Julia Baird (journalist) explained

Julia Baird
Birth Date:1970 2, df=yes
Birth Place:Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Education:Ravenswood School for Girls
Alma Mater:University of Sydney
Occupation:Journalist, author
Employer:Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Television:The Drum (TV program)
Children:2
Years Active:1998–present
Parents:Bruce Baird, Judy Baird
Relatives:Mike 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]

Early life and education

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.[2] [3] After the family returned to Australia in 1980, Baird attended Ravenswood School for Girls.[4] Her HSC results placed her in the top 20 students in NSW.[5] Baird earned a BA degree and later a PhD in history from the University of Sydney.[6] 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.[7] Her doctoral thesis was on women in politics and how they are treated by mainstream media.[8] 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.[3] [9] 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".[10]

Journalism

Baird began her career as a journalist with The Sydney Morning Herald in 1998, winning her first Walkley Award for her online coverage of the 1998 Australian federal election.[11] By 2000, she was editor of the opinion pages.[12] She also worked as a religious commentator for Triple J and as a freelancer for ABC Radio.[9]

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.[13] She has written for The Philadelphia Inquirer[12] and been a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times.[14] She has written about gender and political topics, such as misogyny in Australian politics,[15] transgender soldiers in the American military[16] and Donald Trump's political strategy.[17] More recently, Baird has written on religious topics, such as suffering and doubt.[18] [19]

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.[20] [21] [22] The programme continued for another 11 on 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.[23] [24]

In May 2024, Baird returned to radio broadcasting with the launch of Not Stupid; a weekly news review conversation presented alongside Jeremy Fernandez.[25] It appears on ABC RN and podcast formats.[26]

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.[27] 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.[28] 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.[29] [30]

Books

Baird is a writer of nonfiction. Her first book was Media Tarts: How the Australian Press Frames Female Politicians and was published in 2004.[9]

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.[31] [32] 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.[13] [33]

Her third book draws on Baird's personal experience of life-threatening illness and "the things that give us comfort, that make us strong".[34] Phosphorescence: On Awe, Wonder and Things That Sustain You When the World Goes Dark was published in Australia in March 2020.[35] The title became a best-seller soon after the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns began.[35] Phosphorescence was named non-fiction book of the year in the 2021 Indie Book Awards[36] and won both the Book of the Year and the General Nonfiction Book of the Year at the 2021 Australian Book Industry Awards.[37]

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.[38] 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] It was shortlisted for the 2024 Nonfiction Indie Book Award and the Australian Book Industry Awards Nonfiction book of the year.[40] [41]

Personal life

Baird's mother, Judy, known for serving prisoners and refugees, died in 2021.[42] Her father, Bruce Baird, was a cabinet minister in the Greiner and Fahey governments before serving in federal politics.[43] 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.[44] [45] Her younger brother, Steve Baird, has led International Justice Mission in Australia, an anti modern slavery organisation.[46] She has two children.[12] Along with her parents and siblings, Baird openly identifies as a Christian.[19] [47] Baird has been a strong critic of conservative Christian traditions and has campaigned for the ordination of women[48] in the Sydney diocese of the Anglican Church of Australia.[21] [49] [50]

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.[51] By 2020 it was in remission.[52] [53]

