Julia Baird (journalist)

{{Short description|Australian journalist and author (born 1970)}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Julia Baird

| honorific_suffix =

| image = Julia Baird 2019 credit Susan Papazian (cropped).jpg

| caption = Baird in 2019

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1970|02|19}}

| birth_place = Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

| death_date =

| death_place =

| education = Ravenswood School for Girls

| alma_mater = University of Sydney

| occupation = Journalist, author

| employer = Australian Broadcasting Corporation

| television = The Drum

| domestic_partner =

| children = 2

| years_active = 1998–present

| parents = Bruce Baird, Judy Baird

| relatives = Mike Baird, Steve Baird (brothers)

}}

Julia Woodlands Baird (born 19 February 1970{{cn|date=December 2024}}) is an Australian journalist, broadcaster and author. She contributes to The New York Times and The Sydney Morning Herald and has been a regular host of The Drum, a television news review program on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). Her non-fiction work includes a bestselling memoir, a biography on Queen Victoria and a meditation on the experience of grace during a time of dark politics.{{Cite news |last=Christopher |first=Lissa |date=5 June 2020 |title=Lunch with Julia Baird: author of Phosphorescence, promoter of awe |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |url= |access-date=}}

Early life and education

Baird was born in Sydney, to Judith (née Woodlands) and Bruce Baird, who would become the deputy leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party. She and her brothers spent their early childhood in Rye, New York, while her father was Australian trade commissioner in Manhattan.{{cite web |last=Wood |first=Stephanie |date=26 October 2012 |title=The son rises |url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/the-son-rises-20121023-282ga.html |access-date=18 October 2023 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald }}{{cite podcast|url=http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2012/11/21/3637671.htm|title=Journalist Julia Baird was deputy editor of US magazine, Newsweek|website=Conversations|publisher=ABC|host=Richard Fidler|date=21 November 2012|accessdate=1 July 2016}} After the family returned to Australia in 1980, Baird attended Ravenswood School for Girls.{{Cite web|title=Author and commentator, Julia Baird (Class of 1987)|url=https://newscentre.ravenswood.nsw.edu.au/newscentre/life-lessons-from-author-and-commentator-julia-baird-class-of-1987/|access-date=2020-11-09|website=newscentre.ravenswood.nsw.edu.au}} Her HSC results placed her in the top 20 students in NSW.{{Cite web|last=Dye|first=Jordan Baker, Nathanael Cooper, Josh|date=2018-12-08|title='Lukewarm and disappointing': Famous Aussies remember their HSC|url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/lukewarm-and-disappointing-famous-aussies-remember-their-hsc-20181207-p50kwr.html|access-date=2020-11-09|website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en}} Baird earned a BA degree and later a PhD in history from the University of Sydney.{{Cite web|date=2009-11-25|title=Julia Baird|url=https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/julia-baird/3095986|access-date=2020-11-09|website=ABC Radio National|language=en-AU}} Her honours thesis, titled "Pigeons, Priests and Prophets: the politicisation of women in the Anglican church", examined the campaign to have women ordained in that denomination.{{Cite web|title=Trove|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/22105802?selectedversion=NBD12234023|access-date=2020-11-09|website=trove.nla.gov.au|language=en}} Her doctoral thesis was on women in politics and how they are treated by mainstream media.{{Cite web|title=Browsing Postgraduate Theses by author "Baird, Julia Woodlands"|url=https://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/handle/2123/35/browse?type=author&value=Baird,+Julia+Woodlands|access-date=2020-11-09|website=ses.library.usyd.edu.au}} In 2005, she was a fellow at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University researching the globalisation of American opinion in the lead up to the Iraq War.{{cite web|url=https://www.radioinfo.com.au/news/columnist-julia-baird-joins-local-abc-radio|title=Columnist Julia Baird joins local ABC radio|date=9 February 2006|access-date=1 July 2016}} In 2018, the University of Divinity made Baird an honorary Doctor of Divinity for her "contribution as a public intellectual to the wider community in the area of religion".{{cite web | url=https://vox.divinity.edu.au/news/dr-julia-baird-awarded-doctor-divinity/|title=Dr Julia Baird awarded the Doctor of Divinity | publisher= VOX: University of Divinity|date=2018-03-18 | access-date=2019-05-06}}

