Neil Breen (journalist)

Neil Breen is an Australian journalist and radio presenter.
He currently hosts the afternoon drive program on Brisbane radio station 4BC. 
Breen has previously been the editor of The Sunday Telegraph and the executive producer of breakfast television program Today (Australian TV program).
==Career==
Breen graduated from Brisbane State High School in 1985. Breen then studied at the Queensland University of Technology where he graduated with a Bachelor of Communication and Journalism.
From 2006 to 2012, Breen was the editor of the company's weekly Sunday newspaper in Sydney The Sunday Telegraph (Sydney). It was during this time, Breen became embroiled in a scandal in 2009 involving the publication of nude photos of a woman wrongly believed to be politician Pauline Hanson, which culminated in Breen apologising to Hanson.
In 2012, he left News Corp to commence a television career with the Nine Network, initially working as the executive producer of the network's national breakfast programs Today (Australian TV program) and Weekend Today (Australian TV program).
Following ongoing reports of tension between Breen and on air talent, such as Ben Fordham, Richard Wilkins (TV presenter) and Tim Gilbert (journalist), as well as a threat of legal action from Breen to News Corp regarding a planned article about the ratings of Today, Nine's director of News Darren Wick confirmed in November 2013 that Breen had left his role as executive producer of Today and Weekend Today to become an investigative sports producer with Nine News.
Breen's role saw him reporting on various sports issues for Nine News as well as for the network's sports programs Sports Sunday, 100% Footy and The Sunday Footy Show (rugby league).
In 2016, Breen was accused of verbally abusing a female reporter. The incident occurred at Randwick Racecourse where Breen reportedly yelled abuse at Amy Harris, a reporter from The Sunday Telegraph. Nine confirmed that they were looking into the incident but denied that there was a full investigation into the matter. 
In 2020, Breen was announced as the host of a new locally-presented breakfast program on Nine Radio's Brisbane station 4BC, owned by the Nine Network's parent company Nine Entertainment. Breen was appointed as the host of the program following the retirement of Sydney broadcaster Alan Jones (radio broadcaster). Jones' 2GB breakfast program had been airing on 4BC since 2015 following a mass sacking of on air talent, which included the station's local breakfast announcers, Ian Skippen and Loretta Ryan.
Shortly after being appointed as the host of the 4BC breakfast program, Breen attracted media attention after performer Boy George, a coach on Nine's The Voice (Australian TV series), abruptly ended a phone interview when he took offence at Breen's introduction.
Breen also attracted media attention in 2020 for his comments regarding Ellen DeGeneres. Breen claimed that while he was the executive producer of Today in 2013, an interview DeGeneres did with Richard Wilkins while she was in Australia was so strictly controlled that it included Breen being ordered not to talk to or look at DeGeneres during filming.
Following a station reshuffle in 2022 to accommodate the former breakfast presenters of now-defunct station 4KQ, Breen was moved to the afternoon drive timeslot where he now hosts Brisbane Live.
==Awards==
In 2002, Breen was awarded a Walkley Award for his coverage of "Ben Tune" for The Courier-Mail.
At the inaugural Kennedy Awards in 2012, Breen and reporter Jonathan Marshall were recognised with the award for Most Outstanding Splash for their coverage of Grant Hackett's revelations that he abused the sleeping pill Stilnox.
At the 2018 Kennedy Awards, Breen received the Harry Potter (journalist)|Harry Potter Award for Outstanding Television News Reporting.
==Personal life==
Breen is married to fellow journalist Elizabeth Meryment. They have three children.
Rugby league player Moses Mbye is Breen's nephew.
Category:Queensland University of Technology alumni
Category:Australian journalists
Category:Radio presenters