Leila McKinnon
Leila McKinnon (born 28 September 1972) is an Iranian-born Anglo-New Zealand journalist who was raised in Australia.
McKinnon was the co-host of Weekend Today and is also a reporter and fill in presenter for Nine News and A Current Affair. She is also a panellist on the NRL Footy Show, and a book reviewer for the Australian Women’s Weekly.
Career
McKinnon began her career reporting part-time for The Sunday Telegraph in Brisbane, while finishing a journalism degree at Queensland University of Technology. In 1993 she accepted a cadetship at WIN Television in Rockhampton, Queensland, before moving to WIN's Cairns bureau. In 1995, she began work with the Nine Network, reporting and presenting for Nine's Nine Gold Coast News.
After three years she became a reporter for A Current Affair in Brisbane. A brief stint on a short-lived consumer affairs programme followed, before she moved to Sydney and returned to the news department, in late 2001. In February 2005, she was appointed news presenter for Today replacing Sharyn Ghidella. She remained news presenter of Today until June when Ghidella was reinstated as news presenter. In August, she returned to present National Nine Morning News presenting the morning bulletin.