The Canberra Press Gallery, officially called the Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery, is the name given to the approximately 180 journalists and their support staff, including producers, editors and camera crews, who report the workings of the Australian Parliament. The name derives from the
press galleries {{Short description, Parliamentary reporters
The press gallery is the part of a parliament, or other legislative body, where political journalists are allowed to sit or gather to observe and then report speeches and events. This is generally one of ...
, which are enclosed viewing areas above the chambers of the
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
The expression "Canberra Press Gallery" also refers to the association of Gallery journalists which represents their professional interests in dealing with the Parliament. The current President of the Gallery is David Speers, host and presenter for ABC TV's Insiders. The vice-president is Andrew Meares and the secretary is Eliza Borrello.
Apart from the one and a half hours per sitting day of Question Time, journalists spend little time in the actual press gallery overlooking the floor of Parliament. Another area, also named the "press gallery" refers to the office space within the Parliament building, above the Senate chamber which includes television studios and radio booths where the gallery journalists spend most of their time compiling stories and communicating with editors.Ian Ward, "The media, power and politics," in Andrew Parkin et el, ''Government, Politics, Power and Policy in Australia'', Pearson Education Australia (2006)Julian Fitzgerald ''Inside the Parliamentary Press Gallery: Seeing Beyond the Spin'' Clareville Press 2008
Role and influence
Australian academics have described the gallery as 'collectively responsible for the great majority of news stories about federal politics that appear in Australian Print and broadcast media'.
Many of Australia's most influential journalists, such as
Paul Bongiorno
Paul Damian Bongiorno (born 1944) is an Australian political journalist and commentator.
Personal life
Bongiorno grew up in Ballarat, Victoria, and was educated by the Christian Brothers at St Patrick's College, Ballarat, St Patrick's College ...
,
Malcolm Farr
Malcolm Farr (born 2 August 1951 ) is a political journalist in the Canberra Press Gallery covering the Parliament of Australia in Canberra, Australia.
Work
Based in Canberra, Farr is the National Political Editor for News.com.au and contributi ...
Laurie Oakes
Laurie Oakes (born 14 August 1943 in Newcastle, New South Wales) is an Australian retired journalist. He worked in the Canberra Press Gallery from 1969 to 2017, covering the Parliament of Australia and federal elections for print, radio, and t ...
Dennis Shanahan
Dennis Shanahan is a political editor of ''The Australian'', a newspaper in Australia.
Shanahan has been a journalist at major newspapers for "almost forty years".Karen Middleton,
Sharri Markson
Sharri Markson (born 1984) is an Australian journalist and author. She is investigations editor at ''The Australian'' and host of the Sky News Australia program ''Sharri'', which airs on Sunday evenings. She is the winner of numerous awards in j ...
Studios for the major TV networks are among the gallery; including the
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
Sky News
Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel and organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of Comcast. John Ryley is the hea ...
Network Ten
Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...
Herald Sun
The ''Herald Sun'' is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia, published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of the Murdoch owned News Corp. The ''Herald S ...
Inside Canberra
Inside may refer to:
* Insider, a member of any group of people of limited number and generally restricted access
Film
* ''Inside'' (1996 film), an American television film directed by Arthur Penn and starring Eric Stoltz
* ''Inside'' (2002 ...
'', as well as playing host to Fairfax radio's 2UE/3AW and to Sydney station 2GB.