Occupation Journalist Education University of Sydney Parents Bruce Baird, Judy Baird Nephew Luke Baird | Years active 1998–present TV shows The Drum Siblings Mike Baird | |
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Full Name Julia Woodlands Baird Relatives Bruce Baird (father), Mike Baird (brother) Similar Mike Baird, Annabel Crabb, Emma Alberici Profiles | ||
Julia Baird is an Australian political journalist, television commentator and writer from Sydney.
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Early life and education
Baird was born in Sydney, the middle child of politician Bruce Baird and his wife Judith (nee Woodlands). Her older brother, Michael was the Premier of New South Wales. The family lived in Rye, New York in the 1970s while her father was Australian Trade Commissioner. After they returned to Australia in 1980, Baird attended Ravenswood School for Girls.
Baird was awarded a Ph.D in history from the University of Sydney in 2001. Her thesis was on women in politics. In 2005, she was a fellow at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University researching the globalisation of American opinion in the lead up to the Iraq war.
Career
Baird started her journalistic career with The Sydney Morning Herald in 1998. By 2000, she was editor of the Opinion pages. She was a campaigner for women in the Sydney diocese of the Anglican church. She also worked as a religious commentator for Triple J and as a freelancer for ABC Radio. Her first book, Media Tarts: How the Australian Press Frames Female Politicians was published in 2004.
In 2006, Baird became deputy editor at Newsweek in New York City, working there until it ceased print publication in 2012. She also wrote for the Philadelphia Inquirer. She has written extensively about gender and politics, covering for example misogyny in Australian politics and transgender soldiers in the American military. More recently she has written about Donald Trump's political strategy. Baird has also written about religious topics.
In 2010, Baird signed a contract with Random House to write a biography of Queen Victoria. She returned to Australia and hosts the The Drum, a current affairs television show.
Personal life
Baird has two children. In 2015, she revealed in a New York Times column that she was recovering from surgery for ovarian cancer. In a press conference on 19 January 2017, her brother revealed that her cancer has recurred.