Journalism

Baird began her career as a journalist with The Sydney Morning Herald in 1998, winning her first Walkley Award for her online coverage of the 1998 Australian federal election.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Walkley Winners Archive|url=https://www.walkleys.com/awards/walkley-winners-archive/|access-date=2020-11-09|website=walkleys.com}} By 2000, she was editor of the opinion pages.{{cite web|url=http://sheilas.org.au/2012/11/a-bonza-baird/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130412000833/http://sheilas.org.au/2012/11/a-bonza-baird/|url-status=dead|archive-date=12 April 2013|title=A Bonza Baird|date=15 November 2012|access-date=1 July 2016|publisher=Victorian Women's Trust|first=Sarah|last=Capper}} She also worked as a religious commentator for Triple J and as a freelancer for ABC Radio.

In 2006, Baird moved to the United States and became deputy editor at Newsweek in New York City, working there until it ceased print publication in 2012.{{cite web|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/ten-questions-julia-baird/story-e6frg996-1225937084049|first=Caroline|last=Overington|author-link=Caroline Overington|work=The Australian|title=Ten Questions: Julia Baird|date=11 October 2010|access-date=1 July 2016}} She has written for The Philadelphia Inquirer and been a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times.[https://www.nytimes.com/topic/person/julia-baird "News about Julia Baird, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times] She has written about gender and political topics, such as misogyny in Australian politics,{{cite news |last=Baird |first=Julia |date=5 July 2013 |title=In Australia, Misogyny Lives On |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/06/opinion/in-australia-misogyny-lives-on.html |access-date=25 May 2016}} transgender soldiers in the American military{{cite news |last=Baird |first=Julia |date=1 February 2014 |title=The Courage of Transgender Soldiers |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/22/opinion/sunday/baird-the-courage-of-trans-soldiers.html |access-date=25 May 2016}} and Donald Trump's political strategy.{{cite news|url=http://www.smh.com.au/comment/donald-trump-up-close-its-not-pretty-20160505-gonldk|title=Donald Trump up close: he thinks you will love him|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=7 May 2016|access-date=25 May 2016|author=Baird, Julia}} More recently, Baird has written on religious topics, such as suffering and doubt.{{cite news|url=http://www.smh.com.au/it-pro/no-place-for-spirited-women-20120826-24u8v.html|title=No Place for Spirited Women|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=27 August 2012|access-date=25 May 2016|author=Baird, Julia}}{{Cite news|last=Baird|first=Julia|date=2014-09-25|title=Opinion {{!}} Doubt as a Sign of Faith (Published 2014)|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/26/opinion/julia-baird-doubt-as-a-sign-of-faith.html|access-date=2020-11-09|issn=0362-4331}}

Returning from the United States in 2011, she became a host of the ABC radio program Sunday Profile then, in 2012, began presenting The Drum, a weeknight current affairs panel TV show on Australia's ABC TV.{{Cite web |date=2018-12-20 |title=Julia Baird |url=https://www.abc.net.au/qanda/julia-baird/10643152 |access-date=2020-11-09 |website=Q+A |language=en-AU}}{{cite web |last=Coultan |first=Mark |date=3 September 2015 |title=Julia Baird reveals cancer-beating battle |url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/health/julia-baird-journalist-and-broadcaster-reveals-cancerbeating-battle/news-story/9b70a47f6e6f24b1809c8c24a1541919 |access-date=1 July 2016}}{{cite web |title=The Drum |url=http://www.abc.net.au/tv/programs/drum/ |access-date=8 June 2017 |publisher=ABC Television}} The programme continued on for another 11 years, with Baird sharing the hosting role with Ellen Fanning and Dan Bourchier, having featured 1,000 guest panelists, before its last show in December, 2023.{{Cite news |date=2023-12-12 |title=Viewers stopped us in the street to talk about The Drum. Two things usually came up |language=en-AU |work=ABC News |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-12-12/julia-baird-ellen-fanning-what-weve-learnt-from-hosting-the-drum/103217996 |access-date=2023-12-13}}{{Cite news |last=McGregor |first=Tamaryn |date=5 October 2022 |title=Devastating reason behind ABC star presenter’s absence |work=news.com.au |url=https://www.news.com.au/national/devastating-reason-behind-abc-star-presenters-absence/news-story/8c54c202d18d253b6f2c89f3e9e05bcf}}

