Lisa Wilkinson
Lisa Wilkinson | |
---|---|
Born | Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia |
Education | Campbelltown Performing Arts High School |
Occupation(s) | Television presenter, journalist |
Years active | 1981−present |
Employer | Network 10 |
Television | The Project |
Spouse | |
Children | 3 |
Website | The Project bio |
Lisa Wilkinson AM is an Australian television presenter and journalist.
Wilkinson is currently host of Network 10 news-current affairs and talk show The Project.[1]
Wilkinson has previously co-hosted the Nine Network's breakfast television program, Today, with Karl Stefanovic from 2007 until 2017 and Weekend Sunrise on the Seven Network from 2005 until 2007.[1]
Career
Magazines
Dolly
Wilkinson was born in Wollongong,[2] but grew up in Campbelltown, in Sydney's Western Suburbs and attended Campbelltown High School (now Campbelltown Performing Arts High School).[3] She began her career working for the magazine Dolly.[4] At age 21,[4] she was offered the job as its editor.[3] During her time there she became known for discovering young female talent, including a then-unknown Nicole Kidman.[5]
Cleo
After tripling the magazine's circulation, she was personally approached by Kerry Packer to become editor of Australian Consolidated Press women's lifestyle magazine, Cleo.[6] One of her first acts was to remove the magazine's infamous male centrefold.[7] During her time as editor, she mentored up and coming journalists such as Mia Freedman and Deborah Thomas.[8][9] Over ten years Wilkinson became the title's longest-serving editor, and during her tenure there was unprecedented circulation growth for the magazine. Wilkinson went on to become Cleo's International Editor-in-Chief as it opened title in New Zealand and Asia.[10]
Australian Women's Weekly
From 1999 to 2007, Wilkinson was Editor-At-Large of The Australian Women's Weekly.[11]
Huffington Post
In August 2015 Wilkinson was asked by Ariana Huffington to become the Australian Editor-at-large of The Huffington Post.[12][13] A role she held until 2018.[14]
Television
Her television career began in the late 1990s when she became a regular panelist on Network Ten and Foxtel's Beauty and the Beast. During the 2000 Summer Olympics, she (along with Duncan Armstrong) co-hosted The Morning Shift on the Seven Network.[15]
Weekend Sunrise
In April 2005, Wilkinson began hosting Weekend Sunrise on the Seven Network with Chris Reason, later with Andrew O'Keefe.[16]
Today
On 10 May 2007, it was confirmed that Wilkinson was to co-host Today on the Nine Network after Jessica Rowe left the network and she began appearing on Today on 28 May 2007.[17] This was Stefanovic's fifth female co-host in just over two years.[18] In 2016, the duo took the show to number one in the breakfast TV wars for the first time in 12 years.[19] On 16 October 2017, Wilkinson resigned from the Nine Network and Today due to a contract dispute with nine management over the significant gender pay gap that existed between her and long-time cohost Karl Stefanovic.[20] after ten years with the network, effective immediately.[21] Wilkinson herself announced she was leaving on Twitter and then just over an hour later announced on Twitter that she was joining Channel Ten.[22]
In her 2021 memoir, It Wasn't Meant to Be Like This, Wilkinson revealed that she had in fact been sacked over her request for a fairer pay structure at the Network.[23]
The Project
In 2018, she joined The Project, a nightly TV current affairs programme on Network 10.[24]
Carols by Candlelight
From 2008 to 2016, Wilkinson was the co-host of the Nine Network's Carols by Candlelight, replacing long time host Ray Martin when Martin semi-retired. Wilkinson's co-host from 2008 until 2012 was Karl Stefanovic, and in 2013 she was joined by David Campbell.[25][26] She was replaced by Sonia Kruger in 2017 after she left the Nine Network.[27]
Other
In 2013, Wilkinson gave the Andrew Olle Memorial Lecture on the treatment of women in and by the media.[28] She was the first female journalist to give the speech since Jana Wendt in 1997.[29]
In 2017, Wilkinson was remarked on by The Daily Mail for wearing on air a blouse she'd worn four months before.[30] Her cohost, Karl Stefanovic, had previously worn the same suit every day for a year without attracting notice.[30] Wilkinson posted a tweet criticizing the sexism and wore the blouse on air the next day, sardonically writing "my greatest legacy to the annals of female news broadcasting history will likely be that I dared to wear the same outfit two days in a row on national TV".[30][31] Other male and female Today Show hosts also wore the blouse on air in following days.[30][32]
In October 2021, Wilkinson was named a two-time finalist in the Walkley Awards for her ground-breaking interview with political staffer Brittany Higgins[33] in which she alleged being raped on Federal Government Minister Linda Reynold's office couch in 2019.[34] That story led to a full cultural review by Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Kate Jenkins, into the workplace treatment of women in Parliament House.[35]
Personal life
Wilkinson married author, journalist and former rugby international Peter FitzSimons on 26 September 1992;[36] they have two sons and one daughter.[37][38][39]
She published her autobiography in 2021: It Wasn't Meant to Be Like This, HarperCollins, ISBN 9781460704455, 496 pages.[40]
Honours
Wilkinson was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2016 Australia Day Honours list for significant service to the print and broadcast media as a journalist and presenter, and to a range of youth and women's health groups.[41]
In 2017, Wilkinson's portrait by artist Peter Smeeth was a finalist in the Archibald Prize, and winner of the Packing Room Prize.[42][43]
References
- ^ a b "Lisa Wilkinson". Channel 10. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
- ^ Turk, Louise (7 June 2008). "A Day At A Time". Illawarra Mercury. Archived from the original on 22 May 2015. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
- ^ a b "Campbelltown City Council – Committee Minutes" (PDF). Campbelltown City Council. 7 December 2004. p. 11. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2007.
