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
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