Bibliography

References

  1. News: Christopher . Lissa . 5 June 2020 . Lunch with Julia Baird: author of Phosphorescence, promoter of awe . The Sydney Morning Herald .
  2. Web site: Wood . Stephanie . 26 October 2012 . The son rises . 18 October 2023 . The Sydney Morning Herald.
  3. Journalist Julia Baird was deputy editor of US magazine, Newsweek. Conversations. ABC. Richard Fidler. 21 November 2012. 1 July 2016.
  4. Web site: Author and commentator, Julia Baird (Class of 1987). 2020-11-09. newscentre.ravenswood.nsw.edu.au.
  5. Web site: Dye. Jordan Baker, Nathanael Cooper, Josh. 2018-12-08. 'Lukewarm and disappointing': Famous Aussies remember their HSC. 2020-11-09. The Sydney Morning Herald. en.
  6. Web site: 2009-11-25. Julia Baird. 2020-11-09. ABC Radio National. en-AU.
  7. Web site: Trove. 2020-11-09. trove.nla.gov.au. en.
  8. Web site: Browsing Postgraduate Theses by author "Baird, Julia Woodlands". 2020-11-09. ses.library.usyd.edu.au.
  9. Web site: Columnist Julia Baird joins local ABC radio. 9 February 2006. 1 July 2016.
  10. Web site: Dr Julia Baird awarded the Doctor of Divinity . VOX: University of Divinity. 2018-03-18 . 2019-05-06.
  11. Web site: Walkley Winners Archive. 2020-11-09. walkleys.com.
  12. Web site: A Bonza Baird. 15 November 2012. 1 July 2016. Victorian Women's Trust. Sarah. Capper.
  13. Web site: Ten Questions: Julia Baird. Caroline. Overington. Caroline Overington. The Australian. 11 October 2010. 1 July 2016.
  14. https://www.nytimes.com/topic/person/julia-baird "News about Julia Baird, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times
  15. News: Baird . Julia . 5 July 2013 . In Australia, Misogyny Lives On . . 25 May 2016.
  16. News: Baird . Julia . 1 February 2014 . The Courage of Transgender Soldiers . . 25 May 2016.
  17. News: Donald Trump up close: he thinks you will love him. The Sydney Morning Herald. 7 May 2016. 25 May 2016. Baird, Julia.
  18. News: No Place for Spirited Women. The Sydney Morning Herald. 27 August 2012. 25 May 2016. Baird, Julia.
  19. News: Baird. Julia. 2014-09-25. Opinion Doubt as a Sign of Faith (Published 2014). en-US. The New York Times. 2020-11-09. 0362-4331.
  20. Web site: 2018-12-20 . Julia Baird . 2020-11-09 . Q+A . en-AU.
  21. Web site: Coultan . Mark . 3 September 2015 . Julia Baird reveals cancer-beating battle . 1 July 2016.
  22. Web site: The Drum . 8 June 2017 . ABC Television.
  23. News: 2023-12-12 . Viewers stopped us in the street to talk about The Drum. Two things usually came up . en-AU . ABC News . 2023-12-13.
  24. News: McGregor . Tamaryn . 5 October 2022 . Devastating reason behind ABC star presenter’s absence . news.com.au .
  25. Web site: 2024-05-29 . Is it just us, or is airline turbulence getting worse? . 2024-05-30 . ABC listen . en-AU.
  26. Web site: Not Stupid: INTRODUCING — Not Stupid on Apple Podcasts . 2024-05-30 . Apple Podcasts . en-AU.
  27. Web site: ziggymello . 2010-11-12 . Past Recipients 1998 - 2010 . 2024-04-04 . Edna Ryan Awards . en-AU.
  28. Web site: 2018 Our Watch Awards. 2020-11-10. About the ABC. en-AU.
  29. Web site: Baird . Julia . 2020-10-28 . Report sheds light on 16-month-old's death at Sydney childcare centre but questions for authorities remain . 2023-10-18 . abc.net.au . en-AU.
  30. Web site: Baird . Julia . 2019-12-17 . Sydney parents search for answers more than a year after 16-month-old Arianna died at childcare . 2023-10-18 . abc.net.au . en-AU.
  31. News: Overington. Caroline. 11 October 2010. Ten Questions: Julia Baird. The Australian. 10 November 2020.
  32. News: Jabour. Bridie. 2016-11-15. Julia Baird: Queen Victoria would have been a 'nasty woman' in Trumpian terms. en-GB. The Guardian. 2020-11-09. 0261-3077.
  33. News: Kakutani . Michiko . Michiko Kakutani . Garner . Dwight . Dwight Garner . Senior . Jennifer . Jennifer Senior . Maslin . Janet . Janet Maslin . 2016-12-14 . Times Critics' Top Books of 2016 (Published 2016) . en-US . The New York Times . 2020-11-09 . 0362-4331.
  34. News: Jabour. Bridie. 2020-04-06. Julia Baird on finding light in the dark: 'Coronavirus will leave a massive psychic scar'. en-GB. The Guardian. 2020-11-09. 0261-3077.
  35. Web site: Christopher. Lissa. 2020-06-05. Lunch with Julia Baird: author of Phosphorescence, promoter of awe. 2020-11-09. The Sydney Morning Herald. en.
  36. Web site: 2021-03-22. Pip Williams and The Dictionary of Lost Words are the big winners at the Indie Book Awards 2021. 2021-03-22. The AU Review. en-AU.
  37. Web site: 2021-04-28. 'Phosphorescence' wins 2021 ABIA Book of the Year. 2021-04-29. Books+Publishing. en-AU.
  38. News: 23 October 2023 . Full of Grace: Julia Baird's unusual response to a world of ugly politics and cancel culture . Daily Telegraph .
  39. Web site: Steger . Jason . 2023-11-05 . Twelve books to keep you turning the pages in November . 2023-11-06 . The Sydney Morning Herald . en.
  40. Web site: 2024-01-17 . Indie Book Awards 2024 shortlists announced . 2024-01-17 . Books+Publishing.
  41. Web site: The 2024 ABIA shortlists — Readings Books . 2024-04-04 . www.readings.com.au . en.
  42. Web site: FitzSimons . Peter . 2021-05-08 . Why Slater unloaded on the PM . 2023-11-06 . The Sydney Morning Herald . en.
  43. Web site: 2015-06-18. Bruce Baird to replace Tom Harley on federal Liberal executive. 2020-11-09. Australian Financial Review. en.
  44. Web site: 2017-01-19 . Family illnesses behind Baird's retirement . 2020-11-09 . news.com.au . en.
  45. Web site: Loussikian. Kylar. 2020-04-21. Former NSW premier Mike Baird to lead aged care charity. 2020-11-09. The Sydney Morning Herald. en.
  46. News: Chancellor. Jonathan. 29 July 2020. Margin Call. The Australian. 10 November 2020.
  47. Web site: Dickson. John. 2017-11-20. Why Julia Baird is Wrong about Christian Support for Same-Sex Marriage. 2020-11-09. ABC Religion & Ethics. en-AU.
  48. Baird . Julia . April 1997 . Sydney Synod . Movement for the Ordination of Women Newsletter 24 April 1997 . 5 . JSTOR and University of Divinity Digital Collections.
  49. Web site: 2017-11-24. ABC = Anything (but) Biblical Christianity. 2020-11-09. The Spectator Australia. en-US.
  50. https://www.smh.com.au/national/archbishop-kay-goldsworthy-is-flying-to-sydney-she-won-t-be-an-archbishop-when-she-lands-20230913-p5e4am.html Kay Goldsworthy is flying to Sydney. She won’t be an archbishop when she lands. Argh, men
  51. Web site: Journalist Julia Baird reveals cancer diagnosis that had her 'gripped with terror'. The Guardian. Paul. Farrell. 3 September 2015. 1 July 2016.
  52. Web site: Family illnesses the reason behind Mike Baird's shock resignation. 19 January 2017. 19 January 2017. news.com.au. Liz. Burke.
  53. Web site: 2023-11-06 . Julia Baird: in pursuit of awe and wonder while fighting cancer . 2023-11-06 . NZ Herald . en-NZ.

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