“I watched Judy Bailey growing up – the mother of the nation – I was obsessed.
“I used to watch the TV and from when I could speak, I said ‘I’m going to do that’ to my parents. I pointed at the TV and said, ‘That’s me’.”
Malone says she saw the power of the screen at an early age. “It was never about the fame, nor wanting to be on screen or anything. I genuinely just reckon it’s the best way to speak to an audience. It’s show me, don’t tell me.”
Over the past decade, Malone (her maiden name was Madison Reidy) has worked at Stuff, RNZ, Newshub and NZME, where she has established her Markets with Madison show and quickly built her reputation as one of New Zealand’s most talented business journalists.
She has a dossier of interviews with some of the biggest entrepreneurial names in New Zealand business, and even become a leading name herself: Last year, she was named as one of Forbes magazine’s 30 under-30 stars in the media, marketing and advertising category in Asia.
Now she’s going it alone, taking her show – with a new name (it’s revealed in today’s podcast) – independent.
She’s one of a number of high-profile journalists who are forging new careers with their own direct-to-audience platforms - think the likes of podcast hosts Dom Harvey and Steven Holloway (of Between Two Beers fame, alongside Seamus Marten) and Substack newsletter hosts David Farrier and Dylan Cleaver.
Malone will contract back to NZME for a few more months, but after that, she’s on her own.
In today’s Media Insider podcast, we talk to Malone about the risk she’s taking – the excitement and anxiety that comes with it – as well as her time in media to date, including the perils of a live cross; and her recent trip to the US, where she met executives from a broad range of New Zealand companies and start-ups who are taking America and the world by storm.
Malone also talks about her approach to interviews and - as she builds her content model around business success - why she thinks a new generation of journalists are ignoring any notion of a tall poppy syndrome in New Zealand.
She admits her new move is “an absolute risk”, but she’s focused on ensuring she’s fully independent.
“I really have to force myself out into this world where I am truly on my own. And that’s terrifying and isolating, but I feel like if I don’t do that, then why did I leave?”
Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand’s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME including Managing Editor, NZ Herald Editor and Herald on Sunday Editor and has a small shareholding in NZME.
Watch Media Insider – The Podcast on YouTube, or listen to it on iHeartRadio, Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
