Guardian Australia launches new regular podcast, ‘Full Story’

Full Story is Guardian Australia’s new thrice-weekly podcast, hosted by 2018 Walkley young journalist of the year Laura Murphy-Oates, that examines the stories behind the headlines. Each episode explores one story to find out where it started, what happened, and what it means.

It will launch on Monday October 21st and will be released three times a week, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Covering current events, topical issues and Guardian exclusives, the podcast builds on the expertise and knowledge of Guardian journalists to bring the stories to life and engage audiences more deeply, as well as introducing the Guardian to new audiences via the growing podcast medium.

A special early episode about Australia’s land clearing crisis is available to listen to now. In it our investigations editor Anne Davies talks about the months she has spent delving into Australia’s land clearing crisis, and why, given that trees can help fix global heating, we are allowing tree felling to accelerate.

“With this podcast, our readers can hear our stories told through the voices of our journalists and the people they talk to. They can hear the stories behind the stories, why things happened, how we uncovered information and what we encountered along the way. I’m sure our existing readers will love the Full Story and I hope we can find new audiences with this new format for our journalism,” said Lenore Taylor, editor Guardian Australia.

The podcast is hosted by Laura Murphy-Oates, a Ngiyampaa Weilwan woman and the 2018 Walkley young journalist of the year. Laura brings her extensive and diverse experience to the team, having previously worked as a radio presenter on Triple J’s Hack, and a TV presenter/journalist at The Feed on SBS VICELAND. She’s reported from remote and regional areas across Australia, plus Canada and the US.

“As a reporter, I’ve looked to the Guardian for their trustworthy reporting on Indigenous affairs, immigration, politics and international news for many years,” she says. “The powerful stories we’ve already pulled together for the launch are really a testament to that, and I can’t wait for people to hear what we’ve been working on.”

This podcast builds on the success of previous podcasts produced by Guardian Australia. Now, with Full Story, Guardian Australia will bring you news in the narrative format, modelled on the successful Today in Focus podcast produced by The Guardian in the UK.

Head of audio, Miles Martignoni, has spearheaded award-winning podcast series such as The Reckoning. “Our global success with Today in Focus shows that audiences are flocking to podcasts that combine timely stories and strong production values,” said Martignoni. “After our success with high impact, short run series like Breathless and The Reckoning we’re applying what we’ve learnt to an ongoing show that can showcase a wide variety of Guardian journalism.”

Two experienced audio producers are joining the team - Joe Koning and Ellen Leabeater. They join as part of a wider expansion across the company, with a recently expanded newsroom, a new lifestyle section and increased investigative and environment reporting. All this will enable Guardian Australia to provide informative, captivating content for a news podcast audience on a regular basis, and help deliver quality journalism how, where and when they want it.