In May 2024, Baird returned to radio broadcasting with the launch of Not Stupid; a weekly news review conversation presented alongside Jeremy Fernandez.{{Cite web |date=2024-05-29 |title=Is it just us, or is airline turbulence getting worse? |url=https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/not-stupid/flight-turbulence-birds/103903604 |access-date=2024-05-30 |website=ABC listen |language=en-AU}} It appears on ABC RN and podcast formats.{{Cite web |title=Not Stupid: INTRODUCING — Not Stupid on Apple Podcasts |url=https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/introducing-not-stupid/id1581701077?i=1000655758644 |access-date=2024-05-30 |website=Apple Podcasts |language=en-AU}}

Concern for issues facing women has been a major theme in Baird's work, for which she was recognised with the Edna Ryan Award in 2002.{{Cite web |last=ziggymello |date=2010-11-12 |title=Past Recipients 1998 - 2010 |url=https://ednaryan.net.au/recipients/past-recipients-1998-to-2010/ |access-date=2024-04-04 |website=Edna Ryan Awards |language=en-AU}} Since 2016, Baird has prepared several in-depth reports on domestic violence in Australia, especially in its connection with religious communities. Her joint reporting for the "Religion and domestic violence investigation" earned four Walkley Our Watch awards, including the Gold Our Watch, in 2018.{{Cite web|title=2018 Our Watch Awards|url=https://about.abc.net.au/statements/2018-our-watch-awards/|access-date=2020-11-10|website=About the ABC|language=en-AU}} Baird's reporting on religious minority groups includes an ongoing investigation into the experience of a middle eastern Christian family as they grieve the unexplained death of their daughter at a childcare facility.{{Cite web |last=Baird |first=Julia |date=2020-10-28 |title=Report sheds light on 16-month-old's death at Sydney childcare centre but questions for authorities remain |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-10-28/child-death-at-sydney-childcare-centre-report-sheds-light/12822628 |access-date=2023-10-18 |website=abc.net.au |language=en-AU}}{{Cite web |last=Baird |first=Julia |date=2019-12-17 |title=Sydney parents search for answers more than a year after 16-month-old Arianna died at childcare |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-17/parents-still-dont-know-how-their-daughter-died-at-childcare/11802782 |access-date=2023-10-18 |website=abc.net.au |language=en-AU}}

Books

Baird is a writer of nonfiction. Her first book was Media Tarts: How the Australian Press Frames Female Politicians and was published in 2004.

In 2010, while living in Philadelphia, she began research for a biography on Queen Victoria for which she was given access to the Royal Archives in Windsor.{{Cite news|last=Overington|first=Caroline|date=11 October 2010|title=Ten Questions: Julia Baird|work=The Australian|url=https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/ten-questions-julia-baird/news-story/69cde7c108b050919b0d8c9a27fa58da|access-date=10 November 2020}}{{Cite news|last=Jabour|first=Bridie|date=2016-11-15|title=Julia Baird: Queen Victoria would have been a 'nasty woman' in Trumpian terms|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/nov/16/julia-baird-queen-victoria-would-have-been-a-nasty-woman-in-trumpian-terms|access-date=2020-11-09|issn=0261-3077}} Random House published Victoria: The Queen in 2016. It was named a book of the year by the literary critics of The New York Times.{{Cite news |last1=Kakutani |first1=Michiko |author-link=Michiko Kakutani |last2=Garner |first2=Dwight |author-link2=Dwight Garner |last3=Senior |first3=Jennifer |author-link3=Jennifer Senior |last4=Maslin |first4=Janet |author-link4=Janet Maslin |date=2016-12-14 |title=Times Critics' Top Books of 2016 (Published 2016) |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/14/arts/the-top-books-of-2016.html |access-date=2020-11-09 |issn=0362-4331}}

