Michelle Ainsworth
Journalist, PSM (GAICD)
Michelle Ainsworth has dedicated her career to quality journalism and its role in preserving democratic integrity.
With over 30 years’ experience as a journalist and news executive, she’s a former Press Gallery journalist and Political Editor who led the ABC’s federal election coverage in 2019 and 2022. Through her work, she’s observed the decline in trust in media and democratic institutions.
In 2022, Michelle was awarded a Public Service Medal for promoting reconciliation through respectful use of Ngunnawal language across ABC Canberra.
A year later she received a Winston Churchill Fellowship, travelling to the USA, UK and Finland to explore what’s led to the global decline in democratic institutions, and how the news media are trying to tackle these challenges. Her findings were delivered as the Fellowship’s first podcast report: https://www.churchilltrust.com.au/truth-trust-and-democracy-podcast/
Michelle has recently been appointed an Adjunct Professor, joining the University of Canberra’s News and Media Research Centre.
