Fauziah Ibrahim struggled with depression, ‘adrenaline’ of breaking news and self doubt in ABC role

Embattled ABC host Fauziah Ibrahim spends three days mentally punishing herself if she butchers an interview and can’t help but second guess herself following years of ‘sexism and racism’ in the industry.

The under-siege ABC News Breakfast presenter also suffered depression upon returning to Australia in October 2016 following years of working as a news reporter in Asia.

Ms Ibrahim spoke at length about her mental health struggles and process for dealing with ‘bad interviews’ on the And We’re Rolling podcast in 2021. 

In the interview, she credits ‘the adrenaline of breaking news‘ for keeping her in the industry but notes her work is extremely taxing and she doesn’t always get it right.   

She is currently ‘taking a break’ from her role pending an investigation into offensive comments made on her Twitter account earlier this month. 

Ms Ibrahim grouped a handful of Twitter followers into two lists on her personal account – ‘lobotomised sh**heads’ and ‘Labor trolls/thugs’ – which were left open for the public to see. 

It came after months of criticism for an interview she conducted with Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese. 

The under-siege ABC News Breakfast presenter also suffered depression upon returning to Australia in October 2016 following years of working as a news reporter in Asia 

‘I’m not afraid to say, ”yep, I was wrong. I’m sorry, how can I make this better”,’ Ms Ibrahim said in the August 2021 podcast, months before her interview with Mr Albanese.

She admitted she struggles with confidence, particularly when an interview doesn’t run smoothly. 

‘There are times I’ve done an interview and thought it was really bad and that I haven’t handled myself well. I kick myself for three days after just because I’ve said something wrong or didn’t ask the right questions,’ she said.

But Ms Ibrahim said she always learns from her mistakes and takes the feedback of her colleagues on board.   

And even after decades in the industry, Ms Ibrahim hasn’t lost her passion for news. If anything, it’s greater than ever.

Ms Ibrahim had travelled through much of Asia interviewing everyone from the Dalai Lama to terrorists and dictators since landing her first role as a news presenter for a Singaporean radio station in 1999

Embattled ABC host Fauziah Ibrahim spends three days mentally punishing herself if she butchers an interview and can’t help but second guess herself following years of ‘sexism and racism’ in the industry 

‘It’s the adrenaline of breaking news that keeps me in the industry,’ she said. ‘I became addicted to it. I loved the adrenaline spike.’

Ms Ibrahim noted it was an adjustment transitioning from her on-the-ground reporting role with Al Jazeera in Asia to her behind-the-desk role with the ABC.

She suffered ‘FOMO’ (fear of missing out) when returning to Australia primarily due to the fact she was no longer in the thick of international breaking news. 

Years later, she recognises she was actually suffering from depression at the time.

‘It’s because I was addicted to the adrenaline and there just wasn’t that much in Australia. I missed that… I recognise now that it was depression.’

Ms Ibrahim had travelled through much of Asia interviewing everyone from the Dalai Lama to terrorists and dictators since landing her first role as a news presenter for a Singaporean radio station in 1999.

While she’s proud of all her success, Ms Ibrahim noted she’d faced plenty of racism and sexism over the years, adding it’s hard to have confidence as a woman in media.

Ms Ibrahim noted it was an adjustment transitioning from her on-the-ground reporting role with Al Jazeera in Asia to her behind-the-desk role with the ABC 

‘We are constantly being questioned, second guessed, whether we’re able to carry something. That glass ceiling is still there,’ she said.

‘I’ve faced racism and sexism. That’s what this industry is [but] this is a time when the industry is changing and there are efforts being made to right those wrongs.’

In spite of the adjustment moving from reporting to hosting, Ms Ibrahim said she’s never been happier in a job than she is now at the ABC.

‘It’s very taxing, but I wouldn’t change it. This is the first time in my life I can say I’m really happy about where my career is, the job I have, the intellectual challenges and the physical challenges,’ she said.  

