News Club Interview: ABC TV's 7.30 host Sarah Ferguson

What a way to start Newsmakers Season 2…

As someone who watches Sarah Ferguson host 7.30 most nights she was high on my list as a Newsmaker guest. The reason is that I have a lot of admiration for the grind of daily TV. It’s not easy to conduct robust yet balanced interviews night upon night upon night. Plus, she’s widely considered one of our greatest journalists.

Now I’ve met her I can attest to her genuine commitment to quality news and information. 

For many Squizers, Sarah Ferguson might be better known for her investigative work. Her production The Killing Season about the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd years was one for political tragics. And then there’s her award-winning work on Australia’s live cattle exports, which led to the suspension of the trade. Those are just 2 of many examples. 

Always the interviewer and rarely the interviewee, Sarah is reluctant to talk about herself - however, she has a story to tell. She was born in Nigeria to British parents, fell in love in Paris and married an Aussie.

She says that being a journalist is integral to who she is as a person. She has the self-awareness to acknowledge that her profession is in flux and perhaps becoming one where you do have to give a bit more of yourself. We talk about the hardest interview to pull off, and I ask her: is it easier to interview someone polarising or someone you agree with for the most part? 

She then tells me what she thinks the most overlooked news story is. In a time when there are lots of big things happening in global affairs - the answer might surprise you…

You can listen to the conversation here or tune in on YouTube - and hit subscribe while you’re at it.

Interview Highlights

Highlight 1: On living in and leaving Nigeria

Kate Watson: What people might not know is you were actually born in Nigeria...

Sarah Ferguson: In West Africa. My parents met in Kenya on the other side of Africa in East Africa, and they eloped. They couldn't then go back and live in Kenya. My father got a job in West Africa and so they lived in West Africa. We left when I was very young - there was a war in West Africa called the Biafra War, which actually was the first televised famine. It was the first time people all over the world saw pictures of starving babies. 

Highlight 2: On the challenge of interviewing

Kate Watson: Is it more difficult to interview someone who is polarising and controversial, or is it more difficult to interview someone where you actually probably agree with a lot of what they're saying?

Sarah Ferguson: That's a great question. They have, they are differently problematic or differently challenging. I'll tell you one thing, I know if we're conducting an interview and I can't feel the edge of it … there's a sort of edge to interviewing that you need to find. If I can't find it, it's a bad interview. 

Highlight 3: The most overlooked news story

Kate Watson: So as far as the news then, what do you think is the most important news story for Australians? 

Sarah Ferguson: I mean, it's hard to get beyond a full understanding of housing. I am very interested in and concerned about the difficulty that some women have with low superannuation balances. There has been some legislation to address that, but people are finding it difficult to achieve a dignified retirement after a lifetime of work; whatever we are doing, we've undermined that. And I think there's such pathos around someone arriving at the last stage of their life and finding It's far more difficult than they had anticipated. 

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