You'll never be a journalist's bootlace!'

This is the story behind the stories we think we know.

'The News Man' is a very personal look at the public face of news by one of Australia's most well-loved and respected news presenters of our time.

Mal Walden was seventeen when he applied for his first job in media. Starting out as a country radio announcer, he went on to work in Launceston and Melbourne before making the shift to television as a news anchor for channels Seven and Ten. At age seventy he gracefully crossed the finishing line to be recognised as the longest-serving newsman on Australian television.

Each year Mal maintained a journal in which he recorded his many serendipitous and life-changing moments. These memories form a record of not only his life as a newsman, but of the evolution of television news.