Margo Kingston
Encyclopedia
Margo Kingston is an Australian journalist, author and commentator. She is best known for her work at The Sydney Morning Herald
and her weblog, Webdiary.
Kingston was born in Maryborough, Queensland
and was raised in Mackay
. After graduating from the University of Queensland
with a degree in arts
and law
, she qualified as a solicitor and practised in Brisbane
and later lectured in commercial law in Rockhampton
, before becoming a journalist for The Courier-Mail
. Within a year she moved to The Times on Sunday. She also worked for The Age
, The Canberra Times
and A Current Affair before moving to The Sydney Morning Herald, where she worked until August 2005.
Kingston gained prominence in 1998 when she led a sit-in
of journalists at the federal election campaign launch of the One Nation Party
in the Queensland town of Gatton
. The group was protesting the party's treatment of the media during the campaign. Her experiences during this time are recorded in her book, Off The Rails: The Pauline Hanson Trip, which won the 2000 Dobbie
award for best first book by a female writer.
In 2004, Margo wrote Not happy John, launched in Sydney by Tony Fitzgerald QC.
Kingston may be seen as part of the "larrikin/ratbag" Australian journalistic tradition which also encompasses Alan Ramsey
and Stephen Mayne
. This tradition is characterised by a willingness to break with convention, espouse controversial opinions and intervene in the events which the journalist is reporting. Kingston has been perceived by many, including her supporters, as openly left wing in her political views, however she describes her own position this way: "the irony [is] that I'm not left wing, I'm a small-l liberal. A dying breed."
Webdiary content is collected to form part of the Pandora Archive
, Australia's Web Archive established initially by the National Library of Australia
and now built in collaboration with nine other Australian libraries and cultural collecting organisations. The Pandora Archive collects and provides long-term access to selected online publications and web sites that are about Australia, are by an Australian author on a subject of social, political, cultural, religious, scientific or economic significance and relevance to Australia, or are by an Australian author of recognised authority and make a contribution to international knowledge.
Webdiary's Charter states, in part, that its mission is "to help meet the unmet demand of some Australians for conversations on our present and our future, and to spark original thought and genuine engagement with important issues which effect us all, to link thinking Australians whoever they are and wherever they live and to insist that thinking Australians outside the political and economic establishment have the capacity to contribute to the national debate".http://webdiary.com.au/cms/?q=node/2
Margo Kingston set an ethical standard for Webdiary based on the Code of Ethics of the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance
http://www.alliance.org.au/, and also an Editorial Policy. The Editorial Policy states inter alia: "If you think you've been unfairly edited, or that we've wrongly refused to publish your comments, please feel free to query our decision by posting a comment. This sometimes happens, and leads to an online discussion of the meaning and interpretation of the guidelines."http://webdiary.com.au/cms/?q=node/4&order=2&from=0&comments_per_page=5
Margo Kingston announced on 7 December 2005 that she would be leaving the site (and journalism) due to financial constraints.http://webdiary.com.au/cms/?q=node/1050 The site continued in existence without her input and is managed by Webdiary Pty Ltd, a private company established by volunteers who had helped Margo Kingston to establish and maintain the independent new site. Directors of Webdiary Pty Ltd and a group of volunteers kept the site alive after Margo Kingston had walked away from it. Margo Kingston related her view of the Webdiary story in a lecture to the South Australian Governor's Leadership Forum in February 2006.http://webdiary.com.au/cms/?q=node/1326 In June 2007, one of the four directors of Webdiary Pty Ltd resigned and the one volunteer still actively involved in comment moderation also quit for a time. Margo Kingston returned to Webdiary at that point in order to keep it alive. http://webdiary.com.au/cms/?q=node/1901#comment-62962
Many opinions featured in Webdiary made their way into Margo Kingston's 2004 book Not Happy, John
, which inspired the 'Not happy John!' campaign
, of which she was a founding member. Kingston was also a regular guest on Late Night Live
, a nightly radio programme on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
's Radio National
network.
