Our Journalists
Blake Antrobus is a Court Reporter and an Assistant Chief of Staff at NewsWire, based in Brisbane, Queensland. Since joining the NewsWire team in 2020 he has covered some of the state’s biggest cases and has a decade of experience covering court, crime, politics and general news for a variety of media outlets across the country.
Jane Armitstead is the Deputy Editor of U on Sunday magazine.
Peter Badel is a six-time award winning journalist who began as a sports reporter in 1998. A best-selling author, ‘Bomber’ has covered five Australian cricket tours and has specialised in rugby league for more than two decades.
Adella Beaini is a journalist with NewsCorp’s National News Network. She previously worked with The Daily Telegraph. Her most recent work was on the Save Our Heroes campaign, which resulted in Prime Minister Scott Morrison announcing a Royal Commission into veteran suicides.
Mitch Bourke is a sports reporter covering Melbourne’s south-east after stints at the Mackay Daily Mercury and Gold Coast Bulletin.
Paul Brescia is a senior reporter for The Courier Mail. Previously, he was editor of the Daily Mercury in Mackay, news director for the Townsville Bulletin, and a reporter covering southwest Sydney for the Daily Telegraph.
Shayla Bulloch is a crime and police reporter at The Courier-Mail in Brisbane. She has previously worked as a journalist across regional Queensland, including in Rockhampton, Sunshine Coast and Townsville. Shayla’s work was also recognised by a Queensland Clarion Award in 2022.
Melanie Burgess is a data journalist and News Corp Australia’s data journalism editor. She and her team find stories in numbers and tell stories with charts. She is based in Brisbane but contributes to state, regional and local mastheads nationally.
Comedian Mel Buttle’s Courier-Mail columns offer a quirky, funny and interesting take on all parts of life in Queensland.
Letea Cavander is a reporter for the Sunshine Coast Daily, with a focus on court and council stories in the Noosa region.
Thomas Chamberlin is the chief crime reporter at The Courier-Mail and The Sunday Mail. The award-winning journalist has covered crime and police in Queensland for more than a decade.
Rosalee Chapman is a cadet journalist working at both the Cairns Post and the Courier Mail. She has a strong interest in covering stories in her local community.
Adam Chenery spent 25 years as a live sport and documentary TV Producer before electing to pursue an exciting new career path in Journalism. Adam has a passion for the Sunshine Coast and a love of writing about real people and real lives.
Georgia is Queensland’s go-to journalist for entertainment news and industry insights, covering film, TV, music, fashion, and everything in between. Currently writing for the Courier-Mail and the Sunday Mail, Georgia’s career includes a stint at The Cairns Post and The Australian, as part of News Corp Australia’s national cadetship program.
Ayla Connolly is a reporter for The Queensland Times in Ipswich. Originally from the Bundaberg Region, she has recently graduated from the University of Canberra with a Bachelor of Communications and Media, majoring in journalism.
Tayla Couacaud is a crime reporter for The Courier-Mail. She was previously a general reporter for The Courier Mail and was part of the cadet program in 2023.
Rhys Cox is a reporter for the Mackay Daily Mercury. He has previously worked at the Courier Mail in Brisbane.
Robert ‘Crash’ Craddock is regarded as one of Queensland’s best authorities on sport. ‘Crash’ is a senior sport journalist and columnist for The Courier-Mail and CODE Sports, and can be seen on Fox Cricket.
Nicole Cridland is a casual news producer with the National News Network. She has previously worked at The Daily Telegraph as an online producer and reporter for a range of News Corp titles.
Marcus de Blonk Smith is a journalist based in the Brisbane bureau of The Australian, where he covers breaking news, crime, politics and business. Prior to joining The Australian in 2025, he was a cadet reporter at News Corp. He holds a Bachelor of Communication from the Queensland University of Technology.
Beginning his career as an AFL football writer in 1995, Grant Edwards completed a journalism cadetship with the Barossa and Light Herald, as well as the Murray Valley Standard in South Australia. Following a stint as Armidale Express sports editor, he returned to an editorship at the Barossa and Light Herald in 2001. Moving to Queensland in 2004, Grant joined the Sunshine Coast Daily which led to various writing and production roles. Appointed News Corp Regional Motoring Editor in 2013, his work has been published across regional Queensland and NSW, as well as metropolitan titles. He also launched a digital-only publication in 2014 called Multisport Mecca, dedicated to triathlon and multisport activities across the Sunshine Coast.
