Queen’s Birthday honours list: Leigh Sales’ pitch earns royal reward
Leigh Sales only wishes her father had been alive to share in her success.
Journalist and author Leigh Sales has marked becoming a Member of the Order of Australia by urging Australians to demand more from their political leaders in the aftermath of Federal Police raids on journalists.
“The best way the Australian public can honour good journalism is by telling elected MPs that they demand freedom of information, accountability from people in power and a free press,’’ Sales told The Australian.
“And journalists need to take that responsibility very seriously by being fair, balanced, accurate and accountable.’’
Sales, known for her straight-shooting interviews with politicians and other high-profile figures as host of the ABC’s flagship news and current affairs program 7.30, said she wished she could share news of her Queen’s Birthday honour with her late father. “When I told my mother, she said she wished my father were alive to see it and I wish that too,” Sales said.
Sales, who has interviewed names such as Hillary Clinton and Paul McCartney, says every story she works on influences her as a journalist. She said: “The guests who make the most impact on me are usually not the powerful or famous ones; they are usually people who’ve found themselves in the news through circumstance and are making the best of a bad situation. I like listening to people tell of their unique experiences and I like sharing those stories to a broader audience. I also like asking people in power the kind of questions I think a regular Australian might want answered.’’
Sales recently interviewed Bob Hawke’s widow Blanche d’Alpuget in her first media appearance after the former PM’s death.
Other media figures recognised in the Queen’s Birthday honours include sportscaster Ken Sutcliffe, columnist Jane Caro, presenter Carrie Bickmore, economics writer Peter Martin and journalist Louise Evans, a former sports editor and managing editor at The Australian.
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