-Mail after the paper headhunted her following her success while at university; her involvement in the investigative team at the paper with the likes of Michael Ware and Paul Whittaker; the time she worked at The New York Post and had to track down Jerry Seinfeld; the dangers of being an investigative crime reporter; her investigation into serial killer Leonard John Fraser and the incredibly unusual story of missing woman Natasha Ryan; what motivates Paula to do the hard-hitting, dangerous and often intense investigative reporting that she does; and her advice to young journalists today.

Paula's full of cracking tales about her time in journalism which we couldn't possible cover in a single hour. If you're interested in learning more she featured on a great episode of ABC Conversations with Richard Fidler, which you can find here: https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/conversations/conversations-paula-doneman/8491366

For a full episode transcript and links to Paula’s work visit our website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://bylinespodcast.com⁠⁠⁠⁠

Tips or improvements? Email me: ⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow my Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/bylines_podcast/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Subscribe to the weekly podcast newsletter for a behind-the-scenes post about each episode: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://eepurl.com/iLgLy6⁠⁠⁠⁠

Sound production by Jonathan Koster: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/djjonnysounds

Chris Allen is a journalist and veteran TV reporter for A Current Affair.

If you’ve watched Australian television over the last thirty years you’ve probably seen or heard Chris on A Current Affair, also known as ACA, chasing down dodgy scammers, confronting neighbours from hell, or even exposing a grandma selling drugs from her front porch in her dressing gown and slippers.

Chris is one of the great Australian TV journos and he’s still in the game with plans to return to ACA this year to do some more reporting. He’s been a journalist since the late 70s which makes him a veteran of the industry although you’d think he’s ten years younger if you saw him on TV.

Our conversation touches on his coverage of the murder of Alison Baden-Clay just a few houses down from where he lived at the time; his early ambition to become a journalist or an actor; his experience of drama school in the same cohort as Judy Davis and Mel Gibson and his subsequent cadetship at The Courier-Mail; how his love of drama and journalism combined to see him thrive as a reporter on A Current Affair; being thrown in the deep end of TV reporting and how he succeeded in the tough industry; how he manages talking to the loved ones of victims after a tragedy in what the industry calls death knocks; the life of a TV journo working for ACA and the bizarre stories he’s covered including his iconic story on a drug granny and the time someone threated to bite his face off; why he understands why some people criticise A Current Affair for their coverage of neighbourhood disputes; the keys to good TV writing; and why journalism’s been a great career for him so far.

For a full episode transcript and links to Chris’s work visit our website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠http://bylinespodcast.com⁠⁠⁠

Tips or improvements? Email me: ⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠

Follow my Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/bylines_podcast/⁠⁠⁠⁠

Subscribe to the weekly podcast newsletter for a behind-the-scenes post about each episode: ⁠⁠⁠⁠http://eepurl.com/iLgLy6⁠⁠⁠

Sound production by Jonathan Koster: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/djjonnysounds