Michael Kenneth Munro, (born 12 April 1953), is an Australian journalist and television presenter.
Early life
Munro cites a tough childhood—with an abusive and alcoholic mother—as one of the main reasons behind his motivation to succeed. Munro attended Sacred Heart Primary School in Mosman, New South Wales, and Marist Catholic College North Shore in North Sydney. He stayed in newspapers for 7 years, before trying television and not liking it. So he returned to newspapers when Rupert Murdoch sent him to New York to work in the NewsCorp bureau writing for newspapers in Great Britain and Australia.
He is synonymous with the biographical show This Is Your Life, which he hosted from 1995 until 2005 and then again in 2008.
In 2005 he replaced Georgie Gardner on National Nine News: Afternoon Edition. In 2006 he stepped down from National Nine News Afternoon Edition but continued to present Sydney's National Nine News on weekends; he remained in this position until 2008.
Also in 2006, Munro hosted the television series Missing Persons Unit and What a Year, alongside Megan Gale, which first aired on the Nine Network on 2 October 2006. But in 2007, they were replaced by Bert Newton and Julia Zemiro and since then the show had been axed.
On 26 October 2008, Munro resigned from the Nine Network after 22 years with the network.
On 7 January 2009, he signed a three-year contract with rival Seven Network to become the founding host of a new current affairs program Sunday Night. In addition to this, he also substituted for David Koch on the top-rating breakfast show, Sunrise.
In January 2014, Network Ten announced that Munro had joined the network. On 9 February 2014, he commenced as the presenter of Ten Eyewitness News Weekend. Munro later resigned in protest from Network Ten, after completing his 12-month contract, due to dozens of staff being retrenched from the news department.
In 2014, Munro was made a member of the Order of Australia for his community work and services to journalism. series for Foxtel's History Channel on Bushrangers. Lawless – The Real Bushrangers. The four episodes featured the crime scenes of Ned Kelly, Ben Hall, Captain Moonlite, and the Kenniff brothers. One of the one-hour specials included Munro's great uncles, Paddy and Jimmy Kenniff, one of whom was hanged in Brisbane jail in 1903 after being convicted of murdering a police constable and a station manager in the Carnarvon Ranges in Queensland.
In 2018, Munro hosted Mateship – Australia & USA: A Century Together, a one-hour documentary on Foxtel's History channel celebrating 100 years of the close bonds that unite Australia and America. Since 4 July 1918, the United States of America and Australia have never fought a major war without each other. It is one of the longest alliances in modern history.
In August 2019 HarperCollins published Munro's book, The Last Bushrangers: When History Becomes Personal — The Story of the Murderous Kenniff Gang.
Honours
In the 2014 Queen's Birthday Honours List, Munro was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM), for "significant service to journalism as a television current affairs reporter and presenter, and to the community as an ambassador for a range of charitable organisations".
Personal life
Munro is married to Lea, and they have two children.