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Bill Birnbauer

Senior Lecturer, Journalism

View contact details in Monash Staff Directory

Biography

William (Bill) Birnbauer is one of Australia’s most senior journalists, with more than 30 years experience at The Age, The Sunday Age and The Herald. He joined Monash University journalism in December 2008. Birnbauer has reported on many high-profile issues and was The Age’s Chief of Staff, News Editor and Night Editor for almost six years.

He was also the paper’s Health, Science and Environment Editor, City Editor, Medical Reporter, Sydney reporter, National Affairs Correspondent, Insight investigative reporter, features writer, state political reporter, general reporter and associate editor.

Bill has made two hour-long TV documentaries. The Big Lie (SBS) tracked lung cancer victim Rolah McCabe’s battle with Big Tobacco, while Sudden Death (ABC) was a medical detective story about a rare genetic defect called malignant hyperthermia. Bill has written two books, co-edited an anthology of short stories, and has written several chapters in edited publications.

In 1996, Bill led a team that won a Walkley award for best application of journalism to the print medium, for a narrative feature on the Port Arthur massacre. He has been a Walkley finalist four times. He won a Melbourne Press Club Quill award (he has been highly commended four times in the Quills), and has won the Victoria Law Foundation award (5 times), the Human Rights Award, the UN Association’s Media Peace Award and a Dart Award.

He is a member of the invitation-only International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), a project of the Washington-based Centre for Public Integrity, and has engaged in major investigations for the consortium.

In 2001, Bill reported on a $US1.2 billion international tobacco smuggling operation into China and Taiwan which involved links between a Triad-backed distribution company and former British American Tobacco executives. The ICIJ’s report was a finalist in the US-based Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) online section.

In 2003, he was part of an ICIJ team that reported on the explosive growth of private global water utility companies which are taking control of public water works. The Water Barons won an IRE award for online journalism in 2003.

The judges said: “This series could become a coverage blueprint for years to come.”

Since 2001, Bill has reported on the shredding of sensitive internal documents by British American Tobacco, first revealed when Melbourne lung cancer victim Rolah McCabe sued the cigarette giant.

Bill’s reporting has prompted numerous government and regulator inquiries and reviews: they include investigations into the regulation of Victoria’s cosmetic laser industry; infection rates at a neo-natal intensive care unit; the reporting of adverse events at the state’s hospitals; medical board investigations into disgraced psychiatrist Dr Selwyn Leeks; the behaviour of British American Tobacco and Clayton Utz; and Labor Party funding raising.

Bill was a John S. Knight Fellow at Stanford University, California, in 1992–93. He undertook a variety of courses including management communication, power and politics in organisations, Japanese politics, the Gorbachev–Yeltsin years, and development of the short story.

He is currently doing a Masters degree by research which is examining models for non-profit investigative journalism.

Research Interests

Models for non-profit investigative reporting; philanthropic support for journalism; student investigative journalism.

Keywords

Journalism, journalist, reporter, investigative journalism, investigative journalist, media, newspapers, The Age, The Sunday Age, editors, editing, International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, non-profit journalism, aikido, document destruction, big tobacco, sources, writing, documentary, student journalism

Teaching

Bill Birnbauer teaches and coordinates investigative reporting and feature writing courses for undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Publications

Books

  • The Journalist who Laughed, co-authored with Garry Sturgess and illustrated by Vane Lindesay (Hutchinson)
  • Face Value: The Kay Nesbit Story (Penguin)

Edited Books

  • A Year of One’s Own, anthology co-edited by Birnbauer including a short story. (Stanford University Publication Services)

Book Chapters

  • ‘The power of investigative journalism and why it is needed more than ever’ in ‘Australian Journalism Today’, edited by Matthew Ricketson; published by Palgrave Macmillan, 2012
  • ‘The Big Pong Down Under’ and ‘Boil-Water Alerts in Australia’s Largest Metropolis’ in ‘The Water Barons: how a few powerful companies are privatizing your water’, edited by William Marsden for The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, published by Public Integrity Books, 2003
  • ‘At the coalface: working in an international team’ in ‘Journalism Investigation & Research’, edited by Stephen Tanner; published by Longman (Pearson Education Australia), 2002
  • ‘Sir Gustav Nossal: Scientist, Entrepreneur, Optimist’ in ‘If Atoms Could Talk: search and serendipity in Australian science’ edited by Rosaleen Love, published by Greenhouse Publications, 1987

Refereed Articles

Documentaries

  • ‘The Big Lie’, writer/producer with Terry Carlyon; SBS Television
  • ‘Sudden Death’, writer, ABC Television

Conferences

New News Conference 2011: Public Media, Public Health
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gS8Z_8CvA4

National Investigative Journalism Conference, Back to the Source 2011:  Investigating environmental issues

New News Conference 2011: Universities and Journalism

Media, Investigative Journalism & Technology Conference, December 2010, Auckland, New Zealand: Building the non-profit road: Investigative lessons and models from other places
http://www.pmc.aut.ac.nz/sites/default/files/file_bin/201101/Birnbauer_MIJT_proceedings_funding_0.pdf

New News Conference 2010: The Business Models: Dead or just resting?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3w_8mN_dnSI

Awards

Bill Birnbauer has judged a numerous journalism awards including the Melbourne Press Club’s Quill Awards (Gold Quill and Print Features) and the Walkley Awards. He was a member of a Walkley Award winning team and has also won a Quill Award, several Victoria Law Foundation Awards, the United Nations Association’s Media Peace Award and was a member of an international investigative reporting team that won an IRE (Investigative Reporters and Editors) Award for online reporting.

Professional Memberships and Editorial Positions

  • Journalism Education Association of Australia
  • Australia & New Zealand Communication Association

Community Engagement

  • Melbourne Press Club: committee member
  • Foundation for Public Interest Journalism: board member
  • New Media Australia: editorial board