Alice Matthews to join SBS’ The Feed, as Jan Fran and Patrick Abboud depart
Walkley Award-winning journalist Alice Matthews has joined SBS’ news program The Feed as a co-host alongside four other new faces. Matthews will join current co-hosts Marc Fennel and Michael Hing, as Jan Fran and Patrick Abboud leave the show.
Matthews has been a reporter and newsreader for Triple J and won a Young Walkley Award in 2015 for her reporting on sex abuse in the medical industry.
Alice Matthews
The Feed is also welcoming former Buzzfeed documentary marker Tania Safi, SBS reporter Michelle Rimmer who started at the broadcaster as a cadet in 2016 as reporter/producer, former Vice documentary maker and Audible podcaster Rebecca Metcalf, and MTV’s David Ma as shooter/producer and shooter/editor respectively.
Fran and Abboud will sign off on The Feed for the final time on Thursday July 18. The duo have been with the program since its launch in 2013.
SBS director of news and current affairs, Jim Carroll said: “The Feed holds a special place in the Australian media landscape – it’s a news and current affairs program like no other – giving emerging talent an amazing opportunity to develop, create and succeed.
“It’s great to see how Jan and Pat have grown with us since the program’s launch in 2013. As founding members of The Feed, SBS would like to thank them for their huge contribution. They’re leaving a fantastic legacy and we wish them all the very best for the future. I know they’ll do more remarkable work.
“As we farewell Jan and Pat, we’re really excited to be welcoming five new content-makers who will work alongside Marc, Michael, our comedy team and The Feed’s producers, shooters and editors.”
Fran said: “I started as an SBS cadet and the fact that I lasted as long as I did is a testament to one, how lazy I am, but two, how good SBS has been to me this last decade. I’ve had so many opportunities, worked with so many wonderful people and made friends for life.
“SBS gave me so much room to grow and I thank all the bosses I’ve had who trusted me and/or were too busy to go over what I’d actually written until it went to air. I wouldn’t be the person nor the journo I am today if it wasn’t for SBS. Honestly, who else is going to let me say half the sh*t I say on air?
“As I explore new and exciting opportunities, I know I’ll always be part of the SBS family and SBS will always hold a special place in my heart. Just think of me as the estranged cousin who does their own thing but is somehow always still there at Christmas telling you what’s what.”
Abboud said: “I started at SBS on a late night radio program called Alchemy. With big ideas and an ambitious outlook I went on to pitch a TV show that would reflect not only my own experiences as a young gay Arab man but all that incredible diversity that we just weren’t seeing enough on our screens. And so The Feed was born. Six seasons later, I’m so chuffed to have founded a program that’s nurtured amazing talent and changed the media landscape for the better.
“I’m so thankful for the endless opportunities to have worked on so many other life-changing projects at SBS alongside life-long friends I’ve made. I want to say a huge thank you to all the people at SBS that encouraged me, supported me and believed in me. This place has made me a stronger storyteller – more than that, it’s changed who I am as a person. I’m very excited about my new projects but SBS will always feel like home.”
Matthews added: “If I could dream up the best job right now for a young journalist, it would be this. I love the way The Feed combines brilliant journalism with a couple of solid lols. I am so excited to join the team. My role will inevitably involve feeble attempts to fill the void left behind by Jan and Pat, while managing Hing’s blatant efforts at a total take over. I can’t wait.”
