Sharri Markson

Sharri Markson (born 8 March 1984) is a Jewish Australian journalist and author. She is investigations editor at The Australian and host of the Sky News Australia program Sharri, which airs 8–9pm Monday to Thursday. She is the winner of numerous awards in journalism, including two Walkley Awards.

Markson was born and raised in Sydney to Jewish parents. Her father is celebrity promoter Max Markson. Markson attended Moriah College and Ascham School. She studied a Media/Communications degree at the University of Sydney for two years.

Markson began her journalism career as a copy girl at The Sunday Telegraph at the age of 16. She was promoted to the state political reporter, Canberra correspondent, and finally, chief of staff.

She twice won the Young Journalist of the Year Award and did secondments at the New York Post and The Sun in London. As political reporter for The Sunday Telegraph in Canberra, Markson revealed Tony Abbott missed the $42 billion stimulus package vote in Parliament because he fell asleep after a night of drinking.

Markson joined the Seven Network in 2011, and was commended in the Walkley Awards for an investigation that revealed Deputy Premier Andrew Stoner's rush to cash in on the solar-bonus scheme subsidy for solar panels on his roof after then Premier Kristina Keneally announced it was shutting down. The coverage was cited as the first scandal of the newly elected New South Wales O'Farrell government.

In 2012, she led a team of journalists who won a Walkley Award for TV news reporting. The team reported a cabinet leak that revealed the NSW government banned the sale of unleaded petrol without ethanol, to the benefit of the monopoly company, Dick Honan's Manildra Group, against departmental advice, in a move that would increase the price of petrol for consumers.

Markson was recruited as the Australian editor of Cleo in 2013. Her tenure as editor involved launching a fight for equal pay for men and women named "Ditch the pay GAP". The magazine also ran a prominent investigation into companies that were paying women less than men by examining the financial statements of 100 Australian companies.

While editor, Markson made the decision to no longer mention sex on the magazine's cover. In the same year, coverage in Cleo triggered an investigation at the University of Sydney into sexual harassment occurring during initiation ceremonies at the University's prestigious colleges.