LiSTNR has announced its exclusive partnership with award-winning journalist Richard Baker for a series of original investigative podcasts.
Baker will partner with the podcast platform’s in-house podcast team for an initial two new audio documentary series, continuing his reputation for compelling, narrative content.
A long-time journalist for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, Baker has become increasingly renowned in recent years for his critically acclaimed podcast series, including Phoebe’s Fall, Wrong Skin, The Last Voyage of the Pong Su and The Confession, which sat at number one on the Australian and NZ podcast charts for several weeks in late 2022.
Baker’s podcasts have received millions of downloads worldwide, along with accolades at the New York Festivals, the Kennedy journalism awards and the Melbourne Press Club. Baker has won five Walkley Awards, Australia’s most prestigious journalism honour.
Phoebe’s Fall, a major investigation into the death of Phoebe Handsjuck, led to changes to Victoria’s Coroners Act and won the Kennedy Award, the Melbourne Press Club Quill and a New York Festivals Gold award.
Wrong Skin, that examined a suspicious death and missing person in the Australian outback, was recommended by the New York Times as a “prime example of Australian true crime” and won Gold at the New York Festivals, best longform audio at the Melbourne Press Club and was named Podcast of the Year at the 2019 Australian Podcast Awards.
The multi-award winning Last Voyage of the Pong Su, released in 2019, has since been licensed by the BBC Sounds platform and has also been optioned by a major production company for a screen adaptation.
Richard Baker interviewing Franz and Richard Hunter
Melanie Withnall, SCA head of news and information, said: “We are thrilled to have a journalist with Richard’s credentials creating compelling original podcast content for our LiSTNR audience. During his 23-year career, Richard has become known as one of Australia’s most creative, engaging and ground-breaking investigative journalists.
“His work on everything, from corruption to politics and national security, have had national and international repercussions, sparking prosecution and legislative change.”
Jennifer Goggin, head of LiSTNR factual and drama, said: “Many of Richard’s podcasts have become national conversations and we can’t wait to continue this storytelling on the LiSTNR network.
“Richard’s passion for profiling Australian stories of injustice aligns perfectly with our mission for LiSTNR Factual and Drama. We look forward to creating our next ground-breaking documentary series together.
“Our collaboration with Richard is part of LiSTNR’s commitment to expanding our docuseries and original journalism line-up and continuing to attract top-tier creators. Having finished 2022 as the nation’s top podcast network, we’re excited to focus on growth and expansion in the year ahead.”
Baker said of the partnership with the podcast platform: “I’m thrilled to be teaming up with LiSTNR to deliver what I hope will be two unique and must-listen podcasts in 2023. It’s great to be working with a company and a bunch of talented people who really believe in the power of audio storytelling.”
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Top image: Richard Baker