Dr Norman Swan
Executive Director
Tonic Media Network’s Executive Director and co-founder, Dr Norman Swan, is Australia’s most respected health journalist and broadcaster, with an international broadcast career spanning more than 30 years.
Norman hosts The Health Report on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Radio National which is the world’s longest running health program in the English-speaking world. Norman is also guest reporter on Four Corners; appears regularly on The Drum and occasional host of Radio National Breakfast. He has won many awards for his work including Australia’s top prize for journalism, the Gold Walkley. Norman also edits his own newsletter, The Choice Health Reader, which is published in partnership with CHOICE, Australia’s leading consumer advocacy organisation.
Current Boards: Executive Director, Tonic Media Network, The Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth (ARACY), and the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales. Past Boards: NDARC, Australian Gastroenterology Institute, Founding member Social Issues Committee, Royal Australasian College of Physicians, Australian Cancer Society.
Multi-award winning producer, broadcaster and investigative journalist
Norman’s career has been highlighted by his desire to keep the Australian public informed of health developments as they happen, combining medical expertise with journalism.
Trained in paediatrics, Norman was one of the first medically qualified journalists in Australia, with an international broadcast career spanning more than 30 years. He currently hosts The Health Report on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Radio National. He is also a guest reporter on Four Corners; appears regularly on The Drum and occasional host of Radio National Breakfast.
In addition to hosting on ABC television and radio, Norman has made documentaries for Channel 4 (UK) and SBS, as well as being a columnist for various magazine and online publications.
A famous example of Dr Swan’s work is his much publicised and controversial investigative program on scientific fraud. The program exposed fraudulent research, shocking the medical world and leading to the de-registering of Gynaecologist William McBride. This achievement awarded Norman the 1988 Australian Writers’ Guild Award for best documentary and a Gold Walkley.
For six seasons, Norman was the medical host on Channel 10’s The Biggest Loser, alongside Michelle Bridges, Commando and the other trainers.
As well as being an active journalist and health broadcaster, Norman has a deep strategic knowledge of the Australian healthcare system and sits on not for profit and private boards. Norman is also the co-founder of Tonic Media Network.
