Neil Mitchell (radio presenter)

Neil Mitchell (AO)
Mitchell in May 2007
Born	(1951-11-21) 21 November 1951 (age 65)
Residence	Melbourne, Australia
Occupation	talkback radio presenter journalist
Employer	3AW

Neil Mitchell AO (born 21 November 1951) is an Australian radio presenter on Melbourne AM talk-back station 3AW.

The son of a school teacher, Mitchell entered journalism at 17, straight after completing high school. He has had involvement in newspapers, radio and television. He was one of the youngest ever editors of a major Australian metropolitan newspaper, The Herald, holding that position from 1985 to 1987.

Mitchell was also a reporter, columnist and news executive at The Age for 16 years, including four years as sports editor. He has also worked for Time Magazine, and presented documentaries and his own talk back TV program on both the Nine and Ten networks which were both short-lived. He also worked on two programs on the Seven Network and on Sky News Australia.

Mitchell began working at Melbourne station 3AW in March 1987. Initially he worked part-time on weekends and as a morning fill-in host for former broadcaster Derryn Hinch and later became the host of the drive time program in October 1987. In 1990, he moved to the morning program where he has been a successful and influential figure ever since.

Mitchell has a reputation for looking out for "the little guys" and spends plenty of on-air time trying to rectify problems brought to his attention by his listeners, who are encouraged to contact the program with examples of bureaucratic bungling and red-tape. A well-known example is his successful effort to have speed-camera fines from faulty cameras in Melbourne reversed, which resulted in the refunding of AUD26 million to motorists.

Although Mitchell is on air from 8.30 am to noon on weekdays, his time commitment is much longer as he starts work at 5.00 am and rarely finishes before 3.00 pm.

In December 2009, Mitchell was the subject of a concerted effort by rival new-comer talk station, MTR, to gain his services. After protracted negotiations between 3AW and soon to be out of contract Mitchell, he eventually stayed at 3AW, citing loyalty to his listeners as his ultimate reason for continuing at the station. He rejected a more lucrative offer from MTR.