Linton Besser

Last updated

Linton Besser
Born1977 [1]
Alma mater Moriah College
OccupationJournalist
Employer ABC TV
SpouseMarried
Children2
Parents
  • Mike Besser (father)
  • Anne Besser (mother)

Linton Besser (born 1977) is an Australian investigative journalist. In 2025 he took over as host of the long-running Media Watch show on ABC TV. He is the winner of numerous awards in journalism, including four Walkley Awards, two Kennedy Awards and a George Munster Award. [2]

Contents

Early life and background

Besser was born to Jewish parents, Anne and Mike Besser. [3] He was educated at Moriah College in Sydney. [4] His grandparents, Sara Weintraub and Wolf Besser were Holocaust survivors that were interned at Auschwitz concentration camp. [5]

Career

In 2003, Besser began his media career as a producer for morning TV program Today . Then, after a stint at rural and regional papers, he moved to the Sydney Morning Herald in 2007. [6] While there, he won a 2010 Walkley Award for Investigative Journalism for his story "The Wrong Stuff", on misspending by the Department of Defence; [7] and (with Kate McClymont) a Walkley [8] and a George Munster Award for the 2012 investigative series "The Obeid family business", [9] followed by a 2013 Kennedy Award for Scoop of the Year. [10] The pair released the best-selling book He Who must Be Obeid in 2014; its first print run was pulped due to incorrectly identifying one person as another. [11] The book was a finalist at the 2015 Ned Kelly Awards. [12]

Having moved to the ABC in 2013, he reported for Four Corners between 2014 and 2018. [6] During his tenure, he won a second Kennedy Award in 2014 for Outstanding Consumer Affairs Reporting with Janine Cohen and Mario Christodoulou, [13] and a 2016 Walkley Television/Audio Visual Current Affairs Award for "State of Fear", along with cinematographer Louie Eroglu, producer Jaya Balendra and researcher Elise Worthington. [14] During that investigation, Besser and Eroglu were arrested in Malaysia for trying to question Prime Minister Najib Razak over the 1MDB scandal, but were released without charge several days later. [15] [16]

From 2018 until 2021 he was the ABC's Europe Correspondent, after which he returned to providing investigative reporting for ABC News including programs 7.30 , AM, and Four Corners. [6] He won a fourth Walkley, for Business Journalism with Ninah Kopel for reports on problems with the strata management industry. [17]

In November 2024 it was announced that from 2025 he would be the new host of ABC's long-running Media Watch program. [18]

Personal life

As of 2013, he was married with two children. [19]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Benjamin, Henry (10 December 2010). Walkley for Linton JWire. Retrieved on 4 February 2025
  2. ↑ Linton Besser takes the hotseat at Media Watch ABC. 21 November 2024
  3. ↑ "Relief as journo released from Malaysia". www.australianjewishnews.com. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
  4. ↑ Benjamin, Henry (10 December 2010). "Walkley for Linton". J-Wire. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
  5. ↑ Veitch, Harriet (24 September 2012). "Holocaust survivor lost family, built new life". The Sydney Morning Herald . Retrieved 7 February 2025.
  6. 1 2 3 "Linton Besser takes the hotseat at Media Watch". ABC. 21 November 2024. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
  7. ↑ Vatsikopoulous, Helen; Benthe, H. F.; Haberland, G. (31 May 2012). "Panel discussion—investigative case studies". Pacific Journalism Review. 18 (1): 44. doi: 10.24135/pjr.v18i1.288 .
  8. ↑ "Walkley Winners Archive". The Walkley Foundation. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
  9. ↑ Winners of the George Munster Award (PDF), retrieved 5 December 2024
  10. ↑ "Kate McClymont leads Herald pack at Kennedy Awards". The Sydney Morning Herald. 9 August 2013. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
  11. ↑ "Obeid book pulped over defamation threat". SBS News. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
  12. ↑ "2015 Ned Kelly Awards Shortlist Announced!". Australian Writers' Centre. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
  13. ↑ 2014 Kennedy Award Winners (PDF), retrieved 5 December 2024
  14. ↑ "Linton Besser, Louie Eroglu, Jaya Balendra and Elise Worthington". The Walkley Foundation. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
  15. ↑ Murdoch, Lindsay (18 March 2016). "The story behind the arrest of Four Corners' Linton Besser and Louie Eroglu in Malaysia". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
  16. ↑ "ABC pair flying home after Malaysia saga". SBS News. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
  17. ↑ "69th Walkley Awards winners announced". The Walkley Foundation. 19 November 2024. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
  18. ↑ Meade, Amanda (21 November 2024). "Linton Besser, award-winning investigative journalist, named new Media Watch host". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
  19. ↑ McClymont, Kate (3 May 2013). "Where angels fear to tread". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
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