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
Maiden accepts Graham Perkin Australian Journalist of the Year award in March 2022.
Born
Samantha Louise Maiden

NationalityAustralian
Alma materUniversity of South Australia
OccupationJournalist
Years active1994 – present
Children3
AwardsGold Walkley (2021)
Graham Perkin Australian Journalist of the Year (2021)

Early life and education

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Maiden was born in Adelaide.[1]

As a student at the University of Adelaide in 1992, she edited On Dit, the student newspaper.[2]

Career

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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.[citation needed]

In April 2020 Maiden returned to News Corp Australia as political editor of its news website news.com.au.[2]

Awards

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  • 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]
  • 2021: Melbourne Press Club Graham Perkin Australian Journalist of the Year Award for coverage of abuse in Parliament House.[12]

Personal life

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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.[13]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Meet the team in touch with you". Sunday Mail. 23 January 2011. Archived from the original on 7 March 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  2. ^ a b "Samantha Maiden". News Pty Limited. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  3. ^ a b Robin, Myriam (7 April 2016). "Sam Maiden could be going to the big house". Crikey. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  4. ^ "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.
  5. ^ Medhora, Shalailah (4 January 2016). "Peter Dutton apologises for calling journalist a 'mad witch' in text message". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  6. ^ "'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. 3 January 2016. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ Knox, David (28 June 2018). "Samantha Maiden quits SKY News". TV Tonight. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  9. ^ Knox, David (12 November 2021). "Kennedy Awards 2021: Winners". TV Tonight. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  10. ^ "Samantha Maiden wins the Gold Walkley Award". The Walkley Foundation. 25 February 2022. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
  11. ^ "Our Watch Award administered by the Walkley Foundation". Walkley Foundation. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  12. ^ "2021 Graham Perkin Award Winner Samantha Maiden". The Melbourne Press Club. 22 March 2022. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
  13. ^ Cole, David (18 May 2016). "News corp journo loses licence, avoids jail". Goulburn Post. Retrieved 18 May 2016.