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Julia Baird (journalist)

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Julia Baird
Baird in 2019
Born (1970-02-19) 19 February 1970 (age 54)
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
EducationRavenswood School for Girls
Alma materUniversity of Sydney
Occupation(s)Journalist, author
Years active1998–present
EmployerAustralian Broadcasting Corporation
TelevisionThe Drum (TV program)
Spouse
Joshua Sparks
​
(divorced)​
Children2
Parent(s)Bruce Baird, Judy Baird
RelativesMike Baird, Steve Baird (brothers)

Julia Woodlands Baird is an Australian journalist, broadcaster and author. She contributes to The New York Times and The Sydney Morning Herald and has been a regular host of The Drum, a television news review program on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). Her non-fiction work includes a bestselling memoir, a biography on Queen Victoria and a meditation on the experience of grace during a time of dark politics.[1][2]

Early life and education

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Baird was born in Sydney, to Judith (née Woodlands) and Bruce Baird, who would become the deputy leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party. She and her brothers spent their early childhood in Rye, New York, while her father was Australian trade commissioner in Manhattan.[3][4] After the family returned to Australia in 1980, Baird attended Ravenswood School for Girls.[5] Her HSC results placed her in the top 20 students in NSW.[6] Baird earned a BA degree and later a PhD in history from the University of Sydney.[7] Her honours thesis, titled "Pigeons, Priests and Prophets: the politicisation of women in the Anglican church", examined the campaign to have women ordained in that denomination.[8] Her doctoral thesis was on women in politics and how they are treated by mainstream media.[9][10] In 2005, she was a fellow at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University researching the globalisation of American opinion in the lead up to the Iraq War.[4][11] In 2018, the University of Divinity made Baird an honorary Doctor of Divinity for her "contribution as a public intellectual to the wider community in the area of religion".[12]

Journalism

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Baird began her career as a journalist with The Sydney Morning Herald in 1998,[9] winning her first Walkley Award for her online coverage of the 1998 Australian federal election.[13] By 2000, she was editor of the opinion pages.[14] She also worked as a religious commentator for Triple J and as a freelancer for ABC Radio.[11]

In 2006, Baird moved to the United States and became deputy editor at Newsweek in New York City, working there until it ceased print publication in 2012.[9] She has written for The Philadelphia Inquirer[14] and been a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times.[15] She has written about gender and political topics, such as misogyny in Australian politics,[16] transgender soldiers in the American military[17] and Donald Trump's political strategy.[18] More recently, Baird has written on religious topics, such as suffering and doubt.[19][20]

Returning from the United States in 2011, she became a host of the ABC radio program Sunday Profile then, in 2012, began presenting The Drum, a weeknight current affairs panel TV show on Australia's ABC TV.[21][22][23] The programme continued on for another 11 years, with Baird sharing the hosting role with Ellen Fanning and Dan Bourchier, having featured 1,000 guest panelists, before its last show in December, 2023.[24][25]

In May 2024, Baird returned to radio broadcasting with the launch of Not Stupid; a weekly news review conversation presented alongside Jeremy Fernandez.[26] It appears on ABC RN and podcast formats.[27]

Concern for issues facing women has been a major theme in Baird's work, for which she was recognised with the Edna Ryan Award in 2002.[28] Since 2016, Baird has prepared several in-depth reports on domestic violence in Australia, especially in its connection with religious communities. Her joint reporting for the "Religion and domestic violence investigation" earned four Walkley Our Watch awards, including the Gold Our Watch, in 2018.[29] Baird's reporting on religious minority groups includes an ongoing investigation into the experience of a middle eastern Christian family as they grieve the unexplained death of their daughter at a childcare facility.[30][31]

Books

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Baird is a writer of nonfiction. Her first book was Media Tarts: How the Australian Press Frames Female Politicians and was published in 2004.[11]

In 2010, while living in Philadelphia, she began research for a biography on Queen Victoria for which she was given access to the Royal Archives in Windsor.[32][33] Random House published Victoria: The Queen in 2016. It was named a book of the year by the literary critics of The New York Times.[9][34]

Her third book draws on Baird's personal experience of life-threatening illness and "the things that give us comfort, that make us strong".[35] Phosphorescence: On Awe, Wonder and Things That Sustain You When the World Goes Dark was published in Australia in March 2020.[36] The title became a best-seller soon after the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns began.[36] Phosphorescence was named non-fiction book of the year in the 2021 Indie Book Awards[37] and won both the Book of the Year and the General Nonfiction Book of the Year at the 2021 Australian Book Industry Awards.[38]

