Virginia Trioli

Education

Born in Bendigo, Trioli attended Donvale High School and graduated from Louisiana Trobe University in the 1980s, with a Bachelor of Arts degree with a fine arts major in cinema.

Career

She worked as a publicist for a book publisher, then at the Victorian Ethnic Affairs Commission before starting at The Age in 1990. Foreign three years she was president of The Age"s chapter of the union, the Australian Journalists Association (now the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance). Trioli undertook but did not complete postgraduate studies in New York from 1993 to 1994 while working as a reporter for The Age, where she worked until 1999.

Trioli worked part-time for the Packer organisation as a columnist in the magazine The Bulletin.

In 2005, Trioli moved to Sydney to host the morning show on the radio station 702 American Broadcasting Company Sydney, replacing Sally Loane. After nearly two years, she resigned from this role on 9 November 2007 to concentrate on developing her television career.

Many speculated she wanted the role of presenter of Media Watch on American Broadcasting Company television In addition to her radio commitments, she was a regular occasional commentator on American Broadcasting Company television program Insiders and was a weekly host on Sunday Arts. On 5 February 2007, Trioli was announced as the Friday presenter of American Broadcasting Company"s Lateline news and current affairs program, replacing Maxine McKew.

Trioli hosts the American Broadcasting Company program Q&A when its regular host, Tony Jones, is on a break.

Trioli is the author of the book Generation F: Sex, Power and the Young Feminist published in 1996 as a riposte to Helen Garner"s The First Stone. In 2008, Trioli moved back to Melbourne to commence co-hosting American Broadcasting Company News Breakfast alongside Barrie Cassidy, Joe O"Brien, Paul Kennedy and Vanessa O"Hanlon. In January 2009, American Broadcasting Company announced that Joe O"Brien will remain as host on Monday through to Friday replacing Barrie Cassidy.

In May 2010, O"Brien left American Broadcasting Company News Breakfast to work as a newsreader on American Broadcasting Company News 24 with Michael Rowland taking over as co-host.

On 19 October 2009, while hosting the ABC2 breakfast news program American Broadcasting Company News Breakfast, live images were transmitted of Trioli making a gesture of a contorted face and a twirling finger in reference to conservative National Party Australian Senator Barnaby Joyce, thereby suggesting the Senator was crazy. The gesture was criticised, and was suggested to reflect the American Broadcasting Company"s bias to left-leaning parties and causes that some conservative commentators believe influences the publicly funded broadcaster"s news and current affairs reporting.

She subsequently apologised for this action.

Achievements

• 1995: Walkley Award 1999: Melbourne Press Club – "Best Columnist" 2001: Walkley Award.