| Samantha Maiden | |
| Birth Name: | Samantha Louise Maiden |
| Birth Place: | Adelaide, South Australia |
| Years Active: | 1994 - present |
| Occupation: | Journalist |
| Alma Mater: | University of South Australia |
| Children: | 3 |
| Nationality: | Australian |
| Awards: | Gold Walkley (2021) |
Samantha Louise Maiden is an Australian political journalist. She is currently political editor for news.com.au, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia.
Maiden was born in Adelaide.
As a student at the University of Adelaide in 1992, she edited On Dit, the student newspaper.
Maiden has worked as a journalist since 1994.
She moved to Canberra to work as a political correspondent in 1998. She wrote for a number of News Corp Sunday papers, including The Sunday Telegraph, Sunday Herald Sun and Sunday Mail.[1] Maiden was known for breaking exclusive political stories for News Corp papers. She also appeared as a commentator on television news programs, including Today and Pyne & Marles.[2]
In 2016, Maiden said that Peter Dutton, the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, had inadvertently sent a text message describing her as a "mad fucking witch" directly to her, instead of a colleague, after Maiden wrote a critical opinion piece.[3] The "witch incident" became internationally significant when Marvel's dark hero Jessica Jones tweeted encouragement to Maiden "welcoming her to the club (of mad fucking witches)".[4]
She joined Sky News Australia as political reporter in 2017, first appearing on 30 January 2017.[5] She resigned from Sky News in June 2018.[6]
She then wrote for the online newspaper The New Daily.
In April 2020 Maiden returned to News Corp Australia as political editor of its news website news.com.au.[7]
On 6 April 2016, Maiden pleaded guilty to a drink driving charge and two "fail to obey police" charges in Goulburn Local Court, having recorded a blood alcohol reading of 0.136 on 20 March 2016.[11] On 18 May 2016, Maiden was given a 12-month good behaviour bond, disqualified from driving for seven months, and fined $1000.[12]