Her third book draws on Baird's personal experience of life-threatening illness and "the things that give us comfort, that make us strong".{{Cite news|last=Jabour|first=Bridie|date=2020-04-06|title=Julia Baird on finding light in the dark: 'Coronavirus will leave a massive psychic scar'|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/apr/06/julia-baird-on-finding-light-in-the-dark-coronavirus-will-leave-a-massive-psychic-scar|access-date=2020-11-09|issn=0261-3077}} Phosphorescence: On Awe, Wonder and Things That Sustain You When the World Goes Dark was published in Australia in March 2020.{{Cite web|last=Christopher|first=Lissa|date=2020-06-05|title=Lunch with Julia Baird: author of Phosphorescence, promoter of awe|url=https://www.smh.com.au/culture/books/lunch-with-julia-baird-author-of-phosphorescence-promoter-of-awe-20200514-p54sz2.html|access-date=2020-11-09|website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en}} The title became a best-seller soon after the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns began. Phosphorescence was named non-fiction book of the year in the 2021 Indie Book Awards{{Cite web|date=2021-03-22|title=Pip Williams and The Dictionary of Lost Words are the big winners at the Indie Book Awards 2021|url=https://www.theaureview.com/books/pip-williams-and-the-dictionary-of-lost-words-are-the-big-winners-at-the-indie-book-awards-2021/|access-date=2021-03-22|website=The AU Review|language=en-AU}} and won both the Book of the Year and the General Nonfiction Book of the Year at the 2021 Australian Book Industry Awards.{{Cite web|last=|date=2021-04-28|title='Phosphorescence' wins 2021 ABIA Book of the Year|url=https://www.booksandpublishing.com.au/articles/2021/04/28/185653/phosphorescence-wins-2021-abia-book-of-the-year/|access-date=2021-04-29|website=Books+Publishing|language=en-AU}}

Bright Shining: How Grace Changes Everything is Baird's first book to reflect on her exposure to “ugliness in the political realm”, to which she offers a path she calls “moral beauty” or grace.{{Cite news |date=23 October 2023 |title=Full of Grace: Julia Baird's unusual response to a world of ugly politics and cancel culture |work=Daily Telegraph |url=https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/subscribe/news/1/?sourceCode=DTWEB_WRE170_a_GGL&dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailytelegraph.com.au%2Fentertainment%2Fbooks-magazines%2Fbooks%2Ffull-of-grace-julia-bairds-unusual-response-to-a-world-of-ugly-politics-and-cancel-culture%2Fnews-story%2Fbd74412c7a8ea9a94f161c9afbd85c29&memtype=anonymous&mode=premium&v21=GROUPA-Segment-1-NOSCORE}} One Sydney Morning Herald reviewed the book as a meditation on the “desire to see, experience and express grace” as "fascinating, wide-ranging and moving."{{Cite web |last=Steger |first=Jason |date=2023-11-05 |title=Twelve books to keep you turning the pages in November |url=https://www.smh.com.au/culture/books/twelve-books-to-keep-you-turning-the-pages-in-november-20231030-p5eg4b.html |access-date=2023-11-06 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en}} It was shortlisted for the 2024 Nonfiction Indie Book Award and the Australian Book Industry Awards Nonfiction book of the year.{{Cite web |date=2024-01-17 |title=Indie Book Awards 2024 shortlists announced |url=https://www.booksandpublishing.com.au/articles/2024/01/17/245506/indie-book-awards-2024-shortlists-announced/ |access-date=2024-01-17 |publisher=Books+Publishing}}{{Cite web |title=The 2024 ABIA shortlists — Readings Books |url=https://www.readings.com.au/news/the-2024-abia-shortlists# |access-date=2024-04-04 |website=www.readings.com.au |language=en}}

