I'd been tinkering with blogs for about a year before starting this - including writing what I believe was the first Australian news blog on location from Athens while I was with The Age.
I've been working in the online area since the mid 90s and though I've done time in the print side of the business I don't really feel as though I've ever left the online world behind. I consider myself lucky to have been involved with this new medium from early on.
It struck me back then that online is perfect for journalism. That's taken a while to filter through to the industry. The challenges for traditional print businesses are very clear: papers are undergoing a massive cultural and economic shift, and online is critical to their future. It's incumbent on newspaper editors and executives to be across all of the relevant online issues and develop strategies to stay abreast of new reader trends and technological developments.
Amongst other things I've taught journalism at La Trobe University and RMIT in Melbourne, and at UTS in Sydney. I was instrumental in helping establish Blue Ear during 1998 and 1999; Ethan Casey and I tried a whole range of strategies that pre-dated Ohmynews in what was possibly the first example of distributed journalism on the web. It was exhilarating and exhausting and it didn't pay a cent. Given the same circumstances I'd do it all over again.
After freelancing, teaching and spending most of my twenties as a semi-professional musician I moved into academia, and from there to the world of business journalism. I spent a few years as the online editor of a number of finance and business web sites for Fairfax Business Media before moving to The Age.
From 2001 to 2005 I worked at The Age in Melbourne where I was variously editor of theage.com.au and deputy editor of sections at the newspaper. From there I moved to Sydney as editor-in-chief of NEWS.com.au, and then on to Brisbane as General Manager of APN Online.
I used to live a few minutes walk from the beach, and play the Fender Jazz with "one of the best kept secrets in Australian country music" . If you're ever in Melbourne I do recommend you check out The T-Bones.
These days I play keyboards and guitar with The Long Stand, amongst other Melbourne outfits.
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