Andrew Bolt is an Australian conservative columnist and associate editor for the Melbourne newspaper, the Herald Sun. He worked for The Age in various roles, including as a sports writer, prior to joining the Herald, the precursor to the Herald Sun, in 1985. He is married to fellow Herald Sun columnist, Sally Morrell.

Bolt also appears regularly as part of a panel on the ABC-TV programme The Insiders.

His sometimes controversial statements have resulted in legal action being taken against the paper. In 2002, Melbourne Magistrate Jelena Popovic successfully sued the publishers of the Herald Sun for slander and was awarded $221,000 AUD (exemplary damages of a further $25,000 were struck down on appeal) based on their having published Bolt's false claim that she had "hugged two drug traffickers she let walk free", when she in fact shook their hands to congratulate them on having completed a rehabilitation program.

Critics like crikey.com.au chief Stephen Mayne and Sydney Morning Herald writer and former presenter of the ABC program Media Watch David Marr argue that Bolt makes many sensationalist claims, which are rarely backed up with any evidence, or that the evidence used is highly questionable.

One famous argument between Bolt and the latter occurred on the 21st of July 2003, on Media Watch. Marr claimed that Bolt's article A Kick Up The Arts (2/6/2003), unfairly treated the subject of the article-writer Alison Broinowski by claiming she had misused 3 small taxpayer-funded arts grants by writing a book saying Australia had deserved the 2002 Bali bombing. Marr claimed that Bolt had actually misquoted her, that she had said that "racist bigots in Malaysia" thought Australia deserved the Bali bombing. Marr also said she had only recieved two claims. Bolt responded angrily to Marr, what followed was a very heated exchange on the next episode of Media Watch; Marr firstly retracted one claim (about the number of grants-Broinowski had actually received the three grants as Bolt had said). Bolt demanded an apology live on Media Watch saying Marr had told lies about him. Marr responded by saying that Bolt very much likes dishing criticism towards people, but cannot take it himself. The argument remained deadlocked (see for their very heated exchange).

The next week Bolt in turn, wrote an article claiming that the ABC and most of the metropolitan newspapers favour left-wing political views. However critics point out that this claim is a bit rich; seeing as Bolt writes for Australia's highest selling newspaper (The Herald Sun) , and that every capital city in Australia has at least one Newspaper owned by the Herald Sun's owner News Corporation-who's editorials generally mirror the views of its chairman Rupert Murdoch, a staunch conservative.

Critics also point out that Bolt (as mentioned earlier), is paid to go on the ABC program Insiders so his claim of ABC bias could be seen as a little thin as his conservative views generally get a fair airing on the show.

Despite, or perhapse, because of the controversy, Bolt's column remains popular with conservatives who regard him as a refreshing change from what they see as Left-wing bias.

External links

• Andrew Bolt's Herald Sun site.
• Age Article on the Popovic court case
• Sunday Mail article Magistrate's defamation award cut on appeal
• Satirical Site of Bolt's writing
• BoltWatch: Deconstructs Bolt's opinion pieces