Linton Besser

Last updated

Linton Besser
Born1976 or 1977
Alma mater Moriah College
OccupationJournalist
Employer ABC Television
SpouseMarried
Children2

Linton Besser (born 1976 or 1977) is an Australian investigative journalist. In 2025 he took over as host of the long-running Media Watch show on ABC TV. He has won numerous awards in journalism, including four Walkley Awards, two Kennedy Awards, and a George Munster Award.

Contents

Early life and education

Linton Besser was born in 1976 or 1978 [1] to Jewish parents, Anne and Mike Besser. [2] His grandparents, Sara Weintraub and Wolf Besser, were Holocaust survivors who were interned at Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II. [3]

He was educated at Moriah College in Sydney. [1]

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. [4] While there, he won a 2010 Walkley Award for Investigative Journalism for his story "The Wrong Stuff", on misspending by the Department of Defence; [5] and (with Kate McClymont) a Walkley [6] and a George Munster Award for the 2012 investigative series "The Obeid family business", [7] followed by a 2013 Kennedy Award for Scoop of the Year. [8] 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. [9] The book was a finalist at the 2015 Ned Kelly Awards. [10]

Having moved to the ABC in 2013, he reported for Four Corners between 2014 and 2018. [4] During his tenure, he won a second Kennedy Award in 2014, for Outstanding Consumer Affairs Reporting with Janine Cohen and Mario Christodoulou, [11] 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. [12] 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. [13] [14]

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. [4]

In 2024, Besser and Nina Kopel received the Walkley Business Journalism Award for their strata management industry investigation. [15]

In November 2024 it was announced that from 2025 he would be the new host of ABC's long-running Media Watch program. [16] [17]

Personal life

As of 2013, he was married with two children. [18]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Benjamin, Henry (10 December 2010). "Walkley for Linton". J-Wire. Retrieved 31 March 2025. The 33-year-old journalist was educated at Sydney's Moriah College
  2. ↑ "Relief as journo released from Malaysia". www.australianjewishnews.com. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
  3. ↑ Veitch, Harriet (24 September 2012). "Holocaust survivor lost family, built new life". The Sydney Morning Herald . Retrieved 7 February 2025.
  4. 1 2 3 "Linton Besser takes the hotseat at Media Watch". ABC. 21 November 2024. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
  5. ↑ 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 .
  6. ↑ "Walkley Winners Archive". The Walkley Foundation. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
  7. ↑ Winners of the George Munster Award (PDF), retrieved 5 December 2024
  8. ↑ "Kate McClymont leads Herald pack at Kennedy Awards". The Sydney Morning Herald. 9 August 2013. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
  9. ↑ "Obeid book pulped over defamation threat". SBS News. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
  10. ↑ "2015 Ned Kelly Awards Shortlist Announced!". Australian Writers' Centre. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
  11. ↑ 2014 Kennedy Award Winners (PDF), retrieved 5 December 2024
  12. ↑ "Linton Besser, Louie Eroglu, Jaya Balendra and Elise Worthington". The Walkley Foundation. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
  13. ↑ 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.
  14. ↑ "ABC pair flying home after Malaysia saga". SBS News. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
  15. ↑ "69th Walkley Awards winners announced". The Walkley Foundation. 19 November 2024. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
  16. ↑ Meade, Amanda (21 November 2024). "Linton Besser, award-winning investigative journalist, named new Media Watch host". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
  17. ↑ Linton Besser takes the hotseat at Media Watch ABC. 21 November 2024
  18. ↑ McClymont, Kate (3 May 2013). "Where angels fear to tread". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
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