On 3 August 2007, the publishing director of Penguin Australia, Bob Sessions, asked Margo Kingston to update Not Happy, John. The update, titled Still Not Happy, John! was published by Penguin on 1 October 2007, and it was launched at an event held at Manning Clark House on 8 October 2007.http://webdiary.com.au/cms/files/launchflyer03-1.jpg
The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald is a daily broadsheet newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the SMH is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia. The newspaper is published six days a week. The newspaper's Sunday counterpart, The...
and her weblog, Webdiary.
Kingston was born in Maryborough, Queensland
Maryborough, Queensland
Maryborough is a city located on the Mary River in South East Queensland, Australia, approximately north of the state capital, Brisbane. The city is serviced by the Bruce Highway, and has a population of approximately 22,000 . It is closely tied to its neighbour city Hervey Bay which is...
and was raised in Mackay
Mackay, Queensland
Mackay is a city on the eastern coast of Queensland, Australia, about north of Brisbane, on the Pioneer River. Mackay is nicknamed the sugar capital of Australia because its region produces more than a third of Australia's cane sugar....
. After graduating from the University of Queensland
University of Queensland
The University of Queensland, also known as UQ, is a public university located in state of Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest and largest university in Queensland and the fifth oldest in the nation...
with a degree in arts
ARts
aRts, which stands for analog Real time synthesizer, is an audio framework that is no longer under development. It is best known for previously being used in KDE to simulate an analog synthesizer....
and law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
, she qualified as a solicitor and practised in Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
and later lectured in commercial law in Rockhampton
Rockhampton, Queensland
Rockhampton is a city and local government area in Queensland, Australia. The city lies on the Fitzroy River, approximately from the river mouth, and some north of the state capital, Brisbane....
, before becoming a journalist for The Courier-Mail
The Courier-Mail
The Courier-Mail is a daily newspaper published in Brisbane, Australia. Owned by News Limited, it is published daily from Monday to Saturday in tabloid format. Its editorial offices are located at Bowen Hills, in Brisbane's inner northern suburbs, and it is printed at Murarrie, in Brisbane's...
. Within a year she moved to The Times on Sunday. She also worked for The Age
The Age
The Age is a daily broadsheet newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. Owned and published by Fairfax Media, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but is also available for purchase in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and...
, The Canberra Times
The Canberra Times
The Canberra Times newspaper was founded in 1926 in Canberra, Australia by Arthur Shakespeare.It was the second paper to be printed in the city, the first being The Federal Capital Pioneer. The paper was sold to the Fairfax group in the 1960s by Arthur Shakespeare on the condition that it continue...
and A Current Affair before moving to The Sydney Morning Herald, where she worked until August 2005.
Kingston gained prominence in 1998 when she led a sit-in
Sit-in
A sit-in or sit-down is a form of protest that involves occupying seats or sitting down on the floor of an establishment.-Process:In a sit-in, protesters remain until they are evicted, usually by force, or arrested, or until their requests have been met...
of journalists at the federal election campaign launch of the One Nation Party
One Nation Party
One Nation is a far-right and nationalist political party in Australia. It gained 22% of the vote translating to 11 of 89 seats in Queensland's unicameral legislative assembly at the 1998 state election and made major inroads into the vote of the existing parties...
in the Queensland town of Gatton
Gatton, Queensland
Gatton is a town and the administrative centre of the Lockyer Valley Local Government Area situated in the Lockyer Valley of South East Queensland, Australia. At the 2006 census, Gatton had a population of 5,295....
. The group was protesting the party's treatment of the media during the campaign. Her experiences during this time are recorded in her book, Off The Rails: The Pauline Hanson Trip, which won the 2000 Dobbie
Nita Kibble Literary Award
The Kibble Literary Awards comprise two awards which are presented annually: the Nita B Kibble Literary Award, which recognises the work of an established Australian female writer, and the Dobbie Literary Award, which is for a first published work by a female writer. The Awards recognise the works...
award for best first book by a female writer.
In 2004, Margo wrote Not happy John, launched in Sydney by Tony Fitzgerald QC.
