Cotton Ward

Panel: WHAT CAN JOURNALISM AND FICTION LEARN FROM EACH OTHER? MALCOLM KNOX (SMH, author): Writing fiction helped me to write fast. I’d written 7-8 complete novels before I’d walked into a newsroom, none of them published. Writing a million words without being published is a form of madness.

Panel: Paul Barry (4 Corners, Media Watch), David Marr (SMH writer, 4 Corners, Media Watch), David Leser (Good Weekend profile writer, author). Topic: Truth is stranger than fiction. DAVID MARR: “I love people who invent their live stories, they fascinate me. But if they put the same amount of energy into their real lives, instead [...]

MALCOLM TURNBULL: “Politics has always been vicious and nasty. From the latest tweet on Twitter to graffiti on a wall in Pompeii. You can’t complain. It goes with the territory.” “The public are very discerning and don’t believe every caricature. “Q and A is enormously important. There’s a decent chunk of time to be yourself, [...]

His key to interviewing on radio is: “Somebody has to be dancing”, ideally the interviewee. If they get dull, PF pulls out the six-shooters and fires at their feet. (says something to stir them up). “If they’re still dull, I’ll dance.”

Chris Masters – investigative journalist, Four Corners, ABC, author of Jonestown (about Alan Jones), Gold Walkley winner. One of his most “perfect” stories, where everything worked pretty smoothly, was about the Rainbow Warrior bombing (which killed a man), and turned into a worldwide scoop on the French Government’s “state-sponsored terrorism”. He had to fly to [...]

From SMH editor Peter Fray’s address to the Walkley’s conference: I’ve been asked a few times recently to describe my ideal reporter. It’s easy: he is Rambo; she is Rambette. Why? It is obvious isn’t it? Both Rambette and Rambo are clearly multi-platform types able to use a variety of tools to maximum effect. But [...]