Senior court and crime journalist Janessa Ekert has worked as a journalist for 13 years. After completing a double degree at James Cook University in Townsville – studying journalism and arts, majoring in French, history and English – Janessa cut her teeth as a corporate lifestyle magazine journalist before making the jump to daily news. She has been a newspaper journalist for 10 years. In that time Janessa has covered sport, business, council, politics, entertainment and community news stories. Janesssa now specialises in court and crime reporting, which has been a focus for the past eight years. In 2020, a road safety campaign and a crime feature earned Janessa two finalist nominations in the Clarions, the Queensland State Media Awards. Janessa has worked as a senior journalist for the Daily Mercury and Cairns Post covering regional news for the bulk of her career.
Jeni Faulkner is the State News Director for hyperlocal and regional digital news in Queensland. She has 20 years experience working as a journalist, chief-of-staff and editor across community and regional titles.
Taylah Fellows started as a general reporter for The Courier-Mail almost four years ago and is now a member of the state political team.
Darcy Fitzgerald is the national education reporter for News Corp Australia publications. A former secondary school teacher, he brings classroom experience to stories spanning childcare, schooling, and higher education. Got an education story worth telling? Reach him at darcy.fitzgerald@news.com.au
Annabel Fleming is a data journalist, crunching numbers to tell stories across a wide range of topics. She is based in Brisbane but writes for state mastheads nationally.
Sophie Foster has been a News Corp journalist for two decades in Australia and Fiji, specialising in real estate, finance, business and crisis journalism.
Tanya French is the Audience growth editor of The Courier-Mail and Sunday Mail. The award-winning journalist has covered crime, court, tourism, politics, sport and general news over her career and now has a focus on digital journalism.
Mark Furler has been a journalist based on the Sunshine Coast for more than 35 years. He has overseen more than 30 websites and won numerous awards for excellence in digital journalism. Formerly editor in chief of the Sunshine Coast Daily, he was involved in three PANPA Newspaper of the Year wins.
Long-serving Queensland newsreader Sharyn Ghidella joined The Courier-Mail team as a columnist, offering insights into every part of life in the state.
Queensland media personality Kendall Gilding joined The Courier-Mail team as a columnist, offering insights into every part of life in the state.
Aaron Goodwin is a reporter for the Quest branch of the Courier Mail, covering court and other local news in the Moreton Bay region. Aaron has previously worked in reporting roles across regional and rural Queensland.
Zilla Gordon is a reporter covering a wide range of issues from Warwick in southeast Queensland. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Visual Arts) and a Master of Business (Public Relations) from Queensland University of Technology. After graduating, Zilla worked in Hobart before returning to her home state.
Lynton Grace is the community news editor with The Advertiser, after a long stint as a senior homepage editor.
Samantha Healy has been a News Corp journalist for nearly 14 years, having covered everything from crime and court to natural disasters and the downright bizarre. Her roles have included North QLD Correspondent, Townsville Bulletin Digital Editor and QLD Real Estate Editor.
Chris Herde is the editor of The Courier-Mail’s commercial property Primesite and is part of The Australian Business Network covering a range of stories.
Matty Holdsworth is a Deputy Digital Editor for The Courier-Mail. He has been a journalist with Queensland newspapers and mastheads for the past seven years including stints in Central Queensland, the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane. He has a focus on education, crime, business, health and sport.
Kaitlyn Hudson-O’Farrell is an experienced general news reporter, specialising in features, lifestyle, social affairs and entertainment. A former chief of staff, she has also previously covered live breaking news including courts, crime and politics, and had a stint on Telegraph’s digital team.
Joseph Humphreys is a Brisbane-based cadet journalist for News Corp Australia. He has previously worked in breaking news for the Courier-Mail.
Rose Innes is the Education Reporter for The Courier Mail. Her passion for the industry stems from her core belief that everyone has a story to tell and deserves to be heard. She has experience reporting across a range of areas including health, crime, politics, court and breaking and general news.
Hayden Johnson is State Political editor for The Courier-Mail. He previously worked at The Australian, in Tasmania and regional Queensland.
Iwan Jones is a reporter for The Courier-Mail. After completing his studies at the Queensland University of Technology, Jones worked at newspapers in Toowoomba and Warwick, before transitioning into radio in 2021. Jones joined News Corp Australia with the Sunshine Coast Daily newsroom in 2023. He joined The Courier-Mail newsroom in early 2024.
Judith Kerr is a digital reporter and editor with News Corp’s Quest and files stories and videos for The Courier-Mail. Judith has been a reporter in London, Bangkok and Hong Kong, working as a business reporter. Since returning to Australia, she has been business editor at The Townsville Bulletin; a features sub-editor at The Courier-Mail and a sub-editor for The Age and Herald Sun in Melbourne. She has also worked for local community newspapers.
Madonna King joined The Courier-Mail team as a columnist, offering insights into every part of life in the state.
Original URL: https://www.couriermail.com.au/journalists