{"id":630,"date":"2024-09-12T10:27:56","date_gmt":"2024-09-12T10:27:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.radioindustrynews.com.au\/?p=630"},"modified":"2024-09-12T10:27:56","modified_gmt":"2024-09-12T10:27:56","slug":"abc-journalist-and-pioneer-heather-ewart-to-retire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/radioindustrynews.com.au\/index.php\/2024\/09\/12\/abc-journalist-and-pioneer-heather-ewart-to-retire\/","title":{"rendered":"ABC journalist and pioneer Heather Ewart to retire"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Pioneering journalist Heather Ewart has announced she will retire next year after an incredible career at the ABC of almost 50 years.<\/p>\n

Starting as a cadet in 1977, Ewart went on to become one of the national public broadcaster\u2019s most accomplished presenters, most recently as host of\u00a0Back Roads<\/em>.<\/p>\n

She broke down many barriers as a woman in the industry as one of the ABC\u2019s first female foreign correspondents and one of few women reporting on federal politics in the 1980s during the Fraser and Hawke eras.<\/p>\n

As a foreign correspondent based in London, Washington DC and then Brussels, Ewart covered major international news events including the first Gulf War, the Waco siege in Texas, the election of US President Bill Clinton, tensions in the Balkans and Europe\u2019s transition to the euro in Europe.<\/p>\n

In Australia, she covered many federal election campaigns as Chief Political Correspondent for ABC radio news and current affairs, Political Editor,\u00a0National Affairs Correspondent and fill-in host for\u00a07.30<\/em>\u00a0and presenter of\u00a0World at Noon.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve had a varied and very interesting career at the ABC and am grateful for the opportunities given to me,\u201d Heather said. \u201cI fought hard for many of them, and hope this encouraged other women to have a go as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

ABC News Director, Justin Stevens said: \u201cI first worked with Heather in the early 2000s at\u00a0The 7.30 Report<\/em>. She was held in great regard in the federal political sphere and was also a superb reporter on many other issues of national interest and history.\u00a0The public have loved Heather and her work, they appreciate her authentic and passionate connection to our audience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ewart was co-executive producer and presenter on a three-part ABC TV documentary on the history of the National Party in 2014, which was the catalyst for\u00a0Back Roads<\/em>, which launched the following year. Born and raised in the country, Ewart\u2019s ambition was to create a program that helped bridge the gap between the country and the city and showcase a slice of country life that she loved as a child growing up on a farm in central Victoria.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy aim was always to amplify the voices of regional Australians and to remind viewers of what’s right on their doorsteps,\u201d Ewart said. \u201cI’m very proud of what we created and that I got to present the show for the past ten years. I see the 10th anniversary next year as a fitting milestone to move on. I wish the Back Roads team every success in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ewart\u2019s many other career highlights include winning the 2007 Gold Quill, the Melbourne Press Club\u2019s top award, for coverage of melanoma victim Claire Oliver, who later died. Claire blamed her use of solariums and Ewart\u2019s reports on\u00a07.30<\/em>\u00a0resulted in the changing of laws to ban solariums. Her other acclaimed work included her extensive coverage of Victoria\u2019s Black Saturday bushfires for 7.30 in 2009.<\/p>\n

She was on the Walkley Board and a judge of excellence in journalism for six years and authored best-selling book\u00a0The Great Aussie Road Trip<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Ewart is currently in production on a number of\u00a0Back Roads<\/em>\u00a0episodes that will screen throughout 2025. She finishes up at the ABC in March next year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pioneering journalist Heather Ewart has announced she will retire next year after an incredible career at the ABC of almost 50 years. Starting as a cadet in 1977, Ewart went on to become one of the national public broadcaster\u2019s most accomplished presenters, most recently as host of\u00a0Back Roads. She broke down many barriers as a … Continue reading “ABC journalist and pioneer Heather Ewart to retire”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-australian"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/radioindustrynews.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/radioindustrynews.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/radioindustrynews.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/radioindustrynews.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/radioindustrynews.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/radioindustrynews.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/radioindustrynews.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/radioindustrynews.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/radioindustrynews.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}