...Lisa Wilkinson (a former student of Campbelltown High School who became the youngest ever editor of an Australian women's magazine).
- ^ a b "Today biography". Today.ninemsn.com.au. 15 October 2013. Archived from the original on 5 March 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
- ^ "Lisa Wilkinson on why she'll 'always be grateful to Nicole Kidman'". Yahoo. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
- ^ "Lisa Wilkinson: the value of building a strong connection with your audience". Telstra. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
- ^ "Cleo Brings Back the Centrefold". SMH. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
- ^ "Lisa Wilkinson And Mia Freedman Talk Best Friends And The Boys' Club". Marie Claire. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
- ^ "Wilkinson mourns loss of breeding ground for journalists after Cleo closure". Nine. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
- ^ "Lisa Wilkinson". The Fordham Company. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
- ^ "Australia Day Honours for Melissa Doyle and Lisa Wilkinson". Media Spy. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
- ^ Davies, Anne (19 August 2015). "Huffington Post appoints television presenter Lisa Wilkinson as editor-at-large". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
- ^ "Lisa Wilkinson takes editor-at-large role for HuffPost Australia". Ad News. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
- ^ "Fairfax Media joint venture with HuffPost comes to an end". Guardian. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
- ^ The Morning Shift, tv.com
- ^ Casamento, Jo (21 July 2013). "You'd be a fool to feel safe on TV". The Sydney Morning Herald.
- ^ "TV job gives new meaning to 'hot seat'". The Sydney Morning Herald. 13 May 2007.
- ^ "Everything we know about Karl's new host, and how she plans to lift ratings". News. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
- ^ "NEWSNine's Today Show claims first victory over Sunrise". Mumbrella. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
- ^ Coy, Bronte; Schipp, Debbie (29 January 2018). "Lisa Wilkinson reflects on leaving Today: 'It was something I'd been thinking about'". The Courier-Mail. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
- ^ Chang, Charis; Burke, Liz (17 October 2017). "Lisa Wilkinson announced shock resignation from Nine's Today show". news.com.au. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
- ^ "Lisa Wilkinson leaves Nine and joins Ten after pay battle". Guardian. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
- ^ "Lisa Wilkinson reveals brutal Nine axing after awkward final encounter with Karl Stefanovic" by Ben Graham, news.com.au, 17 October 2021
- ^ Enker, Debi (29 January 2018). "Despite the hype, Lisa Wilkinson's Project debut is a fizzer". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
- ^ McManus, Bridget (19 December 2013). "Today's Lisa Wilkinson: 'We need to start developing a women's club [in media]'". The Age. Retrieved 24 December 2013.
- ^ Knox, David (20 October 2008). "End of an era as Ray quits Nine". TV Tonight. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
- ^ Knox, David (19 December 2019). "Carols by Candlelight: guide". TV Tonight. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
- ^ "Lisa Wilkinson's Andrew Olle Lecture and women in media". The Conversation. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
- ^ "Lisa Wilkinson Presents Annual Andrew Olle Lecture". ABC. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
- ^ a b c d Burke, Tina (12 April 2017). "Lisa Wilkinson Just Wore The Same Blouse Twice, And Copped Backlash For Some Reason". Marie Claire. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Lisa Wilkinson: I Want To Thank The Fashion Police For Airing My Dirty Laundry". HuffPost. 12 April 2017. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
- ^ Kyung Kim, Eun (12 April 2017). "News anchor fights back after shamed for wearing same blouse — 4 months apart". Today. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Alleged Rape Survivor Brittany Higgins' Interview Is Damning And Raises Questions". Marie Claire. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
- ^ "Finalists announced for the 66th Walkley Awards for Excellence in Journalism". Walkley Awards. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
- ^ "Kate Jenkins to lead independent inquiry into Parliament House culture following Brittany Higgins allegations". ABC. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
- ^ "Galleries: 1992 Weddings". Perth Now. p. 4. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
- ^ Clune, Richard (25 July 2010). "Today show hosts a perfect match". The Sunday Telegraph. Sydney. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
- ^ "Addressed for success". The Sun-Herald. 1 August 2010.
- ^ "In Conversation: August Literary Lunch with Peter FitzSimons". Live at the Centre.com.au. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
- ^ "'Screwed': Lisa reveals Karl's pay betrayal". news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site. 17 October 2021. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
- ^ "Member (AM) in the General Division of the Order of Australia (M-Z)" (PDF). Australia Day 2016 Honours Lists. Office of the Governor-General of Australia. 25 January 2016. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
- ^ Peter Smeeth, Lisa Wilkinson AM – Winner: Packing Room Prize 2017, Archibald Prize 2017, Art Gallery of New South Wales
- ^ Packing Room Prize 2017: Peter Smeeth's portrait of Lisa Wilkinson wins Archibald's art award, Paige Cockburn and Louise Hall, ABC News Online, 20 July 2017