Tom Burton is founder and publisher of the community news portal australiatalks.com.au
He has been involved in media and technology for twenty years as an adviser to Government, a working journalist, and a media executive working with both print and online media.
Current work
He regularly speaks at forecasting, management, technology and economic conferences and client briefings and has extensive radio and television interview experience.
Previous experience
Editor: Before leaving the Herald mid last year to start his own publishing business Tom was the executive editor for the Sydney Morning Herald and Sun Herald, responsible for the overall operations of the two papers.
Prior to this position Tom was managing editor for Sydney Morning Herald Online for three years and was responsible for its web sites, including the flagship news site, smh.com.au and its affiliated sites. During this period, smh.com.au went from being mid ranking to Australia's number one news site and on several occasions was the most visited site across all categories.
Aust Financial Review: Tom was Canberra bureau chief of the Australian Financial Review and the paper's Chief Political Correspondent for five years in the mid 1990's. The bureau serviced a national market and became the leading bureau in the gallery for authoritative news coverage.
He joined the Australian Financial Review in 1993 after several years as the Economics Correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald, where he also specialised in the communications, media and information industry.
Government: Prior to becoming a journalist Tom worked as a Ministerial adviser for the Australian Government for several years, first for the Minister for Housing and Construction and then as a senior adviser to the Minister for Communications, in Canberra.
Education: Tom holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree (dual economics and accounting majors) and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of NSW with specialisations in commercial and trade practices law. He is admitted to the NSW Bar.
Tom completed the Advanced Executive Program at the Media Management Centre at the Kellog School of Management in Chicago in 2002.
President: He is a past Federal President of the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance.
Chair: For seven years, till March 2004, Tom was the Chair of the Walkley Board, the group which judges and governs Australia's leading journalist awards. He was awarded a Walkley Award in 1993. Two of his teams have also won Walkleys.
Personal: He is married to the Herald's State Political Correspondent, Anne Davies and has five children.
