Bylines

Michael McKenna is the Queensland editor for The Australian newspaper.

Michael is a well-known character in Australian journalism for his large personality and his abilities as a journalist and editor. He’s had a long career covering everything from courts and celebrities in England and America to federal and state politics in Australia.

As Queensland editor for The Australian he’s responsible for the newspaper’s coverage of state politics, an important role and one which involves Michael working from morning to night. Michael says he loves it and in my mind he’s the classic image of a journalist, walking around with a notepad tucked into his pants, using sometimes colourful language and breaking exclusive yarns before anyone else. Michael and his team’s coverage of the Wieambilla police shootings in 2022 stand out in my mind as a clear recent example of his editorial ability in the face of an unfolding situation.

Our conversation touches on the shenanigans Michael got up to as a young cadet writing a newspaper’s TV guide; why he gives his reporters ‘concept’ days to think about their beat; how be broke a story on Labor-aligned lobbyists with close ties to the Queensland state government; Michael’s time as a 21-year-old reporter working under Piers Morgan in London where he covered the Birmingham Six and scored exclusive interviews with Freddie Mercury’s parents and a recently deposed former prime minister Margaret Thatcher; Michael’s first big investigative piece on federal labor minister John Brown and a million dollar Gold Coast apartment; his time as an American correspondent based in LA writing about movie stars; the time he had to use cleverness and ingenuity to break an international story on Guantanamo Bay; why he’ll always call the people involved after breaking a scandal in the news and keep a conversation with them going; and how he plans on covering the upcoming Queensland state election.

Michael's The Australian profile: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/author/michael-mckenna

For a full episode transcript and links to Michael’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

Richard Murray is a former journalist and war correspondent, and the current head of journalism at the University of Queensland.

Richard has a fascinating story to tell and has lived a massive life, much of it spent as a journalist overseas working in places that typically don’t get much of our attention. He’s worked in India, Nepal, North and South Korea, New Zealand, and Australia, covered international politics, a civil war, and helped set up the Associated Press bureau in Pyonyang, North Korea. Richard’s a lecturer at the University of Queensland where I study journalism and has been a great mentor to me the last few years.

There’s a stereotype in the industry that journalism lecturers are just academics who talk about journalism theory but have little to offer in practical experience. Richard breaks this stereotype; he’s a highly experienced journalist with a practical approach to teaching and I know a lot of students appreciate his classes.

Our conversation touches on Richard’s approach to teaching student’s journalism; his experience growing up on Māori tribal lands in New Zealand before being scouted for an elite rugby college; his experience working part-time for The Age in Melbourne while working as a dockhand at the port; meeting some of the most talented journalists he’s come across while working in India and travelling the country; his experience covering a civil war in Nepal what it’s like being shot at; his mental health journey as he comes to process the experiences he’s been through; the time he was thrown in prison in South Korea for a story he published; why he teaches his students social justice storytelling; why he worries about the future of Australian journalism; and how his upbringing informed his approach to journalism and his sense of belonging in the elite of academia today.

For a full episode transcript and links to Richard'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

Andrew McMillen is the national music writer for The Australian newspaper and the author of Talking Smack: Honest Conversations about Drugs.

Andrew has been a particular inspiration for me over the last few years. I met him while attending Christmas drinks for The Australian’s Brisbane bureau in 2021, back when I worked as an intern on another podcast, Shandee’s Story. I remember being very, very nervous that night meeting some of my journalistic heroes, which include Andrew. His podcast from 2017, Penmanship, about Australian writing culture, featured several interviews with journalists which I found particularly inspiring for this podcast.

I reached out to Andrew in February seeking his advice on producing Bylines and I asked him if he’d be willing to be interviewed. He said yes, and we met in March in an unused office on the bottom level of News Corps Bowen Hills base in Brisbane. A note on the office: the once busy bottom level is now completely deserted and contains rows on rows of empty desks. It’s a relevant image of the state of Australian journalism today and its changing business models.

Fortunately, my chat with Andrew was far more positive. Andrew writes news and features stories on the Australian music industry, including longform pieces for The Weekend Australian magazine.

Our conversation touches on Andrew’s massive feature on former federal politician and Midnight Oil Frontman Peter Garret; the ‘weird’ experience of feature writing for a living; why he understands why some musicians don’t like talking about their songs; Andrew’s writing processes and the lessons he’s learned about writing; his early love of stories and music; how Andrew got his start in journalism by writing reviews on local concerts in exchange for free tickets; his years as a freelancer and what it takes to thrive in that field; and why Andrew still finds his job endlessly fascinating today.

