Mark Riley is an Australian journalist, who is Political Editor for ''

Seven News Seven News (stylised 7NEWS) is the television news service of the Seven Network and, as of 2021, the highest-rating in Australia. National bulletins are presented from Seven's high definition studios in South Eveleigh, Sydney, while its flags ...

'' based in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

Career

Riley started his journalism career in 1979 at ''

The Newcastle Herald The ''Newcastle Herald'' (formerly branded as ''The Herald'') is a local tabloid newspaper published daily, Monday to Saturday, in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. It is the only local newspaper that serves the greater Hunter Region and ...

'', where he covered topics including the

1989 Newcastle earthquake The 1989 Newcastle earthquake was an intraplate earthquake that occurred in Newcastle, New South Wales, on Thursday 28 December. The shock measured 5.6 on the Richter scale and was one of Australia's most serious natural disasters, killing 13 pe ...

and the

murder of Leigh Leigh The murder of Leigh Leigh, born Leigh Rennea Mears, occurred on 3 November 1989 while she was attending a 16-year-old boy's birthday party at Stockton Beach, New South Wales, on the east coast of Australia. The 14-year-old girl from Fern Bay w ...

. Riley's extended coverage of Leigh's murder received criticism from the ''

Sydney Law Review The ''Sydney Law Review'' is a peer-reviewed generalist law journal established in 1953 and published by the Sydney Law School. The Review features original peer-reviewed articles, the 'Before the High Court' column, and review essays and book ...

'' and criminologist Kerry Carrington, on the grounds that he was

victim blaming Victim blaming occurs when the victim of a crime or any wrongful act is held entirely or partially at fault for the harm that befell them. There is historical and current prejudice against the victims of domestic violence and sex crimes, such as ...

Leigh for her own sexual assault and murder. He later worked for ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

'', where he covered politics. In 1998, he was appointed the New York correspondent for ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' and ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

''. Riley jointly won a

Walkley Award The annual Walkley Awards are presented in Australia to recognise and reward excellence in journalism. They cover all media including print, television, documentary, radio, photographic and online media. The Gold Walkley is the highest prize and ...

in 1999 for his part in ''The Sydney Morning Herald's'' coverage of

East Timor Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the coastal exclave of Oecusse in the island's northwest, and ...

's independence.Kirkpatrick, Rod
News media chronicle, July 1999 to June 2000
''Australian Studies in Journalism'', 9: 2000. Riley provided many reports for both newspapers on the

11 September terrorist attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

. Returning to Australia in 2002, Riley became ''The Sydney Morning Herald's'' Chief Political Correspondent. In this position he provided commentary from

Parliament House Parliament House may refer to: Meeting places of parliament Australia * Parliament House, Canberra, Parliament of Australia * Parliament House, Adelaide, Parliament of South Australia * Parliament House, Brisbane, Parliament of Queensland * P ...

. In 2004, Riley joined the

Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...

and was appointed political editor for ''

''. His journalistic approach was criticised in 2011, when he was accused of "ambushing" the then Leader of the Opposition

Tony Abbott Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is an Australian former politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia and was the member of parli ...

Personal life

Riley is married to social commentator Suzanne Mostyn and they have two children. His sister-in-law

Sam Mostyn Samantha Joy Mostyn ( ; born 13 September 1965) is an Australian businesswoman and advocate, who has been serving as the 28th governor-general of Australia since 1 July 2024. Mostyn has been an advocate on climate change and gender equality ...

has served as governor-general of Australia since 2024.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Riley, Mark Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Australian television journalists The Sydney Morning Herald people