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Deborah Fleming

Biographical Notes from The Walkley Awards website for 2005

Journalism Leadership Winner

Deborah Fleming , executive producer, Australian Story, ABC TV

Deborah Fleming is a visionary. When she created Australian Story nine years ago, she pioneered a new genre in television news and current affairs. Convinced audiences were tired of intrusive reporters, she created something different. Dispensing with the reporter's presence and voice-over, she asked her journalists to focus on the human side of events and to tell the tale purely through the voices of interviewees. For journalists used to the conventional way of constructing television features, it was a tough call.

Fleming nurtured the team to achieve her goal of bringing intimacy with the subject to the audience. It was a new idea, a bold move, a risk - and an outstanding success.

Since it first aired in mid-1996, Australian Story has won many awards, including five Walkleys.

Fleming's Australian Story has allowed viewers to enter into the lives and attitudes of its subjects in a way unprecedented on Australian television. Under her leadership, the program has established an unmatched reputation for integrity and even-handedness. It inspires trust, and subjects who often are very unwilling to speak to other media divulge their most sensitive and personal stories.

Yet while the journalists are not to be seen or heard on camera, Fleming insists on the tough questions and journalistic balance. While revolutionising traditional current affairs storytelling, she has maintained the highest editorial standards. The program regularly makes news by breaking stories.

Fleming is a consummate newshound, and fosters creativity and a willingness to take risks. She has a rare talent for team-building and the loyalty and support she gives her staff are near legendary. Her commitment to both journalistic excellence and her staff also marked her time as executive producer for the ABC's The 7.30 Report, both in Sydney and Brisbane. Known for maintaining a level head and a calm demeanour, she still pushed the boundaries.

Fleming once told a colleague that a society is made up of the stories it tells about itself. Her genius is to recognise, with her producers, the narrative thread as it takes shape from the many hours of interviews and filming, and to help construct a story that is revealing, yet remains faithful to the teller.

You will never hear Deborah Fleming attest to her own achievements. She is the archetypal quiet achiever. But quality lasts. Australian Story, with its very different approach to current affairs, has become a part of Australian television culture.