Andrew's website: ⁠http://andrewmcmillen.com

Andrew's podcast, Penmanship: https://penmanshippodcast.com

Andrew's profile: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/author/andrew-mcmillen

For a full episode transcript and links to Andrew’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

Caroline Graham is a university lecturer, Walkley-award winning investigative journalist, author, and true-crime podcaster.

Caroline taught me journalism at the University of Queensland a few years back; she teaches subjects in investigative, data, and broadcast journalism. Caroline, or ‘Caro’ as her students affectionately call her, is a popular lecturer for good reason: her courses are practical and full of nuggets of journalistic wisdom, and her bubbly approach gives students a great starting point for their careers. Her 2018 podcast, Lost in Larrimah, which she co-produced with longtime journalist friend Kylie Stevenson, explored the disappearance of Northern Territory man Paddy Moriarty from the town of Larrimah, population 11. Graham produced an ABC Landline documentary in 2022 called Outback Musical, which we discuss in the episode, along with an investigative series with Stevenson in 2023 for The Australian newspaper about the crisis in Northern Territory education, particularly in remote Aboriginal communities.       

Our conversation touches on Caroline’s enviable job as a university lecturer with time to conduct longform investigative journalism; her approach to teaching students journalism; her early love of writing and stories and growing up among the cane fields of central Queensland; her first gig writing at The Daily Mercury in Mackay; her work as a freelancer; why she loves human interest journalism; how journalism has shaped her own fiction writing; how she became involved in investigating the disappearance of a man in a tiny town in the middle of Australia; why she’s drawn to remote and strange places like the Northern Territory; why true crime podcasts must get the ethics right; why she thinks writing is a beautiful way to spend a life; and the experience of co-producing a true crime podcast in six-week deadline with no prior experience.

For a full episode transcript and links to Caroline’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

Kate Kyriacou is the crime and courts editor for The Courier-Mail and the author of The Sting: The Undercover Operation That Caught Daniel Morcombe’s Killer.

I met Kate last year at a journalism bootcamp hosted for first-year journalism students at the University of Queensland. I was familiar with her work before then - her book on the police covert operation that caught Daniel Morcombe’s killer, The Sting, is a masterclass in investigative journalism. Crime is her bread and butter; her most recent investigation examines cults in Queensland and New South Wales explores the fine line between lifestyle choice and group coercive control.

Our conversation touches on her investigation into these cults and their members; why journalists shouldn’t talk about their sources; what a day as a crime and courts editor for a metro newspaper involves; her love of English and writing; her experience as a crime reporter in Mildura doing death knocks; why she thinks good crime reporting is important; the story that still affects her to this day; how she manages her emotions reporting on such horrific events; the police operation that caught Daniel’s Morcombe’s killer; how she ‘de-stresses’ through competitive surf boating; and why she still stays in the crime beat two decades after starting journalism.

For a full episode transcript and links to Kate’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

Alison Sandy is the Freedom of Information editor for the Seven Network and the executive producer for The Lady Vanishes and Shot in the Dark true crime podcasts.

I first heard of Alison when she spoke via Zoom at the University of Queensland in 2021 as part of a Walkley Masterclass series on journalism. Her presentation was about Freedom of Information, the laws that enable citizens and journalists to request access to public information which public institutions are legally required to provide.

Alison is an expert in the subject – as FOI editor for Seven, she lodges hundreds of applications a year across Australia, navigating the complexities of the different state and federal legislation, and sometimes going to tribunal hearings to fight for access to information.

Alison is also heavily involved in true crime podcasting, which led me to reach out to her in April. I’ve helped write and produce a true crime podcast myself, Shandee’s Story, and I was keen to speak with her about the power in these podcasts to create renewed interest in unsolved cases. As Alison tells me in the interview: “I love the podcast format … I don’t think you can a story justice in any other medium as well.”

Our conversation touches on Alison’s national role as FOI editor for Seven; her love of history; the power of true-crime podcasting; why the inquest won’t be the end of Marion Barter’s case; who police should investigate further in relation to Marion’s disappearance; the time Alison found herself recording a sensational speech by an unsuspecting former liberal senator Amanda Vanstone which went on to make front-page news; the time police raided her newsroom for confidential information she had received; and Alison’s experience working as a young journalist in the Victorian town of Portland where her eagerness and commitment to journalism rubbed some people the wrong way.

The inquest findings into Marion Barter's disappearance were released a week after my conversation with Alison. Coroner Teresa O’Sullivan found that Marion Barter was dead, that she had died soon after she vanished nearly three decades ago, and that Ric Blum was involved in draining her bank account at the time and was deliberating withholding information. She referred the case to NSW homicide police for further investigation but did not recommend charges of perjury against Blum.

The book version of The Lady Vanishes will be released later this year (a current May release date) by HarperCollins.

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

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

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