Bright Shining: How Grace Changes Everything is Baird's first book to reflect on her exposure to “ugliness in the political realm”, to which she offers a path she calls “moral beauty” or grace.[2] One Sydney Morning Herald reviewed the book as a meditation on the “desire to see, experience and express grace” as "fascinating, wide-ranging and moving."[39][40] It was shortlisted for the 2024 Nonfiction Indie Book Award and the Australian Book Industry Awards Nonfiction book of the year.[41][42]

Personal life

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Baird's mother, Judy, known for serving prisoners and refugees, died in 2021.[43] Her father, Bruce Baird, was a cabinet minister in the Greiner and Fahey governments before serving in federal politics.[44] Baird's brother Mike Baird, who is 18 months her senior, was the 44th Premier of New South Wales and later became CEO of a Christian aged-care charity, Hammondcare.[45][46][3] Her younger brother, Steve Baird, has led International Justice Mission in Australia, an anti modern slavery organisation.[47] She has two children.[14] Along with her parents and siblings, Baird openly identifies as a Christian.[20][48] Baird has been a strong critic of conservative Christian traditions and has campaigned for the ordination of women[49] in the Sydney diocese of the Anglican Church of Australia.[22][50][51]

In 2015, Baird disclosed in her New York Times column that she was recovering from surgery for cancer, one of four bouts with the disease.[40][52] By 2020 it was in remission.[53][40]

Bibliography

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  • Baird, Julia (2004). Media Tarts: How the Australian Press Frames Female Politicians. Sydney: Scribe Publications Pty Ltd. ISBN 1920769234. OCLC 57206438.
  • Baird, Julia (2016). Victoria: The Queen: An Intimate Biography of the Woman Who Ruled an Empire. Random House. ISBN 978-1400069880. OCLC 1009844827.
  • Baird, Julia (2020). Phosphorescence: On Awe, Wonder and Things That Sustain You When the World Goes Dark. Fourth Estate. ISBN 9781460710890.
  • Baird, Julia (2023). Bright Shining: How Grace Changes Everything. Fourth Estate. ISBN 9781460760253.

