Joe Hildebrand

Joe Hildebrand (born 23 June 1976) is an Australian journalist and television personality^[1] based in Sydney, Australia.

Hildebrand writes for The Daily Telegraph newspaper, and hosts the daytime television program Studio 10 with Network Ten.

Early life and education

Hildebrand grew up in Dandenong, Victoria, outside of Melbourne. He attended Dandenong Primary School, Dandenong High School and the University of Melbourne, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in History and English, and edited the student newspaper Farrago. In 2000, he moved to Sydney where he started work as a cadet journalist with Australian Associated Press.

Prior to joining The Daily Telegraph, Hildebrand worked as the New South Wales political correspondent for Australian Associated Press, and also worked in London for the Press Association.

Career

Hildebrand was co-awarded a "high commendation" at the 2004 Walkley Awards.^[2]

Articles by Hildebrand often contain elements of humour in order to incite comments from readers and contributors. Hildebrand appeared on the ABC's national talk program, Q&A, on 30 May 2011, 12 September 2011 and 10 August 2015.^[3] He has also made several appearances on the ABC's national current affairs program, The Drum, since December 2010.^[4] He has had a weekly spot on Channel Seven's The Morning Show as well as Sky News Australia talk program Paul Murray Live.

Hildebrand was the host of television series Dumb, Drunk and Racist, which debuted on ABC2 on Wednesday 20 June 2012.^[5] The fourth highest rating Australian program in the history of ABC2 , Dumb, Drunk and Racist followed Hildebrand and four Indian travellers around Australia to test whether the popular Indian perception of Australians as stupid, intoxicated bigots was correct. Early figures for the first episode had average audience numbers in the five capital cities alone at 266,000, with a peak of just under 320,000.^[5] He went on to host Shitsville Express which aired 2 July 2013 on ABC2. He took four budding pollies on a road trip around Australia to see if they can tackle the big issues.

In November 2013, Hildebrand joined Network Ten's new morning show Studio 10 as a panellist alongside Ita Buttrose, Jessica Rowe and Sarah Harris.

From January to December 2014, Hildebrand was the co-host of a national drive time radio program with Matt Tilley on Triple M.^[6]

Personal life

Hildebrand was born in Melbourne and he moved to Sydney in 2000.^[7]

Hildebrand is married to fellow journalist Tara Ravens with one child, Henry.^[8]

He dislikes Canberra, the national capital city, even though he has professional reasons to visit it, and has had significant personal ties to the city.^[9]

Controversy

On 2 April 2014, Hildebrand apologised for remarks he had made during a panel discussion on Studio 10, prior to an interview by that program with Rosie Batty, whose partner murdered their 11-year-old son.^[10]

On 18 June 2014, Joe Hildebrand and Matt Tilley did make comments on the show "The One Percenters" of TRIPLE M radio. The phrase that generated the polemic was that "EVERYBODY in Colombia, owns, sells and does Cocaine". These comments resulted in an online campaign and a diplomatic letter from the Embassy of Colombia in Australia. The letter asked for an apology from the radio station and the radio commentators.^[11]

On 14 July 2014, Hildebrand was criticised on social media following comments he made on Twitter mentioning a television interview with Olympic swimmer Ian Thorpe that screened that night.^[12]

References

External links

• Punch biography
• Twitter profile