Each Saturday and Sunday, Ms Ibrahim is awake at 3am and in the studio by 4am for a 7am air time.

She spends 4 hours on air continuously – there are no ad breaks on the ABC – and is off the air at 11am.

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By 11.01am, Ms Ibrahim says she’s usually a different person from the one on screens in households across the nation.

Each Saturday and Sunday, Ms Ibrahim is awake at 3am and in the studio by 4am for a 7am air time. She spends 4 hours on air continuously – there are no ad breaks on the ABC – and is off the air at 11am 

‘I am a hangry, horrible person to deal with,’ she said. ‘My executive producer knows that and comes to everybody’s rescue by giving me a piece of chocolate.’

After a short break, Ms Ibrahim heads directly into an editorial meeting but, by about 11.30am she is ‘grunty’ and ‘loses the power of English’.

After a few hours working in quiet solitude and preparing for her interviews the next morning, Ms Ibrahim returns home to her husband and family.

‘They’re very kind to me… And then I announce I’m going for a nap which means they can’t make any noise at all.’

Ms Ibrahim has since vanished from her usual role on the show and deleted any reference to the ABC from her Twitter bio. 

When Ms Ibrahim came under fire over a live TV interview with Mr Albanese back in January, ABC executives strongly backed her ‘impartiality’. 

At the time, Ms Ibrahim was accused of showing ‘arrogance and extreme bias’ against the Labor Party and speaking over Mr Albanese. 

But the ABC offered her unwavering support.

Ms Ibrahim’s interview with Mr Albanese centered on Covid rapid tests and vaccination figures and the presenter was accused on social media of rarely giving him an opportunity to complete a sentence.

At one stage, he tried six times to answer a statement she made about Labor ‘getting on board’ with the Coalition’s plan to boost vaccination rates.

‘If you’ll just wait a minute,’ Mr Albanese said as Ms Ibrahim spoke over the top of him.

The interview attracted criticism and upset several viewers enough they lodged complaints with the public broadcaster. 

In the wake of the interview, Ms Ibrahim was the subject of intense and persistent trolling and online bullying.

‘Ms Ibrahim’s ”interview” was an absolute disgrace and should cost her her job,’ one viewer said after the segment aired. 

Another said he’d ‘previously been an admirer of Ms Ibrahim’, but she ‘lost him’ after the way she conducted herself during the interview.

Fauziah Ibrahim was told she would be ‘more suited to Sky News’ than the ABC after a disastrous interview with Anthony Albanese months before she was ousted for describing her critics as ‘lobotomised sh**heads and Labor trolls’

In response to complaints made about the interview, the ABC’s Head of Audience and Consumer Affairs determined Ms Ibrahim ‘conducted [herself] with due impartiality and complied with the ABC’s editorial standards’.

‘Ms Ibrahim employed the adversarial or ‘devil’s advocate’ approach to interviewing. We are satisfied the interview with Mr Albanese was suitably rigorous and informative, the questions posed by Ms Ibrahim were relevant and based strictly on news value,’ the statement read.

‘Mr Albanese was afforded ample opportunity to respond to the questions in detail and at length. While rigorous, Ms Ibrahim demonstrated a consistently civil and objective approach.’

Just three months later, two controversial lists on her personal Twitter account were unearthed labelling her critics ‘Labor Trolls/Thugs’ and ‘Lobotomised sh**heads’.

Social media users who found themselves grouped in the two lists – which were made public on Ms Ibrahim’s account – accused her of displaying anti-Labor bias.

In the wake of the controversy, Ms Ibrahim was pulled off air. An ABC spokesman insisted she has not been sacked – but is ‘taking a break’ from TV screens. 

‘The ABC is reviewing recent social media activity by presenter Fauziah Ibrahim,’ the spokesman said.

Ms Ibrahim has locked down her social media accounts in the wake of the controversy amid trolling from critics who have labelled her ‘trash’ and ‘disgusting’