Stephen Brook: "I think that gossips make very good journalists, if you've got a skill you should embrace it and try and exploit it professionally."

As a bonus episode of BTM Hedley Thomas interviews Stephen Brook on his last day as The Australia's Media Diary columnist and host of the podcast. They discuss Brooky's 15 years at the newspaper, his time in London reporting for The Guardian, breaking the ABC Guthrie-Milne sacking, the book Stephen…

George Negus: "I don't think I'm much of a reporter to be honest."

Media Diarist Stephen Brook interviews the veteran broadcaster of This Day Tonight, Foreign Correspondent, Dateline and 60 Minutes. George is involved in the launch of lobby group ABC Alumni to campaign for the public broadcaster, he’s also celebrating the 40th anniversary of 60 minutes. They discu…

Ed Kavalee: "Be the weirdo you are off air, on air."

Media Diarist Stephen Brook interviews Ed Kavalee, the TodayFM Sydney breakfast co-host, and comedian. Stephen asks if Ed can rescue the low ratings since Kyle and Jackie O left, they discuss Kavalee's wife and media personality, Tiffiny Hall. Also covered is being mentored by comedian Tony Martin …

Ben Fordham: "You do need to protect yourself... do I want that rattling around in my head? The answer I've learned is no."

Stephen Brook, The Australian’s Media Diarist interviews Ben Fordham, broadcast journalist on 2GB radio and Channel 9’s Today show. As a young radio reporter he covered the 1997 Thredbo landslide which won him a Walkley award.  

Hedley Thomas: "I didn't lose control, but I was worried that I couldn't do justice to the scale of the story, the magnitude, the importance of it."

Media Diarist Stephen Brook interviews Hedley Thomas, the investigative journalist behind the record breaking true crime podcast The Teacher’s Pet, which has him fielding offers for a Hollywood adaptation.Hedley’s has taken on Prime Ministers, billionaires, and the Australian Federal Police. As a f…

Michael Rowland: "I loathe this word chemistry, absolutely hate it. People talk about breakfast tv... or radio duo having chemistry. I just think it's pretty artificial."

The Australian’s Media Diarist Stephen Brook interviews Michael Rowland, co-host of ABC New Breakfast. The two engage in an ABC vs The Australian arm wrestle over the newspapers coverage of the national broadcaster. In the fallout of the Michelle Guthrie sacking, Michael was the first journalist to…

Barrie Cassidy: "There are more partisan journalists (now) than there ever were in the past"

It's hard to imagine the ABC without Insiders, the television show that reshaped the broadcaster's Sunday morning political programming. Host Barrie Cassidy launched Insiders 17 years ago, but plans for the program actually began in Belgium, where he sketched out a promising format with his housegu…

Dan Box: "True Crime is so hot right now... I just wanted to reach across and slap him."

Former crime reporter at The Australian Dan Box has spent the past three years covering the Bowraville murders in print, and for a podcast. He returned to Australia this month to cover the latest developments in the case, which has been referred to the High Court.He talks to media diarist Stephen B…

Anton Enus: "The apartheid masters did everything they could to exert pressure on the organisation to conform to the message they wanted to send out."

Back on our screens after being diagnosed with bowel cancer two years ago, Anton Enus says the whole experience changed him as a person and a journalist. Despite being quite private Anton documented his treatment on Facebook and for SBS online, allowing himself to become the story, he said it was c…

Feature writer Trent Dalton: "They will size you up, and open that friggin door, and that's a beautiful trust exercise."

Media Diarist Stephen Brook interviews The Weekend Australian Magazine staff writer Trent Dalton, discussing the intense emotional attachment he forms with the people he’s interviewing. Dalton’s new book Boy Swallows Universe is a novel influenced by his childhood in Brisbane growing up on the wron…