Legendary news reporter and journalist Liz Hayes is joining Channel 7.
The network has confirmed Liz will work on the current affairs program 7NEWS Spotlight as a “guest reporter,”. Furthermore, it confirmed that she will make her debut in the coming weeks with a sit-down interview with Jock Zonfrillo’s widow, Lauren.
The interview will mark the first time Lauren has spoken publicly since the death of her husband.
“Widely respected for her decades of experience, storytelling expertise and journalistic integrity, we look forward to collaborating with Liz on this special project,” Gemma Williams, executive producer of 7NEWS Spotlight, said in a statement.
However, in February this year, Liz departed Nine after 44 years with the television network.
She joined Nine in 1981 as a fresh-faced 25-year-old, ready to take on the news world. She was one of two women on the news team.
Liz began as a reporter, graduated to presenting the morning bulletin, and in 1986 became co-host of the Today Show. Liz remained there for a decade. It was this show that made her a household name.
After her tenure at Today, she joined 60 Minutes as a correspondent. Furthermore, it was there that she was able to show her talents as a passionate interviewer.
For the next fifteen years, she covered everything from natural disasters to US presidential elections. She interviewed prime ministers, music legends like Olivia Newton-John and Paul McCartney, athletes like Roger Federer, and influential actors. For instance, actors like George Clooney, whom she described as”totally charming” in an interview we did with her in 2021.
In 2021, Liz got her own show, Under Investigation with Liz Hayes. In this show, Liz and her team of investigative journalists aimed to uncover new evidence and shed new light on unsolved crimes. It won the 2024 Media Diversity Australia Award.
Throughout her career, Liz told heartwrenching and important stories in all corners of the world. She shared stories of heart transplant patients in her award-winning documentary The Greatest Gift. And fronted a television special on the Lindt Cafe siege in 2014, in Sydney. And she even exposed the human horror of the Syrian refugee crisis.
She’s reported from Sydney to Turkey, also Iran to the Arctic Circle and everywhere in between.
Liz graced the cover of our February 2021 issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly. She delved into the impact she’s had on the industry as a trailblazer for women.
“I never thought I would still be a woman in television at my age. It’s a fickle business and when I started it was a novelty to have a woman,” Liz admits. “I always used to think by the time I’m 40 I’ll be out of a job, and then maybe I’ll make it to 50 and then if I’m still here at 60 that’s extraordinary and I made that. So I’m tootling along, wondering.”
You can read our full interview with Liz Hayes here.
According to a statement that was released by the network, Liz was supposed to remain “part of the Nine family,” but that’s obviously no longer the case… Stay tuned.
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