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
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