Monica Attard

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Monica-Ann Attard OAM is an award-winning Australian journalist. She is of Maltese descent.

She was educated at the Roman Catholic school Bethlehem College in Sydney.

Her career in journalism began at Channel Seven. In 1983 Attard moved to the ABC, where she has remained since. She received a post as a foreign correspondent in Russia for four years, beginning in 1990. She received three Walkley Awards during this period, including the Gold Walkley in 1991. Attard published a book entitled Russia: Which Way Paradise? in 1997, which documented some of her experiences and interactions with Russians during a period of rapid change.

Attard later worked as both a radio and television journalist on several ABC programs, including AM, PM, Four Corners, Lateline and The World Today.

In 2002, Attard became the national presenter for Sunday Profile, a news analysis program, on ABC Local Radio.[1] In the same year, she received the 2002 Walkley Award for Broadcast Interviewing, and graduated with a law degree from the University of New South Wales.

On December 1, 2005, Attard received the 2005 Walkley Award for Broadcast Interviewing. This was given for a series of interviews entitled On The Brink, which aimed to examine the lives of several prominent people who had been experiencing some kind of upheaval in their lives. She interviewed NSW magistrate Pat O'Shane, former HIH Insurance director Rodney Adler and Douglas Wood, a former hostage in Iraq. Her interview with Rodney Adler was a scoop and she received particular praise from the Walkley judges.[2]

On December 6, 2005, Attard was announced as the new host of the ABC TV program Media Watch for 2006.[3] She hosted Media Watch for two years, until announcing her retirement at the end of the 2007 series, citing the "extremely taxing" nature of making the program as well as radio presenting commitments.[4]

[edit] Honours

In 1992, Attard was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for services to the community as a radio correspondent while working in Russia.[5].

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Monica Attard. 612 ABC Brisbane. Retrieved on December 7, 2005.
  2. ^ The Walkley Awards. 2005 winners. Retrieved on December 7, 2005.
  3. ^ Attard Fronts Media Watch. The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved on December 7, 2005.
  4. ^ Ricketson, Matthew: Media Watch presenter steps down, The Age, September 19, 2007.
  5. ^ Monica Attard OAM, It's an Honour, 12 December 2006.