Julia Baird is a journalist, broadcaster and author based in Sydney. Her writing has appeared in Newsweek, The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Guardian, The Sydney Morning Herald, the Sun-Herald, The Monthly and Harper’s Bazaar. She is currently writing a biography of Queen Victoria for Random House, New York and is a regular opinion writer for The International New York Times.

Baird was based in the USA until 2011, working at Newsweek as columnist and deputy editor. She began work at the magazine as senior editor for Science, Society and Ideas. In that role, she oversaw Newsweek’s coverage of social trends and scientific breakthroughs as well as fresh, important ideas. She edited cover stories on subjects including human evolution, the history of climate change denial, the mysterious lives of surrogate mothers, the politics of transgender and the significance of 1968. Features she wrote included a cover story on vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, and a profile of MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. In 2010 she moved with her family to Philadelphia and worked as a columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer for several months.

Baird began her career in journalism at the Sydney Morning Herald, where she was from 1998 to 2007. She was a columnist from 1999 and was the editor of the op-ed page from 2000-2005. In 2006 and again at the end of 2011 she was the host of the investigative radio program “Sunday Profile” on the ABC. In 2012, she guest presented The Drum on ABC24, and covered the US presidential campaign in Iowa for The Monthly, the ABC, and the Sun-Herald.

In 2005, Baird was a fellow at the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press and Public Policy at Harvard, researching the global response to American opinion in the lead-up to the Iraq War. Her PhD, on female politicians and the press, was awarded in 2001, and her book on the subject, Media Tarts: How the Australian Press Frames Female Politicians was published in 2004.