Kingston may be seen as part of the "larrikin/ratbag" Australian journalistic tradition which also encompasses Alan Ramsey
Alan Ramsey
Alan Ramsey is an Australian columnist and former writer for The Sydney Morning Herald. He first started working in journalism in 1953, for Frank Packer who then owned Sydney's Daily Telegraph...
and Stephen Mayne
Stephen Mayne
Stephen Mayne is an Australian journalist, local government councillor and self-described shareholder activist. Mayne is also considered “serial runner”, continually running for elected office and election onto company boards, more often than not in futile attempts, or just to make political...
. This tradition is characterised by a willingness to break with convention, espouse controversial opinions and intervene in the events which the journalist is reporting. Kingston has been perceived by many, including her supporters, as openly left wing in her political views, however she describes her own position this way: "the irony [is] that I'm not left wing, I'm a small-l liberal. A dying breed."
Webdiary
Margo Kingston also wrote Webdiary, which until 22 August 2005 was on the Sydney Morning Herald website. On this site Kingston recorded opinions on current events alongside contributors from the general public. Kingston terminated her contract with John Fairfax Holdings, publishers of The Sydney Morning Herald in August 2005. A new site was set up at webdiary.com.au bearing the motto, "Independent, Ethical, Accountable and Transparent".Webdiary content is collected to form part of the Pandora Archive
Pandora Archive
PANDORA - Australia's Web Archive is the national web archive for the preservation of Australia's online publications. It was established by the National Library of Australia in 1996, and is now built in collaboration with a number of other Australian state libraries and cultural collecting...
, Australia's Web Archive established initially by the National Library of Australia
National Library of Australia
The National Library of Australia is the largest reference library of Australia, responsible under the terms of the National Library Act for "maintaining and developing a national collection of library material, including a comprehensive collection of library material relating to Australia and the...
and now built in collaboration with nine other Australian libraries and cultural collecting organisations. The Pandora Archive collects and provides long-term access to selected online publications and web sites that are about Australia, are by an Australian author on a subject of social, political, cultural, religious, scientific or economic significance and relevance to Australia, or are by an Australian author of recognised authority and make a contribution to international knowledge.
Webdiary's Charter states, in part, that its mission is "to help meet the unmet demand of some Australians for conversations on our present and our future, and to spark original thought and genuine engagement with important issues which effect us all, to link thinking Australians whoever they are and wherever they live and to insist that thinking Australians outside the political and economic establishment have the capacity to contribute to the national debate".http://webdiary.com.au/cms/?q=node/2
Margo Kingston set an ethical standard for Webdiary based on the Code of Ethics of the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance
Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance
The Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance is the Australian trade union and professional organisation which covers the media, entertainment, sports and arts industries...
http://www.alliance.org.au/, and also an Editorial Policy. The Editorial Policy states inter alia: "If you think you've been unfairly edited, or that we've wrongly refused to publish your comments, please feel free to query our decision by posting a comment. This sometimes happens, and leads to an online discussion of the meaning and interpretation of the guidelines."http://webdiary.com.au/cms/?q=node/4&order=2&from=0&comments_per_page=5
Margo Kingston announced on 7 December 2005 that she would be leaving the site (and journalism) due to financial constraints.http://webdiary.com.au/cms/?q=node/1050 The site continued in existence without her input and is managed by Webdiary Pty Ltd, a private company established by volunteers who had helped Margo Kingston to establish and maintain the independent new site. Directors of Webdiary Pty Ltd and a group of volunteers kept the site alive after Margo Kingston had walked away from it. Margo Kingston related her view of the Webdiary story in a lecture to the South Australian Governor's Leadership Forum in February 2006.http://webdiary.com.au/cms/?q=node/1326 In June 2007, one of the four directors of Webdiary Pty Ltd resigned and the one volunteer still actively involved in comment moderation also quit for a time. Margo Kingston returned to Webdiary at that point in order to keep it alive. http://webdiary.com.au/cms/?q=node/1901#comment-62962
Many opinions featured in Webdiary made their way into Margo Kingston's 2004 book Not Happy, John
Not Happy, John
Not Happy, John is a book written by Margo Kingston, an Australian journalist and political commentator. It outlines why she is not happy with the previous Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard, and his policies for Australia. Many opinions published on Margo Kingston's Webdiary made their way...
