Lisa Wilkinson

AM
Wilkinson at David Jones, Sydney in 2013
Born
Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
EducationCampbelltown Performing Arts High School
Occupations
  • Journalist
  • television presenter
  • magazine editor
Years active1980–2022
Television
Spouse
​
(m. 1992)​
Children3
Websitewww.lisawilkinson.com.au

Lisa Clare Wilkinson AM is an Australian television presenter, journalist, and magazine editor. Wilkinson has previously co-hosted the Nine Network's breakfast television program, Today, with Karl Stefanovic (2007–2017), Weekend Sunrise on the Seven Network (2005–2007), and The Project on Network Ten (2018–2022).[1][2] As of 2020 she narrates Ambulance Australia,[3]

Career

Magazines

Dolly

Wilkinson was born in Wollongong,[4] but grew up in Campbelltown, in Sydney's Western Suburbs and attended Campbelltown High School (now Campbelltown Performing Arts High School).[5] She began her career working for the magazine Dolly.[6] At age 21,[6] she was offered the job as its editor.[5] During her time there she became known for discovering young female talent, including a then-unknown Nicole Kidman.[7]

Cleo

After tripling the circulation at Dolly, she was personally approached by Kerry Packer to become editor of Australian Consolidated Press women's lifestyle magazine, Cleo.[8] One of her first acts was to remove the magazine's infamous male centrefold.[9] During her time as editor, she mentored up and coming journalists such as Mia Freedman and Deborah Thomas.[10][11] 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 titles in New Zealand and Asia.[12]

Australian Women's Weekly

From 1999 to 2007, Wilkinson was Editor-at-large of The Australian Women's Weekly.[13]

Huffington Post

In August 2015 Wilkinson was asked by Arianna Huffington to become the Australian Editor-at-large of The Huffington Post, a role she held until 2018.[14][15] [16]

Television

Wilkinson's 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.[17]

Weekend Sunrise

In April 2005, Wilkinson began hosting Weekend Sunrise on the Seven Network with Chris Reason, and later with Andrew O'Keefe.[18]

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.[19] This was Stefanovic's fifth female co-host in just over two years.[20] In 2016, the duo took the show to number one in the breakfast TV wars for the first time in 12 years.[21]

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.[22] after ten years with the network, effective immediately.[23] Wilkinson herself announced she was leaving on Twitter and then just over an hour later announced on Twitter that she was joining Channel Ten.[24]

In her 2021 memoir, It Wasn't Meant to Be Like This, Wilkinson revealed that she had been sacked over her request for a fairer pay structure at the Network.[25]

The Project

In 2018, she joined The Project, a nightly TV current affairs programme on Network 10.[26] On November 20, 2022 Wilkinson "stepped down from her role on The Project after a controversial year on the program."[27][28][29]

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.[30][31] She was replaced by Sonia Kruger in 2017 after she left the Nine Network.[32]

Other

In 2013, Wilkinson gave the Andrew Olle Media Lecture on the treatment of women in and by the media.[33] She was the first female journalist to give the speech since Jana Wendt in 1997.[34]

In 2017, Wilkinson was remarked on by The Daily Mail for wearing on air a blouse she had worn four months before.[35] Her cohost, Karl Stefanovic, had previously worn the same suit every day for a year without attracting notice.[35] 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".[35][36] Other male and female Today Show hosts also wore the blouse on air in following days.[35][37]

In October 2021, Wilkinson was for the second time named a finalist in the Walkley Awards, for her interview with political staffer Brittany Higgins[38] in which she alleged being raped on Federal Government Minister Linda Reynold's office couch in 2019.[39] That story led to a full cultural review by Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Kate Jenkins, into the workplace treatment of women in Parliament House.[40]

Personal life

Wilkinson married author, journalist and former rugby international Peter FitzSimons on 26 September 1992;[41] they have two sons and one daughter.[42][43][44]

She published her autobiography in 2021: It Wasn't Meant to Be Like This, HarperCollins, ISBN 9781460704455, 496 pages.[45] There was a second print run of the book.[46]

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.[47]

In 2017, Wilkinson's portrait by artist Peter Smeeth was a finalist in the Archibald Prize, and winner of the Packing Room Prize.[48][49]

In 2022, Wilkinson was part of The Project team that won 2 Logie Awards - one for Most Popular Panel or Current Affairs Program and one for Most Outstanding News Coverage or Public Affairs Report.[50]

