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Oral History - TV Journalists

Oral History - TV Journalists

Many high-profile television journalists have contributed to the NFSA's Oral History program.

These interviews highlight the importance of preserving news coverage and their recollections underline the value of journalistic integrity in a digital age.

The Oral History program collects contemporary interviews with key professionals, practitioners and established and emerging artists in the Australian audiovisual industry.

Barrie Cassidy - first start in print journalism (2015)
NFSA-ID:
NFSA ID
1368414
Year:
Year

Barrie Cassidy is a veteran Australian political journalist with a long history in radio and television broadcasting. In this clip from an oral history with Geoff Gardner we hear about his very first foray into print journalism at the age of 13.

Lisa Wilkinson on journalism in the digital era
Year:
Year

Journalist and Today show host Lisa Wilkinson on the pros and cons of journalism in the digital era, the best interview she’s ever done, her favourite Australian journalists and the importance of on screen role models for women interested in a career in media. Ms Wilkinson recently visited the NFSA office in Sydney to record an in-depth interview for the NFSA Oral History program.

Mal Walden on Cyclone Tracy, interviewed By John Fife (2010)
NFSA-ID:
NFSA ID
1009270
Year:
Year

Journalist Mal Walden talks about his experience covering Cyclone Tracy in December 1974. In this interview he explains how he came to be sent to Darwin; talks of interactions with Major General Alan Stretton, the devastation, how the crew got the news film/story back to Melbourne (it was the first television news story broadcast on Cyclone Tracy).

Leigh Sales Oral History Interview
NFSA-ID:
NFSA ID
1161193
Year:
Year

Journalist Leigh Sales interviewed by Sandra Odorisio for the NFSA's Oral History Program in November 2013.

Jeff McMullen Oral History Interview Part 1
NFSA-ID:
NFSA ID
1134573
Year:
Year

Journalist Jeff McMullen interviewed by Alec Morgan for the NFSA Oral History Program in July 2013.

Jeff McMullen Oral History Interview Part 2
NFSA-ID:
NFSA ID
1134573
Year:
Year

Journalist Jeff McMullen interviewed for the NFSA's Oral History Program by Alec Morgan in July 2013.

Sandra Sully Oral History Interview
NFSA-ID:
NFSA ID
1166893
Year:
Year

Journalist and news reader Sandra Sully interviewed by Sandra Odorisio in December 2013.

Steve Liebmann oral history interview excerpt
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Year

Journalist Steve Liebmann discusses how the news reports of the day become a historical chronicle of the times, and the work he did covering the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States. Mr Liebmann visited the NFSA office in Sydney in 2015 to record an in-depth interview for our Oral History program.

George Negus oral history excerpt
Year:
Year

This is an excerpt from a 2015 NFSA oral history interview with award-winning journalist, author and presenter George Negus AM (1942–2024). 

In this clip, he talks about the secret to producing good news stories and how he broke the dress code for journalists. He also explains how he coaxed interesting answers from the many powerful and famous people he interviewed, like Margaret Thatcher. 

Born in Brisbane, Negus was a high school teacher before he switched to journalism at age 28. He soon became a household name as a reporter on This Day Tonight (ABC, 1975–77), a founding correspondent on the top-rating Australian edition of 60 Minutes (Nine Network, 1979–86) and the first host of Foreign Correspondent (ABC, 1992–99). 

His many other TV roles include being the presenter of Dateline (SBS, 2005–10) and a panellist on The Project (Network Ten, 2010–12). He was also proud of his travelogue film Across the Red Unknown: A Journey Through the New Russia (1992). 

Negus became a Member of the Order of Australia in 2015 and received the Walkley Award for Most Outstanding Contribution to Journalism in 2021.

Sandra Sully on 9/11 and preserving news coverage
Year:
Year

Journalist Sandra Sully remembers the experience of reporting the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York, and talks about the importance of preserving news coverage. Sully is a journalist and newsreader with over 20 years of service to the Ten Network. She visited the NFSA to record a comprehensive interview for our Oral History program.