Mal Walden

Mal Walden
Born	(1943-05-20) May 20, 1943 Australia
Occupation(s)	Journalist, television news anchor
Years active	1961–2013

Mal Walden (born 20 May 1943) is a retired Australian journalist and television news anchor who worked primarily in Melbourne. Upon his retirement, he was recognized as the longest-serving on-screen personality in Australian television history, with a career that extended over six decades.

Biography

From 1978 until 1987, Walden served as the chief presenter for the Melbourne edition of Seven National News on the Seven Network. Subsequently, he joined the Ten Network and anchored Ten Eyewitness News from 1987 through to 2013.

His retirement was marked by a formal farewell at the State Parliament, where Premier Denis Napthine honored him and the Melbourne Press Club bestowed upon him a lifetime achievement quill.

Following his departure from broadcasting, Walden authored five books: his autobiography The Newsman, a compilation titled Good News featuring stories that have influenced Melbourne, a quotation collection called Don't Piss in my Pocket, as well as Crazy Aussie Crims and Aussie Icons and Legends.

Career

Walden embarked on his media journey in 1961 as a cadet journalist at radio station 3YB-FM located in Warrnambool, Victoria. He later joined radio station 3DB before transitioning to television in early 1970 at its sister station HSV-7, starting out as a reporter. One of his notable early assignments was reporting on the aftermath of Cyclone Tracy in Darwin on 25 December 1974.

In 1978, Walden was appointed chief news presenter at HSV-7, succeeding Brian Naylor, becoming the first active journalist to hold that position. However, following Fairfax's acquisition of HSV-7, he was unexpectedly dismissed just minutes prior to delivering his final news bulletin on 27 March 1987.

Shortly thereafter, Walden joined the Ten Network's Eyewitness News at ATV-10 where he worked as both reporter and presenter of "Mal's Melbourne," a segment dedicated to human interest stories. He also took on roles as relief news presenter, weekend anchor, and hosted special events including the Young Australian of the Year awards and ATV-10’s 30th anniversary celebrations.

In 1996, after David Johnston returned to HSV-7, Walden was promoted to chief news presenter. He co-anchored Ten News at Five alongside Jennifer Hansen and later Helen Kapalos.

Walden wrote an extensive history of ATV-10 in 2004 to commemorate its 40th anniversary. In September 2010, he was announced as the anchor for Melbourne’s new 6:30 pm edition of Ten Evening News, which debuted in January 2011 but was discontinued after four months. Following Helen Kapalos’s departure in December 2012, Walden resumed solo presenting duties for Ten News at Five.

By 2006, Walden had established himself as Australia's longest continuously serving television news presenter, with more than 36 years on air.

In June 2013, approaching his retirement after nearly forty years in news broadcasting, Walden scaled back his presenting schedule at Network Ten to Mondays through Wednesdays; Stephen Quartermain covered Thursdays and Fridays.

On 4 December 2013, Walden delivered his final bulletin for Ten Eyewitness News Melbourne, expressing gratitude to his family, colleagues, management team, and audience.

Personal life

Walden is married to Pauline Durham, who previously worked as a programmer at Seven Network’s HSV-7 studios. Together they have two grown children.

External links

• "Mal Walden's four decades in broadcasting", news.com.au; accessed 10 May 2015.