Controversy

On receiving an award at the nationally televised 62nd Annual Logie Awards, Wilkinson "gave a speech in which she openly referred to and praised" the complainant in a sexual assault matter, despite "clear and appropriate" warning of the associated risks of doing so while criminal court proceedings were afoot.[51]

The subsequent publicity generated from Wilkinson's speech caused lawyers for the man awaiting trial in this matter to lodge an application to temporarily stay proceedings.[52] On 21 June 2022, lawyers for the accused argued that Wilkinson's "speech did not need to be made" and the ACT Chief Justice Lucy McCallum granted the man's application.[53]

Commenting on Wilkinson's speech, Chief Justice McCallum said, “What concerns me most about this recent round is that the distinction between an allegation and a finding of guilt has been completely obliterated”.[54] Her Honour further stated that, “The implicit premise of [Wilkinson's speech was] to celebrate the truthfulness of the story she exposed” before any finding of guilt, and in the context of the accused denying that “any sexual activity took place”.[53] The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that "the prosecution is considering making an application for a restraint on commentary by Ms Wilkinson".[55]

As a subsequent independent inquiry investigating the prosecution of Lehrmann, ACT Prosecutor Shane Drumgold admitted he “misread the situation” in a meeting with Lisa Wilkinson discussing her acceptance speech for a Logie award[56] and that he subsequently misled the judge about Wilkinson's Logies speech.[57]

In 2023, Bruce Lehrmann launched a defamation suit against Wilkinson, Samantha Maiden, Network 10, and News Corp and subsequently the ABC.[58] In May 2023, Lehrmann dropped his defamation case against News Corp and Samantha Maiden, but not Wilkinson, the Ten Network or the ABC.[59] Wilkinson subsequently commenced legal action against her employer, Network 10, over alleged failure of the Network to pay her legal fees of $700,000. [60]

