About

 

 

MICHELLE PINI is a communicator at heart. She is also an enthusiastic advocate for social equity, human rights, community and the environment.

A print and radio journalist, Michelle is the senior editor for online news journal, Independent Australia. She is also a freelance writer and blogger and her work has appeared in a variety of publications including The Weekly Review, Independent Australia and Warrandyte Diary.

Her story on former managing editor of The Age, Ranald Macdonald, was highly commended in the Best Feature Story category of the Journalism Education and Research Association of Australia Ossie Awards for Best Feature Article.

“Congratulations to Michelle Pini on her piece on Ranald Macdonald. It was a brilliant ‘get’ on the part of Pini and the brief first-person excursion on how she bagged the reclusive ex-executive of The Age was a joy. I’d have loved some Macdonald quotes, but the piece was disciplined, well-crafted and careful, and made me feel like I was getting a privileged look behind closed doors. Well done.”

Max Anderson, Judge, 2014

Michelle co-hosts Big Life Conversation with Jacinta and Michelle — an interview program on community radio station 94.1FM. The show explores current issues through cutting-edge interviews and also features regular guests including media and PR authority Mike Smith; weather and climate change expert Rob Gell; wine guru Ralph Kyte-Powell; holistic living professional Alison Burton and film and TV specialist Dr Mark Freeman.

Michelle’s prior marketing career within the wine industry spanned over 20 years and included corporate management roles as well as her own marketing consultancy.

Michelle has a Bachelor of Arts in Social Sciences and a Masters of Communication.

Apart from developing her journalism career, Michelle is active in the community and lives in Melbourne with her partner and two daughters.

“Michelle has an acute sense of the need for perspective and meaning in everything she does. She understands the need for light and shade, showing a fine capacity for grappling with difficult subjects as well as more entertaining journalism.“

Michael Smith, Chief Executive, Inside Public Relations

“Michelle is a tenacious and intelligent journalist who displays competence and flair when working across platforms and genres. Michelle has proven herself as a thorough researcher … who has a flair for engendering trust in her interview subjects. Michelle is an excellent writer, editor and radio broadcaster who values integrity and independence in journalism … Her work speaks for itself.” 

Dr Martin Hirst, Associate Professor, School of Communication & Creative Arts Deakin University

“Michelle Pini has been a vital component of the Warrandyte Diary team … (winner of the CNAV Newspaper of the Year award in 2014 and 2015). Whether it’s turning her hand to hard-nosed reporting, constructing a compelling human interest feature article, reviewing restaurants or, indeed, being entrusted to project manage a fresh and extremely successful community cook-up event, as editor I can’t sing her praises more highly.”

Scott Podmore, Editor, Warrandyte Diary

“Michelle has accurately and entertainingly reported on hundreds of stories [for] the Warrandyte Diary … She successfully ran the Great Warrandyte Cook-up … with a budget of over $100,000 and involving 3,000 participants … Michelle excels in radio broadcasting … [demonstrating] effortless skill as a communicator … Michelle reveals a great talent for working with people, a dedication to fairness and dogged determination to achieve the required results. She’s a great person to have on your team.”

Jock Macneish, President ,Warrandyte Diary Arts and Education Trust, Managing Director, Strategic Images