Virginia Trioli
Encyclopedia
Virginia Frances Trioli is an award-winning Australian journalist and author.

Biography

Born in Bendigo, she attended Donvale High School and graduated from La Trobe University
La Trobe University
La Trobe University is a multi-campus university in Victoria, Australia. It was established in 1964 by an Act of Parliament to become the third oldest university in the state of Victoria. The main campus of La Trobe is located in the Melbourne suburb of Bundoora; two other major campuses are...

 in the 1980s, with a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 degree with a fine arts major in cinema. She worked as a publicist for a book publisher, then at the Victorian Ethnic Affairs Commission before starting at 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...

in 1990. For three years she was president of The Ages chapter of the union, the Australian Journalists Association (now 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...

).

She undertook but did not complete postgraduate studies in New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 from 1993–94 while working as a reporter for
The Age, where she worked until 1999. Trioli worked part-time for the Packer
Kerry Packer
Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer, AC was an Australian media tycoon. The son of Sir Frank Packer and Gretel Bullmore, the Packer family company owned controlling interest in both the Nine television network and leading Australian publishing company Australian Consolidated Press, which were later...

 organisation as a columnist in the magazine
The Bulletin
The Bulletin
The Bulletin was an Australian weekly magazine that was published in Sydney from 1880 until January 2008. It was influential in Australian culture and politics from about 1890 until World War I, the period when it was identified with the "Bulletin school" of Australian literature. Its influence...

. She became well-known as a radio presenter when she worked at 774 ABC Melbourne
774 ABC Melbourne
774 ABC Melbourne is an ABC Local Radio station in Melbourne, Australia. Originally known by its callsign 3LO, it began transmission on 13 October 1924 – Melbourne's second radio station after 3AR.-History:...

 in 2001 on weekday afternoons, where she shared the journalist union's Walkley Award
Walkley Awards
The annual Walkley Awards, under the administration of the Walkley Foundation for Journalism, are presented in Australia to recognise and reward excellence in journalism. Finalists are chosen by an independent board of eminent journalists and photographers. The awards cover all media including...

 with the 774 "Drive Team". In 2001 she won another Walkley Award for her interview with former defence minister
Minister for Defence (Australia)
The Minister for Defence of Australia administers his portfolio through the Australian Defence Organisation, which comprises the Department of Defence and the Australian Defence Force. Stephen Smith is the current Minister.-Ministers for Defence:...

 Peter Reith
Peter Reith
Peter Keaston Reith, , former Australian politician, was a Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party and then a senior Cabinet minister in the first two terms of the Howard Government.-Early life:...

 over the "Children Overboard Affair
Children overboard affair
The Children Overboard affair was an Australian political controversy involving public allegations by Howard government ministers in October 2001, in the lead-up to a federal election, that sea-faring asylum seekers had thrown children overboard in a presumed ploy to secure rescue and passage to...

".

In 2005, Trioli moved to Sydney to host the morning show on the radio station 702 ABC Sydney
702 ABC Sydney
702 ABC Sydney is an ABC radio station in Sydney, Australia. It is the flagship station in the ABC Local Radio network and broadcasts on 702 kHz on the AM dial....

, replacing Sally Loane. After nearly two years, she resigned from this role on 9 November 2007 to concentrate on developing her TV career. Many speculated she wanted the role of presenter of Media Watch on ABC TV. In addition to her radio commitments, she was a regular occasional commentator on ABC TV
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...

 program
Insiders and was a weekly host on Sunday Arts
Sunday Arts
Sunday Arts is a weekly program on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in Australia every Sunday. It gives a broad view of the various artists working in Australia today ranging from theatre, music, visual art, film, literature, to indigenous, cultural, and street art.It has been hosted by...

. On 5 February 2007, Trioli was announced as the Friday presenter of ABC's Lateline
Lateline
Lateline is an Australian television news and current affairs program produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, airing weeknights at on ABC1. The program has developed a reputation for head-to-head debates on current issues and political interviews. Lateline is followed by its sister...

news and current affairs program, replacing Maxine McKew
Maxine McKew
Maxine Margaret McKew , is a former Australian politician and journalist; she was the Parliamentary Secretary for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government in the Rudd Ministry and the First Gillard Ministry. Between 2007 and 2010, she was the member of the House of...

. Trioli hosts the ABC program
Q&A when its regular host, Tony Jones
Tony Jones (news journalist)
Anthony William Jones, known as Tony Jones, is a Walkley Award-winning Australian television journalist.-Early life:Jones attended Newington College and the University of Sydney as a resident of St Paul's College.-Career:...