References

  1. ↑ "Lisa Wilkinson". 10 Play. Network Ten. Archived from the original on 6 December 2021. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  2. ↑ "Lisa Wilkinson quits The Project amongst staff 'exodus'". Sky News. 20 November 2022. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
  3. ↑ Knox, David (17 January 2020). "Returning: Ambulance Australia". TV Tonight. TV Tonight. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  4. ↑ Turk, Louise (7 June 2008). "A Day At A Time". Illawarra Mercury. Archived from the original on 22 May 2015. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
  5. 1 2 "Campbelltown Town – 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).
  6. 1 2 "Today biography". Today.ninemsn.com.au. 15 October 2013. Archived from the original on 5 March 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  7. ↑ "Lisa Wilkinson on why she'll 'always be grateful to Nicole Kidman'". Yahoo. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  8. ↑ "Lisa Wilkinson: the value of building a strong connection with your audience". Telstra. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  9. ↑ "Cleo Brings Back the Centrefold". SMH. 14 November 2013. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  10. ↑ "Lisa Wilkinson And Mia Freedman Talk Best Friends And The Boys' Club". Marie Claire. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  11. ↑ "Wilkinson mourns loss of breeding ground for journalists after Cleo closure". Nine. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  12. ↑ "Lisa Wilkinson". The Fordham Company. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  13. ↑ "Australia Day Honours for Melissa Doyle and Lisa Wilkinson". Media Spy. 25 January 2016. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  14. ↑ Davies, Anne (19 August 2015). "Huffington Post appoints television presenter Lisa Wilkinson as editor-at-large". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  15. ↑ "Lisa Wilkinson takes editor-at-large role for HuffPost Australia". Ad News. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  16. ↑ Meade, Amanda (29 November 2017). "Fairfax Media joint venture with HuffPost comes to an end". Guardian. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  17. ↑ The Morning Shift, tv.com
  18. ↑ Casamento, Jo (21 July 2013). "You'd be a fool to feel safe on TV". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  19. ↑ "TV job gives new meaning to 'hot seat'". The Sydney Morning Herald. 13 May 2007.
  20. ↑ "Everything we know about Karl's new host, and how she plans to lift ratings". News. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  21. ↑ "NEWSNine's Today Show claims first victory over Sunrise". Mumbrella. 22 October 2016. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  22. ↑ 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.
  23. ↑ Chang, Charis; Burke, Liz (17 October 2017). "Lisa Wilkinson announced shock resignation from Nine's Today show". news.com.au. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  24. ↑ Meade, Amanda (16 October 2017). "Lisa Wilkinson leaves Nine and joins Ten after pay battle". Guardian. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  25. ↑ "Lisa Wilkinson reveals brutal Nine axing after awkward final encounter with Karl Stefanovic" by Ben Graham, news.com.au, 17 October 2021
  26. ↑ Enker, Debi (29 January 2018). "Despite the hype, Lisa Wilkinson's Project debut is a fizzer". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  27. ↑ "Lisa Wilkinson leaves Channel Ten show The Project". Australian Financial Review. 20 November 2022. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
  28. ↑ Clench, Sam (20 November 2022). "Lisa Wilkinson quits as host of The Project, citing 'relentless toxicity'". Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  29. ↑ Knox, David (20 November 2022). ""It's time for a change": Lisa Wilkinson quits The Project". TV Tonight. TV Tonight. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  30. ↑ 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.
  31. ↑ Knox, David (20 October 2008). "End of an era as Ray quits Nine". TV Tonight. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
  32. ↑ Knox, David (19 December 2019). "Carols by Candlelight: guide". TV Tonight. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  33. ↑ "Lisa Wilkinson's Andrew Olle Lecture and women in media". The Conversation. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  34. ↑ "Lisa Wilkinson Presents Annual Andrew Olle Lecture". ABC. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  35. 1 2 3 4 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.
  36. ↑ "Lisa Wilkinson: I Want To Thank The Fashion Police For Airing My Dirty Laundry". HuffPost. 12 April 2017. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
  37. ↑ Kyung Kim, Eun (12 April 2017). "News anchor fights back after shamed for wearing same blouse — 4 months apart". Today. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
  38. ↑ "Alleged Rape Survivor Brittany Higgins' Interview Is Damning And Raises Questions". Marie Claire. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  39. ↑ "Finalists announced for the 66th Walkley Awards for Excellence in Journalism". Walkley Awards. 20 October 2021. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  40. ↑ "Kate Jenkins to lead independent inquiry into Parliament House culture following Brittany Higgins allegations". ABC News. ABC. 5 March 2021. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  41. ↑ "Galleries: 1992 Weddings". Perth Now. p. 4. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  42. ↑ Clune, Richard (25 July 2010). "Today show hosts a perfect match". The Sunday Telegraph. Sydney. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  43. ↑ "Addressed for success". The Sun-Herald. 1 August 2010.
  44. ↑ "In Conversation: August Literary Lunch with Peter FitzSimons". Live at the Centre.com.au. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
  45. ↑ "First review: Beyond the Nine storm, what's really in Lisa Wilkinson book It Wasn't Meant To Be Like This". news.com.au. 30 May 2023.
  46. ↑ "Lisa Wilkinson has last laugh as her book sales skyrocket". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  47. ↑ "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.
  48. ↑ Peter Smeeth, Lisa Wilkinson AM – Winner: Packing Room Prize 2017, Archibald Prize 2017, Art Gallery of New South Wales
  49. ↑ 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
  50. ↑ "TV WEEK Logies 2022: Lisa Wilkinson Delivers Powerful Speech". Channel 10. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
  51. ↑ "Lisa Wilkinson Logies Speech Delays Bruce Lehrmann Trial Further". Inside headline. 21 June 2022. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  52. ↑ "Brittany Higgins's accused rapist Bruce Lehrmann has trial delayed due to publicity sparked by Lisa Wilkinson's Logies speech". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 21 June 2022. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  53. 1 2 Gould, Courtney. "Major decision in Brittany Higgins rape case handed down". News Limited. NCA NewsWire. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  54. ↑ "Judge blasts Wilkinson's Logies speech about Higgins". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 21 June 2022. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  55. ↑ "Judge takes aim at Lisa Wilkinson's mention of Brittany Higgins in Logies speech as Bruce Lehrmann's rape trial delayed". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 21 June 2022. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  56. ↑ "Prosecutor in Bruce Lehrmann trial admits he 'misread the situation' in meeting with Lisa Wilkinson". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  57. ↑ "ACT Prosecutor Admits Inadvertently Misleading Judge". Twitter. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  58. ↑ Whitbourn, Michaela (1 March 2023). "Lisa Wilkinson seeks to defend Bruce Lehrmann defamation suit by proving rape claim". The Age. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  59. ↑ "Bruce Lehrmann drops defamation case and settles with News Corp over Brittany Higgins reports". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  60. ↑ Knaus, Christopher (19 October 2023). "Lisa Wilkinson sues Network 10 over legal bills for Bruce Lehrmann defamation suit". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
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