Exclusive: Guardian Australia appoints Karen Middleton as political editor

Guardian Australia has appointed The Saturday Paper’s Karen Middleton as its new political editor, replacing the outgoing Katharine Murphy. 

Middleton, who is currently the chief political correspondent at The Saturday Paper, joins after a decorated career spanning over three decades in the press gallery. 

Guardian Australia editor Lenore Taylor said Middleton brought “decades of experience, judgement, a significant record of news breaking and excellent analytical skills” to the publication.

“I am delighted that she is joining our brilliant Canberra team,” Taylor said. 

The appointment comes after Murphy’s departure to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s office, following a similarly long and decorated career in the press gallery. 

Middleton started her career in 1984 as a copyperson at The Canberra Times, becoming a cadet in 1986. She left the Times in 1989, joining The Herald (later known as the Herald Sun) in the press gallery. She left for The Age in 1992 to become a political reporter, before moving to West Australian Newspapers in 1997 as political editor. She joined SBS as chief political correspondent in 2005, and held the role for a decade before going briefly freelance and joining Schwartz Media’s The Saturday Paper in 2016. 

A veteran of the press corps, Middleton was president of the federal parliamentary press gallery from 2005 to 2008, and has made regular appearances on the ABC’s Insiders, as well as the national broadcaster’s radio broadcasts. 

Middleton penned a book in 2011, charting Australia’s military involvement in Afghanistan over the decade following 9/11. Middleton herself reported from Afghanistan for SBS in the 2000s, and while on assignment in 2007 was travelling in a Chinook helicopter that was nearly hit by an RPG. She also published a book in 2016, a biography of now Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, titled Albanese: Telling It Straight.