, which inspired the 'Not happy John!' campaign
'Not happy John!' campaign
The Not happy,h John!' campaign was an Australian political campaign to oppose the re-election of Prime Minister John Howard as member for Bennelong in the Australian federal election, 2004...
, of which she was a founding member. Kingston was also a regular guest on Late Night Live
Late Night Live
Late Night Live is an Australian radio program broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Radio National as well as on Radio Australia shortwave radio and podcast and streamed over the World Wide Web....
, a nightly radio programme on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
's Radio National
Radio National
ABC Radio National is an Australia-wide non-commercial radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.Radio National broadcasts national programming in areas that include news and current affairs, the arts, social issues, science, drama and comedy...
network.
On 3 August 2007, the publishing director of Penguin Australia, Bob Sessions, asked Margo Kingston to update Not Happy, John. The update, titled Still Not Happy, John! was published by Penguin on 1 October 2007, and it was launched at an event held at Manning Clark House on 8 October 2007.http://webdiary.com.au/cms/files/launchflyer03-1.jpg
Quotes
- "The fundamentalist Zionist lobby controls politics and the media in the US and Australia." - 22 July 2004 http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/07/26/1090693889416.html
- "Obviously, I did not mean what many people believed I meant. I am not anti-semitic, and I thought what I wrote was a statement of fact. Is there a language problem here?" - 26 July 2004 http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/07/26/1090693889416.html
- "If Australia as a whole says yes to returning a Liberal government, I think our democracy is dead." - 24 August 2004 http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/s1193447.htm
- "Heil Howard. If he gets away with this he really can get away with anything." - 22 February 2005 http://webdiary.smh.com.au/archives/margo_kingston/000719.html
- "Perhaps there is a case for making climate change denial an offence, it is a crime against humanity, after all." - 21 November 2005 http://webdiary.com.au/cms/?q=node/986
- "The starting point is establishing trust, and to do that, you have to live the now empty rhetoric of transparency, accountability and independence of spirit. You have to put up your ethical constraints and ideals and be prepared to be held accountable to achieve them. You have to be prepared to state clearly where you're coming from and what your underlying values are, and why. You have to prove and keep proving your commitment to open discourse. And you have to take responsibility for the content of the space and be prepared to defend or change your decisions upon complaint or query." - February 2006 http://webdiary.com.au/cms/?q=node/1326
- "Whether Webdiary lasts or not, it's been an amazing journey. I was shocked that it continued when I pulled the plug in despair, and I fervently hope that it lasts. I've met lots of amazing people from all over Australia who've contributed over the years." - June 2007 http://webdiary.com.au/cms/?q=node/1901#comment-63001
Further reading
- Kingston, Margo. Off the Rails: The Pauline Hanson Trip. Paperback, 243 pages. Published June 2004 by Allen & UnwinAllen & UnwinAllen & Unwin, formerly a major British publishing house, is now an independent book publisher and distributor based in Australia. The Australian directors have been the sole owners of the Allen & Unwin name since effecting a management buy out at the time the UK parent company, Unwin Hyman, was...
. ISBN 1-86508-159-0. - Kingston, Margo. Not Happy, JohnNot Happy, JohnNot Happy, John is a book written by Margo Kingston, an Australian journalist and political commentator. It outlines why she is not happy with the previous Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard, and his policies for Australia. Many opinions published on Margo Kingston's Webdiary made their way...
! defending Australia's democracy. Paperback, 240 pages. Published 2004 by PenguinPenguin BooksPenguin Books is a publisher founded in 1935 by Sir Allen Lane and V.K. Krishna Menon. Penguin revolutionised publishing in the 1930s through its high quality, inexpensive paperbacks, sold through Woolworths and other high street stores for sixpence. Penguin's success demonstrated that large...
. ISBN 0-14-300258-9.