Lisa Wilkinson

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lisa Wilkinson

AM
Lisa Wilkinson in February 2013.jpg
Wilkinson at David Jones, Sydney
Born
Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
EducationCampbelltown Performing Arts High School
OccupationTelevision presenter, journalist
Years active1981−present
EmployerNetwork 10
TelevisionThe Project
Spouse(s)
​
(m. 1992)​
Children3
WebsiteThe 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 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] Wilkerson 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[]

  1. ^ a b "Lisa Wilkinson". Channel 10. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  2. ^ Turk, Louise (7 June 2008). "A Day At A Time". Illawarra Mercury. Archived from the original on 22 May 2015. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
  3. ^ 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).
  4. ^ a b "Today biography". Today.ninemsn.com.au. 15 October 2013. Archived from the original on 5 March 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  5. ^ "Lisa Wilkinson on why she'll 'always be grateful to Nicole Kidman'". Yahoo. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  6. ^ "Lisa Wilkinson: the value of building a strong connection with your audience". Telstra. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  7. ^ "Cleo Brings Back the Centrefold". SMH. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  8. ^ "Lisa Wilkinson And Mia Freedman Talk Best Friends And The Boys' Club". Marie Claire. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  9. ^ "Wilkinson mourns loss of breeding ground for journalists after Cleo closure". Nine. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  10. ^ "Lisa Wilkinson". The Fordham Company. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  11. ^ "Australia Day Honours for Melissa Doyle and Lisa Wilkinson". Media Spy. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  12. ^ Davies, Anne (19 August 2015). "Huffington Post appoints television presenter Lisa Wilkinson as editor-at-large". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  13. ^ "Lisa Wilkinson takes editor-at-large role for HuffPost Australia". Ad News. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  14. ^ "Fairfax Media joint venture with HuffPost comes to an end". Guardian. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  15. ^ The Morning Shift, tv.com
  16. ^ Casamento, Jo (21 July 2013). "You'd be a fool to feel safe on TV". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  17. ^ "TV job gives new meaning to 'hot seat'". The Sydney Morning Herald. 13 May 2007.
  18. ^ "Everything we know about Karl's new host, and how she plans to lift ratings". News. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  19. ^ "NEWSNine's Today Show claims first victory over Sunrise". Mumbrella. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  20. ^ 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.
  21. ^ Chang, Charis; Burke, Liz (17 October 2017). "Lisa Wilkinson announced shock resignation from Nine's Today show". news.com.au. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  22. ^ "Lisa Wilkinson leaves Nine and joins Ten after pay battle". Guardian. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  23. ^ "Lisa Wilkinson reveals brutal Nine axing after awkward final encounter with Karl Stefanovic" by Ben Graham, news.com.au, 17 October 2021
  24. ^ Enker, Debi (29 January 2018). "Despite the hype, Lisa Wilkinson's Project debut is a fizzer". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  25. ^ 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.
  26. ^ Knox, David (20 October 2008). "End of an era as Ray quits Nine". TV Tonight. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
  27. ^ Knox, David (19 December 2019). "Carols by Candlelight: guide". TV Tonight. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  28. ^ "Lisa Wilkinson's Andrew Olle Lecture and women in media". The Conversation. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  29. ^ "Lisa Wilkinson Presents Annual Andrew Olle Lecture". ABC. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  30. ^ 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)
  31. ^ "Lisa Wilkinson: I Want To Thank The Fashion Police For Airing My Dirty Laundry". HuffPost. 12 April 2017. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
  32. ^ 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)
  33. ^ "Alleged Rape Survivor Brittany Higgins' Interview Is Damning And Raises Questions". Marie Claire. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  34. ^ "Finalists announced for the 66th Walkley Awards for Excellence in Journalism". Walkley Awards. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  35. ^ "Kate Jenkins to lead independent inquiry into Parliament House culture following Brittany Higgins allegations". ABC. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  36. ^ "Galleries: 1992 Weddings". Perth Now. p. 4. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  37. ^ Clune, Richard (25 July 2010). "Today show hosts a perfect match". The Sunday Telegraph. Sydney. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  38. ^ "Addressed for success". The Sun-Herald. 1 August 2010.
  39. ^ "In Conversation: August Literary Lunch with Peter FitzSimons". Live at the Centre.com.au. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
  40. ^ "'Screwed': Lisa reveals Karl's pay betrayal". news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site. 17 October 2021. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
  41. ^ "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.
  42. ^ Peter Smeeth, Lisa Wilkinson AM – Winner: Packing Room Prize 2017, Archibald Prize 2017, Art Gallery of New South Wales
  43. ^ 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

External links[]

Media offices
Preceded by
Originator
 The Project
Co-host
January 2018 – present 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
Preceded by Today
Co-host
28 May 2007 – 16 October 2017 		Succeeded by
First
New television program
 Weekend Sunrise
Co-host
April 2005 – 6 May 2007 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from ""