Personal life

Baird's mother, Judy, known for serving prisoners and refugees, died in 2021.{{Cite web |last=FitzSimons |first=Peter |date=2021-05-08 |title=Why Slater unloaded on the PM |url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/why-slater-unloaded-on-the-pm-20210507-p57pvl.html |access-date=2023-11-06 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en}} Her father, Bruce Baird, was a cabinet minister in the Greiner and Fahey governments before serving in federal politics.{{Cite web|date=2015-06-18|title=Bruce Baird to replace Tom Harley on federal Liberal executive|url=https://www.afr.com/rear-window/bruce-baird-to-replace-tom-harley-on-federal-liberal-executive-20150618-ghqzyo|access-date=2020-11-09|website=Australian Financial Review|language=en}} Baird's brother Mike Baird, who is 18 months her senior, was the 44th Premier of New South Wales and later became CEO of a Christian aged-care charity, Hammondcare.{{Cite web |date=2017-01-19 |title=Family illnesses behind Baird's retirement |url=https://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/politics/family-illnesses-the-reason-behind-mike-bairds-shock-resignation/news-story/cd98274abad8ff634ab364419fee2be5 |access-date=2020-11-09 |website=news.com.au |language=en}}{{Cite web|last=Loussikian|first=Kylar|date=2020-04-21|title=Former NSW premier Mike Baird to lead aged care charity|url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/former-nsw-premier-mike-baird-to-lead-aged-care-charity-20200421-p54lrb.html|access-date=2020-11-09|website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en}} Her younger brother, Steve Baird, has led International Justice Mission in Australia, an anti modern slavery organisation.{{Cite news|last=Chancellor|first=Jonathan|date=29 July 2020|title=Margin Call|work=The Australian|url=https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/margin-call/merivales-move-south-put-on-hold/news-story/4aa209a5d8318957679d74d67a1567c5|access-date=10 November 2020}} She has two children. Along with her parents and siblings, Baird openly identifies as a Christian.{{Cite web|last=Dickson|first=John|date=2017-11-20|title=Why Julia Baird is Wrong about Christian Support for Same-Sex Marriage|url=https://www.abc.net.au/religion/why-julia-baird-is-wrong-about-christian-support-for-same-sex-ma/10095198|access-date=2020-11-09|website=ABC Religion & Ethics|language=en-AU}} Baird has been a strong critic of conservative Christian traditions and has campaigned for the ordination of women{{Cite journal |last=Baird |first=Julia |date=April 1997 |title=Sydney Synod |url=https://jstor.org/stable/community.35218477 |journal=Movement for the Ordination of Women Newsletter 24 April 1997 |pages=5 |jstor=community.35218477|via=University of Divinity Digital Collections}} in the Sydney diocese of the Anglican Church of Australia.{{Cite web|date=2017-11-24|title=ABC = Anything (but) Biblical Christianity|url=https://www.spectator.com.au/2017/11/abc-anything-but-biblical-christianity/|access-date=2020-11-09|website=The Spectator Australia|language=en-US}}[https://www.smh.com.au/national/archbishop-kay-goldsworthy-is-flying-to-sydney-she-won-t-be-an-archbishop-when-she-lands-20230913-p5e4am.html Kay Goldsworthy is flying to Sydney. She won’t be an archbishop when she lands. Argh, men], Julia Baird, Sydney Morning Herald, 2023-09-16

In 2015, Baird disclosed in her New York Times column that she was recovering from surgery for cancer, one of four bouts with the disease.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/sep/03/journalist-julia-baird-reveals-battle-with-cancer-that-had-her-gripped-with-terror|work=The Guardian|title=Journalist Julia Baird reveals cancer diagnosis that had her 'gripped with terror'|first=Paul|last=Farrell|date=3 September 2015|access-date=1 July 2016}} By 2020 it was in remission.{{cite web|url=http://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/politics/family-illnesses-the-reason-behind-mike-bairds-shock-resignation/news-story/cd98274abad8ff634ab364419fee2be5|title=Family illnesses the reason behind Mike Baird's shock resignation|date=19 January 2017|access-date=19 January 2017|work=news.com.au|first=Liz|last=Burke}}{{Cite web |date=2023-11-06 |title=Julia Baird: in pursuit of awe and wonder while fighting cancer |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/julia-baird-on-publishing-her-best-selling-book-while-fighting-cancer/SAC2M2BDEBD4LKPMUR2PSLXJFY/ |access-date=2023-11-06 |website=The New Zealand Herald |language=en-NZ}}

Bibliography

{{Cite book | title = Media Tarts: How the Australian Press Frames Female Politicians | year = 2004 | publisher = Scribe Publications Pty Ltd | last= Baird | first= Julia | isbn = 1920769234 | location = Sydney| oclc = 57206438 }}
{{cite book|title=Victoria: The Queen: An Intimate Biography of the Woman Who Ruled an Empire|first=Julia|last=Baird|year=2016|publisher=Random House|isbn=978-1400069880|oclc=1009844827}}
{{cite book |title=Phosphorescence: On Awe, Wonder and Things That Sustain You When the World Goes Dark |year=2020 |publisher=Fourth Estate |first=Julia |last=Baird |isbn=9781460710890}}
{{cite book |title=Bright Shining: How Grace Changes Everything |year=2023 |publisher=Fourth Estate |first=Julia |last=Baird |isbn=9781460760253}}