1. Paul James Barry was born on 24 February 1952 and is an English-born, Australia-based journalist, newsreader and television presenter, who has won many awards for his investigative reporting.
24 Facts About Paul Barry
1. 2.
Paul Barry previously worked for the BBC on numerous programs, before emigrating to Australia.
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Paul Barry studied philosophy, politics and economics at the University of Oxford.
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Paul Barry started his journalistic career in London as an economics correspondent for the weekly magazine Investors Chronicle.
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In 1986, Paul Barry moved to Australia and started work with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
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From 1987 to 1994, Paul Barry worked as an investigative reporter for the ABC's flagship current affairs program Four Corners specialising in economic matters, government departmental failures and corporate governance.
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Paul Barry wrote a report called Blue Death on the Wittenoom industrial disaster.
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In 1995, Paul Barry joined the Seven Network to present short-lived news program The Times.
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Paul Barry was the presenter of the current affairs program Witness in 1997.
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Paul Barry returned to the ABC to host the Media Watch program in 2000.
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Paul Barry was effectively fired from this show by ABC managing director Jonathan Shier after a controversial interview with ABC chairman Donald McDonald on the subject of government funding for the ABC.
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However, in August 2010, Paul Barry acted as the temporary host of Media Watch for three months while Jonathan Holmes took long-service leave.
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On 3 July 2013, Paul Barry returned as the host of Media Watch following the Jonathan Holmes's decision to leave the show.
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On 6 August 2021, Paul Barry was injured when he was hit by a car while bicycling to work, causing him to take some time off Media Watch to recover from his injuries.
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Paul Barry subsequently returned to hosting the program on 30 August 2021.
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Paul Barry presented his last Media Watch episode on 2 December 2024.
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In 1991, Paul Barry wrote the book The Rise and Fall of Alan Bond.
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Paul Barry has served as a Walkley Award judge and on a past Walkley advisory board.
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Paul Barry wrote a book Rich Kids, documenting the collapse of One.
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In 2006, Paul Barry released a biography on Australian cricketer Shane Warne, called Spun Out.
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Paul Barry has been a contributor to Crikey, an online magazine published by Private Media, in which he has a minority share.
22.
In 2014, Paul Barry told Media Watch he had voted for Liberal Malcolm Turnbull as his local MP in the 2013 election.
23.
When Turnbull resigned as Prime Minister ahead of a leadership ballot in 2018, Paul Barry's op-ed on Media Watch called the Liberal challenge to his leadership "madness".
24.
Paul Barry endorsed the analysis of Fairfax Media's Peter Hartcher that Turnbull's challenger Peter Dutton was "poison" and Kevin Rudd's analysis that News Corp is a "cancer on Australian democracy".