Books

The Content Makers - Understanding the Future of the Australian Media, Penguin, September 2007.
Reviewed by Mark Day here and by John Button here

Faith, Money and Power - What the Religious Revival Means for Politics, Pluto, September 2007.

Latham’s World
Australian Quarterly Essay No. 15 (Black Inc. 2004)
Reviewed by Neal Blewett here

Resurrection In a Bucket – The Rich and Fertile Story of Compost (Allen & Unwin 2004)
Reviewed in The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald

The Meeting of the Waters (Hodder Headline Australia 2003)
Winner of the Queensland Premier’s Award for non-fiction 2003
Shortlisted New South Wales Premier’s Literary Award 2004
Shortlisted Adelaide Writers Festival Award 2004
Shortlisted Westfield-Waverley Library Award 2004

Fit to Print (UNSW Press 1999)
Short listed for the New South Premier’s Literary Award 2000

Wheelbarrows, Chooks and Children

(New Holland Press 1999)

The Truth Teller

(Reed Books 1996) [Fiction]

The Ruthless Garden

(Reed Books 1993) [Fiction]
Winner of the Angus and Robertson Bookworld Prize 1993
Shortlisted for the Vogel Award 1992

Using public records

published in Journalism, Investigation and Research
edited by Stephen Tanner
published by Pearson Education, 2002

Selected Articles

Crikey
Media commentary on a regular basis.

Creative Economy Online
Monthly commentary on new media.

Buried in the Labyrinth

A story of danger and frustration at the hands of bureacracy
Published in Griffith Review Winter 2007.
Extract published in The Age 19 May 2007.

Finalist in the 2007 Walkley Awards/ for journalism (magazine feature writing category). The War on Democracy - Conservative Opinion in the Australian Press
Review of book by Niall Lucy and Steve Mickler
Published in the Sydney Morning Herald, 8 December 2006

Beyond the Comfort Zone

An exploration of the public-private schooling debate
Published in Griffith Review Autumn 2006.
Extract published in The Age 4 February 2006

Fitting the Bill

A profile of Australian Workers Union National Secretary Bill Shorten
Published in The Age 12 November 2005 (available through The Age archive)

Media column

Published monthly March-December 2005 in The Age Media and Creative section on Mondays. (available through The Age archive)

The Nation Reviewed

Comments on the inaugural broadcast conference of the Australian Communications and Media Authority, The ACMA Broadcast Conference 2005
Published in The Monthly, Issue 8, December 2005-January 2006

Fear and Loathing at the ABC

Published in The Monthly, Issue 1, May 2005.
Republished in Do Not Disturb – Is the Media Failing Australia?
Edited by Robert Manne
Published by Black Inc. 2005. (Details and Reviews)

Ties that bind
Published in Griffith Review 8, Winter 2005.
Reviewed in artlook #11 May 2005 by Glenda Guest.
Anthologised in Best Australian Essays 2005
Edited by Robert Dessaix
Published by Black Inc. 2005

Crikey Sells Out
In The Age 5 February 2005

Life without Reputation
Published in Griffith Review 5, Spring 2004

Habits of Disdain: Myth, Evidence and Culture Warrior

The Overland Lecture, published in Overland 172, Spring 2003
In the Name of the Father
A profile of Philip Ruddock In The Age 22 November 2003


Review of Speaking for Myself Again, Four Years with Labor and Beyond by Cheryl Kernot
In The Sydney Morning Herald 3 August 2002

Anthologies & Periodicals

Beyond the Comfort Zone

Best Australian Essays 2006, edited by Drusilla Modjeska, published by Black Inc. 2005.

Ties that Bind

Best Australian Essays 2005, edited by Robert Dessaix, published by Black Inc. 2005.

Inside the ABC

Published in Do Not Disturb – Is the Media Failing Australia? Edited by Robert Manne published by Black Inc. 2005. (Details and Reviews)

Helen Garner: The woman with the Hammer in the kitchen drawer

Published in The Best Australian Essays 2001, edited by Peter Craven, published by Black Inc. 2001

The night of the fruit pickers in Australian Summer Stories 2

Published in Out West edited by John Dale
Published by Harper Collins, 1996
Re-Printed in Australian Summer Stories 2
Published by Penguin, 2000

The Press Gang

Published in The Best Australian Essays, edited by Peter Craven, published by Bookman Press, 1998

Why Clare is not a yahoo

Published in Mother Love 2, edited by Debra Adelaide, published by Random House, 1997

Speeches

The Press Gallery: Insular, Intrusive or Indispensable Forum at The Sydney Institute with Stephen Matchett and Matt Price, 1 February 2006. Published in The SydneyPapers.

Mark Latham in Conversation with Margaret Simons Given at Gleebooks on 14 December 2005

The Hindmarsh Island Affair

Given at The Sydney Institute 30 July 2003. Published in The Sydney Papers vol 15 nbr 2, Autumn 2003

Facts, Projection, Politics and the Objective Journalist

Given at The Sydney Institute 2000. Published in The Sydney Papers vol 12 nbr 3, Winter 2000

Media Appearances – Radio

Margaret Simons and Kathy Reichs
ABC Melbourne, The Conversation Hour with Jon Faine 26 September 2007.


IOC Set to Approve Athlete Blogs
ABC Radio National, PM, 4 September 2007.


A Sex Offender in the Neighbourhood - A Right to Know?
ABC Radio National, Life Matters, 5 June 2007.

Canberra Babylon
ABC Radio National, Late Night Live 12 March 2007.

The Great Media Stocktake
ABC Radio National, The Media Report with Antony Funnell 14 December 2006.

Is the Media Failing Australia? ABC Radio National, The Media Report with Richard Aedy, 11 August 2005

Literary Journalism ABC Radio National, The Media Report with Jackie May, 23 June 2005

Margaret Simons: the ties that bind ABC Radio National the deep end with Vicki Kerrigan, 18 May 2005

Your ABC ABC Radio National Counterpoint with Michael Duffy, 16 May 2005

The life and times of Sir Joh Bjelke Petersen ABC Radio National Late Night Live with Phillip Adams, 20 April 2005

Patriotism and the Australian Way of Life ABC Radio National Radio Eye series “War and Peace: Program One”, 23 April 2005

Gallery Groupthink? ABC Radio National The Media Report with Richard Aedy, 3 February 2005

The Best Australian Journalism ABC Radio National The Media Report with Mick O’Regan, 16 December 2004 (Originally given at the RMIT Public Forum)

Secret Women’s Business ABC Radio National The National Interest with Terry Lane, 11 May 2003

Have/Have Nots: Composters V The ‘Never Compost’ Set ABC Radio National Life Matters with Julie McCrossin, 3 June 2004

Marketing Mark Latham ABC Radio National The Media Report with Mick O’Regan, 4 December 2003

The Hindmarsh Island Affair ABC Radio National Late Night Live with Phillip Adams, 29 July 2003

Journalism and Objectivity ABC Radio National Perspective, 3 July 2003

Hindmarsh Island Affair Revisited ABC Radio National PM with Mark Colvin, 12 May 2003

Name Calling ABC Radio National Perspective, 12 April 2002

Lies and Power ABC Radio National Perspective, 5 March 2002

Spin-Doctoring ABC Radio National The Media Report with Robert Bolton, 24 September 1998