, is on a break.

She is the author of the book
Generation F: Sex, Power and the Young Feminist published in 1996 as a riposte to Helen Garner
Helen Garner
Helen Garner is an award-winning Australian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist.-Life:Garner was born in Geelong, Victoria, the eldest of six children. She attended Manifold Heights State School, Ocean Grove State School and then The Hermitage in Geelong...

's
The First Stone
The First Stone
The First Stone: Some questions about sex and power by Helen Garner is a highly controversial non-fiction book about a 1992 sexual harassment scandal at Ormond College, one of the residential colleges of the University of Melbourne...

.

In 2008 Trioli moved back to Melbourne to commence co-hosting
ABC News Breakfast
ABC News Breakfast
ABC News Breakfast is an Australian breakfast television programme which broadcasts on ABC1 & ABC News 24 from 6am - 9am on weekdays. The program airs live in all Australian timezones on the high-definition digital free-to-air channel ABC News 24...

alongside Barrie Cassidy
Barrie Cassidy
Barrie Cassidy is a veteran Australian political journalist.Cassidy was born in Wangaratta and grew up in the Victorian town of Chiltern, attending Rutherglen High School. He had many brothers and an elder sister, and grew up with a love of football and sports...

, Joe O'Brien, Paul Kennedy and Vanessa O'Hanlon. In January 2009, ABC announced that Joe O'Brien will remain as host on Monday through to Friday replacing Barrie Cassidy. In May 2010, O'Brien left
ABC News Breakfast
ABC News Breakfast
ABC News Breakfast is an Australian breakfast television programme which broadcasts on ABC1 & ABC News 24 from 6am - 9am on weekdays. The program airs live in all Australian timezones on the high-definition digital free-to-air channel ABC News 24...

to work as a newsreader on ABC News 24
ABC News 24
ABC News 24 is an Australian 24-hour news channel launched and owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The channel replaced the former ABC High Definition simulcast of ABC1 and commenced broadcasting at 7:30pm 5:30 on Thursday, 22 July 2010.-Pre-launch:The ABC announced in January 2010...

 with Michael Rowland taking over as co-host.

On 11 November 2010, Trioli accidentally referred to herself as her co-host Michael Rowland while reading the teleprompter on ABC News 24
ABC News 24
ABC News 24 is an Australian 24-hour news channel launched and owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The channel replaced the former ABC High Definition simulcast of ABC1 and commenced broadcasting at 7:30pm 5:30 on Thursday, 22 July 2010.-Pre-launch:The ABC announced in January 2010...

.

Her husband is
The Ages Sydney correspondent Russell Skelton. She answers to the nickname "Trigger".

In September 2011, Trioli announced on Twitter that she and Skelton are expecting their first child, which is due in March 2012.

Controversies

On 19 October 2009, while hosting the ABC2
ABC2
ABC2 is a national public television channel in Australia. Launched on 7 March 2005, it is the responsibility of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's television division, and is available nationally to digital television viewers in Australia...

 breakfast news program ABC News Breakfast, live images were transmitted of Trioli making a gesture of a contorted face and a twirling finger in reference to conservative National Party
National Party of Australia
The National Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Traditionally representing graziers, farmers and rural voters generally, it began as the The Country Party, but adopted the name The National Country Party in 1975, changed to The National Party of Australia in 1982. The party is...

 Australian Senator
Australian Senate
The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...

 Barnaby Joyce
Barnaby Joyce
Barnaby Thomas Gerald Joyce , Australian politician, has been a National Party member of the Australian Senate representing the state of Queensland since July 2005...

, thereby suggesting the Senator was crazy. The gesture was criticised, and was suggested to reflect the ABC's alleged bias to left-leaning parties and causes that some conservative commentators believe influences the publicly-funded broadcaster's news and current affairs reporting. She subsequently apologised for this action.

Awards

  • 1995: Walkley Award
    Walkley Awards
    The annual Walkley Awards, under the administration of the Walkley Foundation for Journalism, are presented in Australia to recognise and reward excellence in journalism. Finalists are chosen by an independent board of eminent journalists and photographers. The awards cover all media including...

  • 1999: Melbourne Press Club
    Melbourne Press Club
    The Melbourne Press Club or commonly referred to as MPC is a not for profit association of journalists in the city of Melbourne, Australia....

    – "Best Columnist"
  • 2001: Walkley Award
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