Emma Alberici

Emma Alberici (born 1970) is an Australian journalist and former foreign correspondent who was the chief economics correspondent for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

Emma Alberici
Born1970 (age 50–51)
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
NationalityAustralian
Education
OccupationJournalist
Known forLateline

Alberici was until 2017 the presenter of the ABC's flagship current affairs program, Lateline. She has been a foreign correspondent for the ABC. She previously worked as a reporter for the ABC's The 7.30 Report and Lateline, and was also a reporter and producer with A Current Affair on Australia's Nine Network.

Early life and background

Emma Alberici was born to Franco and Anna Alberici.[1] Her parents are Italian immigrants who arrived in Australia by passenger liner in 1955.[1] The family settled in Melbourne, where Alberici attended Our Lady of Mercy College in Heidelberg, Victoria.

Education

Alberici graduated with a bachelor's degree in journalism and economics from Deakin University and a bachelor's degree in Italian from the University of Melbourne.[2][3]

Career

Alberici's journalistic career began as cadet with the Melbourne newspaper Herald Sun. She was a reporter on The Small Business Show at the Nine Network.[4]

Alberici has three times been a finalist in the Walkley Awards for journalism. All three were for investigative reports, the first being her report on the death of a patron at Star City Casino in 1998. It was Alberici's reports surrounding that event, including exclusive interviews with witnesses, family and friends, that prompted a police integrity commission inquiry.[3] She was part of a team at Lateline that in 2012 helped inspire the Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse.

She authored three editions of The Small Business Book.[4]

Lateline

Alberici began hosting the ABC's flagship current affairs program Lateline in 2012, when she replaced Ali Moore. She co-hosted alongside Tony Jones. The program was labelled as being, "an unmissable current affairs program that almost certainly creates more headlines in the next day's newspapers than any other TV show in the country."[5] Following criticism of her interview style, she said accusations of bias were "nonsense", and that "People are far quicker to attack a woman in public than they would a man."[6]

In October 2017, ABC announced that after 28 years Lateline would be cut as the broadcaster launches new investigative and specialist journalism teams.

Alberici then became the ABC's chief economics correspondent.[7]

Controversy and dismissal

On 14 February 2018, Alberici wrote a news story for the ABC website stating evidence that only 1 in 5 large companies pay Australian tax,[8] and an analysis piece critical of the (then Liberal) government's proposed company tax cuts.[9] Later that day in parliament, Prime Minister at the time, Malcolm Turnbull, referred to the news story as "one of the most confused and poorly researched articles I've seen on this topic"[10]

The ABC later took down both the news story and analysis, claiming they did not meet editorial standards. Alberici brought in a lawyer to negotiate with ABC management, and both pieces were edited and republished about a week later.[11]

Other media outlets speculated Turnbull had put pressure on the ABC to withdraw the story,[12] and claimed the ABC was being unfairly targeted by the government since other economic commentators had also questioned the merits of company tax cuts.[13][14] A letter from Alberici's lawyer to the ABC Managing Director was later leaked to other media outlets. It claimed the head of ABC news had told Emma "that she is the cause of the ‘prime minister ringing him’ with complaints".[15]

In April 2018, in response to the Australian Senate, the ABC claimed it had found a number of errors or misleading statements in Alberici's story, and that her analysis piece lacked impartiality.[16]

Former ABC journalists have accused the ABC of "buckling to government pressure".[17]

Following this episode, Alberici did not write much more on economics, and instead made several TV programs for the ABC's Foreign Correspondent.

She was made redundant by the ABC in 2020. After taking a complaint to the Fair Work Ombudsman, she reached a settlement with the ABC.[18]

Post-ABC career

After leaving the ABC in 2020, Alberici took on the role of chief strategy, government relations and communications officer for financial comparison website Compare the Market. She is currently writing a memoir titled Rewrite the Story for Hardie Grant Books.

Personal life

Alberici was married to Jason McCauley, a sound recordist on 60 Minutes.[1] They separated in 2017.[19] She has three children and resides in Sydney.[1] Alberici has also lived in London, England, where she was based as the ABC's Europe correspondent.[1]

References
  1. "Lifestyle Interview: Emma Alberici". The Weekly Review Bayside. 9 March 2014. Archived from the original on 4 May 2014. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  2. Western Sydney Business Connect WSBC's Major Business Leader Luncheon 2017 State of the Region Address. 30 August 2017
  3. Profile, celebrityspeakers.com.au
  4. "Emma Alberici Joins New ABC Business Program" Archived 25 July 2010 at the Wayback Machine, news release, 24 March 2002, retrieved 23 January 2010
  5. "Best News/Current Affairs TV Program of the Year". Crikey. Archived from the original on 30 July 2012. Retrieved 30 November 2007.
  6. Matthew Knott (18 May 2015). "Female interviewers attacked for just being tough: ABC's Emma Alberici". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
  7. Broede Carmody; Adam Gartrell (5 October 2017). "Lateline, The Link to be axed in ABC overhaul". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
  8. "Why many big companies don't pay corporate tax". ABC News. 14 February 2018. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  9. "There's more to jobs and growth than a corporate tax cut". ABC News. 22 February 2018. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  10. Questions without notice: Taxation, Canberra (14 February 2018). "Parliamentary Hansard". www.aph.gov.au. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  11. "Corporate Tax". www.abc.net.au. 16 February 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  12. "ABC removes corporate tax cut analysis after complaints from Malcolm Turnbull". the Guardian. 16 February 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  13. "Emma Alberici, an ABC economics journalist damned for doing her job". Daily Review: Film, stage and music reviews, interviews and more. 19 February 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  14. "Turnbull's attack on Emma Alberici's tax-cut analysis doesn't add up | Greg Jericho". the Guardian. 17 February 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  15. Lallo, Michael (21 August 2020). "'Distressed' ABC presenter Emma Alberici quits TV over censorship claims". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  16. Carmody, Broede (10 April 2018). "Emma Alberici's controversial tax story contained nine errors". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
  17. "Ex-ABC Heavyweights Weigh In Over Claims Emma Alberici Was Censored". New Matilda. 20 February 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  18. Angelica Snowden (21 August 2020). "Emma Alberici calls Malcolm Turnbull a bully as she confirms ABC exit". The Australian. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  19. "Marriage anguish had clues on twitter". The Daily Telegraph. Sydney. 7 April 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2017.
Media offices
Preceded by
Ali Moore		 Lateline
Presenter (Monday, Tuesday & Friday)
2012–2017		 Succeeded by
Discontinued
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