When you talk to people you disagree with, you learn things.
Zoe Daniel has spent almost 3 decades on the front line of news and current events, in Australia and internationally, living and working in some of the most challenging environments in the world.
She translated the election of Donald Trump for Australians and has brought insights from Southeast Asia, Africa and the Americas home, illuminating key global events.
Current Work:
Zoe is a 3-time foreign correspondent and former ABC News United States Bureau chief. She was based in Washington DC from late 2015 until the end of 2019 and was one of the few journalists who saw the rise of Donald Trump coming. While in the United States, she travelled to 44 states and territories from Alaska to Puerto Rico.
Zoe has reported on politics, conflict, famine, natural disasters, plane crashes, terror attacks, mass shootings, repression, economic collapse and poverty across the world in countries as diverse as the USA, Mexico, Venezuela, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe, Burma, Vietnam and Vanuatu. She has met and interviewed displaced people, refugees, soldiers, voters, businesspeople, women and children and families, Prime Ministers and Presidents.
She is the author of Storyteller, which provides a personal insight into her life as a foreign correspondent while juggling a family, and Angel, a novel for young teens about Typhoon Haiyan in the. Philippines.
Zoe’s new book, Greetings from Trumpland, with colleague Roscoe Whalan was released in March 2021.
Previous Experience:
Zoe was the ABC’s South East Asia correspondent from 2009 to 2013 and provided on-the-ground coverage of stories ranging from major political events to natural disasters including civil unrest and political protests in Bangkok, the reform process in Myanmar and the devastation caused by Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.
Between 2005 and 2006, Zoe was the ABC’s Africa correspondent.
Zoe grew up in Tasmania and began her career in journalism as a radio producer in South Australia. She then reported on rural issues in New South Wales, Tasmania and Victoria before becoming a business reporter and then a general reporter working across the spectrum of ABC News and Current Affairs programs.
Talking Points
Trumpland
Why did people vote for Donald Trump, in 2016, and even more so in 2020? Who are they and what happens to them in a (so-called) post Trump era? What lessons can be learnt from the unprecedented period that was the Trump administration and where does the world go from here?
Trumpland
Fake news, information manipulation and combative politics
How do our politicians use information for their own gain? How did the term 'fake news' become cover for inconvenient truths? How do news deserts fragment our democracy? Why can't people have civil disagreements anymore, and is social media a good thing?
Fake news, information manipulation and combative politics
Life as a foreign correspondent in a 24 hour news cycle
What's it like to be a foreign correspondent amid the spin cycle of 24 hours news? A candid, behind the scenes look at life as an international journalist and life as a working mum on the frontline of global events.
Life as a foreign correspondent in a 24 hour news cycle
Video
On Liberty ep.42 | Zoe Daniel | How an unprecedented presidency changed everything.
Donald Trump turned America on its head and shocked the world, taking an isolationist approach to foreign policy, shaking up global institutions and fomenting the rise of ‘fake news’. How did the reality TV star win over the hearts and minds of so many regular Americans from Ohio to Florida? And how, after four years, does he have more supporters than ever? This week, three-time foreign correspondent and former ABC News US Bureau Chief, Zoe Daniel joins us to discuss her recent book Greetings from Trumpland explores how an unprecedented presidency changed everything. Through interviews with regular Americans who backed the mercurial president in mid-west America, to those who felt the wrath of his no-holds-barred presidency, this book is an inside look at the historic one-term presidency that changed the world and an insightful examination into how America, and the world, can move forward. Join us as Salvatore Babones speaks to Zoe Daniel about this new book and her experience witnessing the unlikely rise of Donald Trump to the presidency, reporting week in and week out on this renegade 'anti-politician'. From historic summits on the world stage with Kim Jong Un, to the rusted steel mills of Pennsylvania, Zoe and co-author Roscoe Whalan were ringside as Donald Trump navigated his way through four years in the Oval Office. Zoe Daniel is a three-time foreign correspondent and former ABC News United States Bureau Chief. She was based in Washington DC from late 2015 until the end of 2019. Zoe was ABC’s Southeast Asia correspondent from 2009 to 2013. Zoe has written two other books including her 2014 memoir, Storyteller.Advance Connect | Digital Roundtable with Zoe Daniel
Zoe Daniel has returned from Washington where she was the bureau chief for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. She was one of the few journalists who saw the rise of Donald Trump coming, and that came from her dedication to reporting beyond the big cities, speaking to real people in smaller communities. Zoe has returned to Australia with her family after a four year stint as Washington Bureau Chief for ABC News. While in the United States, she travelled from Alaska to Washington and to 44 states. Zoe was the ABC’s South East Asia correspondent from 2009 to 2013 and provided on-the-ground coverage of stories ranging from major political events to natural disasters including the Bangkok protests, the reform process in Myanmar and the devastation caused by Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.Between 2005 and 2006, Zoe was the ABC’s Africa correspondent. Prior to that in 2004, Zoe covered the Olympic Games in Athens. She has reported on conflict, famine, natural disasters, repression and poverty across the world in countries as diverse as Sudan, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe, Burma, Vietnam and Thailand. Zoe began her career in journalism as a radio producer in South Australia. She then reported on rural issues in New South Wales, Tasmania and Victoria before becoming a business reporter and then a general reporter working on flagship ABC programs such as 7.30 and Lateline. Zoe is the author of Storyteller, which provides a personal insight into her life as a foreign correspondent while juggling a family.
