Samantha Maiden
Samantha Louise Maiden is an Australian political journalist. She is currently political editor for news.com.au, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia.
Samantha Maiden | |
|---|---|
| Born | Samantha Louise Maiden |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Alma mater | University of South Australia |
| Occupation | Journalist |
| Years active | 1994 – present |
| Children | 3 |
| Awards | Gold Walkley (2021) |
Early life and education
Maiden was born in Adelaide.[1]
As a student at Adelaide University in 1992, she edited On Dit, the student newspaper.[2]
Career
Maiden has worked as a journalist since 1994.[1]
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.[3] She also appeared as a commentator on television news programs, including Today and Pyne & Marles.[4]
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.[5] 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)".[6]
She joined Sky News Australia as political reporter in 2017, first appearing on 30 January 2017.[7] She resigned from Sky News in June 2018.[8]
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.[2]
Awards
- 2021: Kennedy Award, for Journalist of the Year as well as for outstanding investigative journalism and outstanding political reporting[9]
- 2021: Gold Walkley for "Open secret: The Brittany Higgins story"[10]
- 2021: Our Watch Award, for excellence in reporting on violence against women and children, for her reporting of the Brittany Higgins story[11]
Personal life
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.[3] On 18 May 2016, Maiden was given a 12-month good behaviour bond, disqualified from driving for seven months, and fined $1000.[12]
References
- "Meet the team in touch with you". Sunday Mail. 23 January 2011. Archived from the original on 7 March 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
- "Samantha Maiden". News Pty Limited. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
- Robin, Myriam (7 April 2016). "Sam Maiden could be going to the big house". Crikey. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
- "Pyne, Marles talk Assange, ABCC on new show". Sky News Australia. 6 February 2016. Archived from the original on 6 February 2016. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
- Medhora, Shalailah (4 January 2016). "Peter Dutton apologises for calling journalist a 'mad witch' in text message". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
- "'It's A Compliment': Marvel's Dark Hero Jessica Jones Weighs In On MP Peter Dutton's 'Mad Witch' Stab At Journalist Samantha Maiden". Huffington Post. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
- Perry, Kevin (14 November 2016). "Sky News recruits Samantha Maiden as rumours have David Speers bound for ABC 7:30". Decider TV. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
- Knox, David (28 June 2018). "Samantha Maiden quits SKY News". TV Tonight. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
- Knox, David (12 November 2021). "Kennedy Awards 2021: Winners". TV Tonight. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
- "Samantha Maiden wins the Gold Walkley Award". The Walkley Foundation. 25 February 2022. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
- "Our Watch Award administered by the Walkley Foundation". Walkley Foundation. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
- Cole, David (18 May 2016). "News corp journo loses licence, avoids jail". Goulburn Post. Retrieved 18 May 2016.