Monica Ann Attard OAM (born 12 December 1958) is an Australian journalist and academic.

Early life

Attard was born to Maltese parents in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, where she was educated at

Bethlehem College, Ashfield , motto_translation = Be faithful , established = , type = Independent comprehensive single-sex secondary day school , denomination = Roman Catholic , gender = Girls , oversigh ...

and

Santa Sabina College , motto_translation = Truth , established = , slogan = Shake the world , principal = Paulina Skerman , chairperson = Tony Woods , location = Strathfield, In ...

.''Who's Who in Australia'', entry on Monica Attard She attended the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts. She also holds a Bachelor of Laws from the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...

, which she attained in 2002.

Career

Attard's career in journalism began at Channel Seven, where she was a reporter from 1977 to 1981. From 1981 to 1982, she worked for 2WS Radio and at 2GB Radio from 1982 to 1983. In 1983, Attard moved to 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 ...

, where she has remained since. Attard worked on ABC Radio News from 1983 to 1985 and reporter on ABC Radio programs ''The World Today'' and ''PM'' from 1985 to 1988. She was a researcher for TV programs ''

Four Corners The Four Corners is a region of the Southwestern United States consisting of the southwestern corner of Colorado, southeastern corner of Utah, northeastern corner of Arizona, and northwestern corner of New Mexico. The Four Corners area ...

'' from 1988 to 1999 and a reporter for ''

Lateline ''Lateline'' was an Australian television news program which ran from 1990 until 2017. The program initially aired weeknights on ABC TV. In later years it was also broadcast internationally throughout Asia and the Pacific on the Australia Plu ...

'' from 1989 to 1990. Attard was Russian Correspondent for ABC Radio and TV from 1990 to 1994, and gained global visibility during the

1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt The 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, also known as the August Coup,, "August Putsch". was a failed attempt by hardliners of the Soviet Union's Communist Party to forcibly seize control of the country from Mikhail Gorbachev, who was Soviet ...

, which she covered from Moscow, where she was barricaded with forces loyal to the Russian Federation President,

Boris Yeltsin Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin ( rus, Борис Николаевич Ельцин, p=bɐˈrʲis nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtsɨn, a=Ru-Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin.ogg; 1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician wh ...

. She received three

Walkley Awards The annual Walkley Awards are presented in Australia to recognise and reward excellence in journalism. They cover all media including print, television, documentary, radio, photographic and online media. The Gold Walkley is the highest prize and ...

during this period, including the

Gold Walkley The Gold Walkley is the major award of the Walkley Awards The annual Walkley Awards are presented in Australia to recognise and reward excellence in journalism. They cover all media including print, television, documentary, radio, photographic ...

in 1991. Attard published a book entitled ''Russia: Which Way Paradise?'' in 1997, which documented some of her experiences and interactions with Russians during a period of rapid change. Attard returned to ''The World Today'' from 1997 to 1999 and to ''PM'' from 1994 to 1997. During 2001–03 and 2005–06, Attard was the national presenter on ''Sunday Profile'' on

ABC Local Radio ABC Local Radio is a network of publicly owned radio stations in Australia, operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. ABC Local Radio stations broadcast across the continent using terrestrial transmitters and satellites. Its programm ...

. In the same year, she received the 2002

Walkley Award for Broadcast Interviewing The Walkley Award for Broadcast Interviewing was first presented in 1997, as one of the Walkley Awards. At some point it became the Walkley Award for Broadcast Presenting, until 2001. In 2009 the award category became Walkley Award for Broadcast ...

, and graduated with a law degree from the

. On 1 December 2005, Attard received the 2005 Walkley Award for Broadcast Interviewing. This was given for a series of interviews entitled ''On The Brink'', which aimed to examine the lives of several prominent people who had been experiencing some kind of upheaval in their lives. She interviewed

NSW ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

magistrate

Pat O'Shane Patricia June O'Shane (born 19 June 1941) is a retired Australian teacher, barrister, public servant, jurist, and Aboriginal activist. She was Australia's first Aboriginal magistrate, serving the Local Court in Sydney, New South Wales, Austr ...

, former

HIH Insurance HIH Insurance was Australia's second-largest insurance company before it was placed into provisional liquidation on 15 March 2001. The demise of HIH is considered to be the largest corporate collapse in Australia's history, with liquidators est ...

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

Rodney Adler Rodney Stephen Adler (born 19 August 1959) is an Australian whose family founded the FAI Insurances group, of which he became chief executive in 1989, and which was at one stage Australia's third largest general insurer. Adler became a director of ...

and Douglas Wood, a former hostage in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

. Her interview with Rodney Adler was a scoop and she received particular praise from the Walkley judges. On 6 December 2005, Attard was announced as the new host of the

TV program '' Media Watch'' for 2006. She hosted ''Media Watch'' for two years, until announcing her retirement at the end of the 2007 series, citing the "extremely taxing" nature of making the program as well as radio presenting commitments. Attard also worked as a lawyer for Coudert Bros in Moscow from 2003 to 2004. She was the founding editor of ''

The Global Mail ''The Global Mail'' was a not-for-profit multimedia site for longform and project-based journalism in the public interest operating from 2012 to 2014. Based in Sydney, Australia, the site launched in February 2012 with philanthropic funding f ...

'' for a few months in early 2012. In June 2016 Attard was appointed head of journalism at

Macleay College Established in 1988, Macleay College is an Australian accredited higher education provider located in Chippendale, New South Wales. It offers two-year Bachelor degrees in advertising and media, digital media, journalism and business; and one-ye ...

and took up the position in September that year. Her appointment as professor and Head of Journalism at the

University of Technology Sydney The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is a public research university located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Although its origins are said to trace back to the 1830s, the university was founded in its current form in 1988. As of 2021 ...

faculty of Arts and Social Sciences was announced in February 2018. She will replace Peter Fray in July 2018. In 2019, Attard was a judge for the

2019 Voyager Media Awards The 2019 Voyager Media Awards (previously the Canon Media Awards) were held at the Cordis, Auckland on 17 May 2019. Awards were made in the categories of digital, feature writing, general, magazines, health journalism, scholarships, newspapers ...

in New Zealand.

Personal life

While working in Moscow, Attard met Russian-born Gregory ("Grisha") Klumov, whom she married in 1993. Klumov was later appointed Australia's Senior Trade Representative to Moscow in 2003. They have one son, Sasha.

Awards and honours

*Gold Walkley Award for Excellence in Journalism 1991 *Walkley Awards both for Best International Report (all Media) and Best Coverage of a Current Story (Radio) 1991 *

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

(OAM) in 1992 for services to the community as a radio correspondent while working in Russia.Monica Attard OAM
''It's an Honour'', 12 December 2006. *Walkley Award for Bcast Interviewing for 'Kernot, Beazley and The Bishop' 2002 *Walkley Award for Bcast Interviewing for 'on the Brink' 2005

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Attard, Monica 1958 births Living people ABC radio (Australia) journalists and presenters Australian television journalists Journalists from Sydney Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia University of New South Wales Law School alumni University of Sydney alumni Walkley Award winners Australian people of Maltese descent