Michael Usher

Michael Usher (born 1970) is an Australian reporter for 60 Minutes on the Nine Network.

Career

Usher graduated from All Saints' College, Perth in 1987. He went on to study media in 1989 at West Australian Academy of Performing Arts and graduated with an Associate Diploma in Media Studies.

Usher's television career began in 1990 at the Golden West Television Network, Bunbury, as a final year cadet journalist. He was then posted to Kalgoorlie before beginning the following year at STW-9, Perth. In 1993, Usher moved to Sydney and to TCN-9 news. Three years later he was appointed the role of Nine Network Olympics reporter, leading the Network's coverage of the 1996 Atlanta and 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. He also went to Lausanne to cover the corruption scandal that engulfed the International Olympic Committee.

Usher was the Nine Network's correspondent in New York when the Twin Towers were attacked in September 2001, and less than two years later was in Iraq, travelling north from Kuwait to reach Baghdad the day after the Coalition seized the city.

In 2001, Usher moved to the Nine Network's US bureau, where he worked for three years as National Nine News US correspondent, based in Los Angeles. Usher returned to Australia to fill in as host of Today, then at the beginning of 2004, together with wife Anna Lee and young son, he moved to the UK, to cover the London bureau.^[1]

In 2006, Usher returned to Australia and began presenting Nightline, replacing Ellen Fanning.^[2]

In 2007 Usher became news presenter for the Sunday program. Following the axing of Nightline in July 2008 and Sunday in August 2008, Usher was appointed presenter of the short-lived Nine News Sunday AM. For the rest of 2008, Usher filled-in on various Nine News bulletins as well as reporting for 60 Minutes, filling in for Tara Brown who was on maternity leave at the time.

Between November 2008 and January 2009, Usher presented the weekend bulletin of Nine News Sydney. This was after the resignation of Mike Munro and before the appointment of former weeknight presenter Mark Ferguson as the permanent weekend presenter. Also from 2009, Usher finished his role as presenter of the Sunday Morning News, as the bulletin was replaced with Weekend Today.

In March 2009, Usher was appointed as a permanent reporter for Nine's 60 Minutes program. He hosted the first leaders debate between Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott prior to the 2010 Australian Federal Election.^[3]

In December 2010, Usher presented A Current Affair whilst usual fill in presenter Leila McKinnon had a holiday. Usher also co-hosted the 2010 New Year's Eve Fireworks with Alicia Gorey.

In December 2011, Usher filled in for Karl Stefanovic on Today whilst Stefanovic was on holidays.

On October 25, 2014, Micheal Usher hosted the Australian 60 Minutes television show which presented a critical investigative report on 'John of God', prior to his arrival to Australia in November, 2014. This program was featured as a follow-up to Liz Hayes’s 1998 skeptical investigation of João Teixeira de Faria, who is better known as "João de deus" or "John of god." De Faria has been credulously promoted by Oprah Winfrey as a medium who channels the spirits of dead doctors and saints to perform miraculous healings for people from around the world who visit him each week at his “Casa” in Abadiânia, Brazil.^[4][5] After visiting De Faria at his "Casa", Usher examined his healing treatment practices, the amount of money being made and raised questions about sexual assault allegations against him.^[6]

References

External links

• Nine News