References

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  1. ^ Christopher, Lissa (5 June 2020). "Lunch with Julia Baird: author of Phosphorescence, promoter of awe". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  2. ^ a b "Full of Grace: Julia Baird's unusual response to a world of ugly politics and cancel culture". Daily Telegraph. 23 October 2023.
  3. ^ a b Wood, Stephanie (26 October 2012). "The son rises". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
  4. ^ a b Richard Fidler (21 November 2012). "Journalist Julia Baird was deputy editor of US magazine, Newsweek". Conversations (Podcast). ABC. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  5. ^ "Author and commentator, Julia Baird (Class of 1987)". newscentre.ravenswood.nsw.edu.au. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  6. ^ Dye, Jordan Baker, Nathanael Cooper, Josh (8 December 2018). "'Lukewarm and disappointing': Famous Aussies remember their HSC". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 9 November 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ "Julia Baird". ABC Radio National. 25 November 2009. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  8. ^ "Trove". trove.nla.gov.au. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  9. ^ a b c d Overington, Caroline (11 October 2010). "Ten Questions: Julia Baird". The Australian. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  10. ^ "Browsing Postgraduate Theses by author "Baird, Julia Woodlands"". ses.library.usyd.edu.au. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  11. ^ a b c "Columnist Julia Baird joins local ABC radio". 9 February 2006. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  12. ^ "Dr Julia Baird awarded the Doctor of Divinity". VOX: University of Divinity. 18 March 2018. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  13. ^ "Walkley Winners Archive". walkleys.com. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  14. ^ a b c Capper, Sarah (15 November 2012). "A Bonza Baird". Victorian Women's Trust. Retrieved 1 July 2016.[permanent dead link‍]
  15. ^ "News about Julia Baird, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times
  16. ^ Baird, Julia (5 July 2013). "In Australia, Misogyny Lives On". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  17. ^ Baird, Julia (1 February 2014). "The Courage of Transgender Soldiers". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  18. ^ Baird, Julia (7 May 2016). "Donald Trump up close: he thinks you will love him". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  19. ^ Baird, Julia (27 August 2012). "No Place for Spirited Women". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  20. ^ a b Baird, Julia (25 September 2014). "Opinion | Doubt as a Sign of Faith (Published 2014)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  21. ^ "Julia Baird". Q+A. 20 December 2018. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  22. ^ a b Coultan, Mark (3 September 2015). "Julia Baird reveals cancer-beating battle". Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  23. ^ "The Drum". ABC Television. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  24. ^ "Viewers stopped us in the street to talk about The Drum. Two things usually came up". ABC News. 12 December 2023. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
  25. ^ McGregor, Tamaryn (5 October 2022). "Devastating reason behind ABC star presenter's absence". news.com.au.
  26. ^ "Is it just us, or is airline turbulence getting worse?". ABC listen. 29 May 2024. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  27. ^ "Not Stupid: INTRODUCING — Not Stupid on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  28. ^ ziggymello (12 November 2010). "Past Recipients 1998 - 2010". Edna Ryan Awards. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  29. ^ "2018 Our Watch Awards". About the ABC. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  30. ^ Baird, Julia (28 October 2020). "Report sheds light on 16-month-old's death at Sydney childcare centre but questions for authorities remain". abc.net.au. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
  31. ^ Baird, Julia (17 December 2019). "Sydney parents search for answers more than a year after 16-month-old Arianna died at childcare". abc.net.au. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
  32. ^ Overington, Caroline (11 October 2010). "Ten Questions: Julia Baird". The Australian. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  33. ^ Jabour, Bridie (15 November 2016). "Julia Baird: Queen Victoria would have been a 'nasty woman' in Trumpian terms". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  34. ^ Kakutani, Michiko; Garner, Dwight; Senior, Jennifer; Maslin, Janet (14 December 2016). "Times Critics' Top Books of 2016 (Published 2016)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  35. ^ Jabour, Bridie (6 April 2020). "Julia Baird on finding light in the dark: 'Coronavirus will leave a massive psychic scar'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  36. ^ a b Christopher, Lissa (5 June 2020). "Lunch with Julia Baird: author of Phosphorescence, promoter of awe". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  37. ^ "Pip Williams and The Dictionary of Lost Words are the big winners at the Indie Book Awards 2021". The AU Review. 22 March 2021. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  38. ^ "'Phosphorescence' wins 2021 ABIA Book of the Year". Books+Publishing. 28 April 2021. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  39. ^ Steger, Jason (5 November 2023). "Twelve books to keep you turning the pages in November". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
  40. ^ a b c "Julia Baird: in pursuit of awe and wonder while fighting cancer". NZ Herald. 6 November 2023. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
  41. ^ "Indie Book Awards 2024 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 17 January 2024. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  42. ^ "The 2024 ABIA shortlists — Readings Books". www.readings.com.au. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  43. ^ FitzSimons, Peter (8 May 2021). "Why Slater unloaded on the PM". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
  44. ^ "Bruce Baird to replace Tom Harley on federal Liberal executive". Australian Financial Review. 18 June 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  45. ^ "Family illnesses behind Baird's retirement". news.com.au. 19 January 2017. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  46. ^ Loussikian, Kylar (21 April 2020). "Former NSW premier Mike Baird to lead aged care charity". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  47. ^ Chancellor, Jonathan (29 July 2020). "Margin Call". The Australian. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  48. ^ Dickson, John (20 November 2017). "Why Julia Baird is Wrong about Christian Support for Same-Sex Marriage". ABC Religion & Ethics. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  49. ^ Baird, Julia (April 1997). "Sydney Synod". Movement for the Ordination of Women Newsletter 24 April 1997: 5 – via JSTOR and University of Divinity Digital Collections.
  50. ^ "ABC = Anything (but) Biblical Christianity". The Spectator Australia. 24 November 2017. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  51. ^ Kay Goldsworthy is flying to Sydney. She won’t be an archbishop when she lands. Argh, men, Julia Baird, Sydney Morning Herald, 2023-09-16
  52. ^ Farrell, Paul (3 September 2015). "Journalist Julia Baird reveals cancer diagnosis that had her 'gripped with terror'". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  53. ^ Burke, Liz (19 January 2017). "Family illnesses the reason behind Mike Baird's shock resignation". news.com.au. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
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