Dateline host George Negus also appears regularly on 7pm Project.
George Negus says he's been around so long networks don't mind him appearing on both Dateline and 7pm Project.
"Who would have thought that sort of generation would be interested in hearing what I've got to say?" asks veteran journalist George Negus.
But since his first appearance on 7pm Project, Negus has found himself in demand.
Producers were won over by his worldly take on news and current affairs and asked him to become a regular on the show. Now he appears every Monday night alongside Charlie Pickering, Carrie Bickmore and Dave Hughes.
For Negus, who hosts the more serious Dateline for SBS, it was an easy invitation to accept.
"I've got a lot of time for 7pm Project. A lot of people have been talking about changing the approach to news and current affairs for years and all you end up getting is a reheated version of the same old thing with a different front person and a different set," he says.
"This is a genuine attempt to break the mould and I'm a bit of an old mould-breaker from way back."
Negus has more than 40 years of journalism behind him, notably as one of the three news-breakers to launch 60 Minutes in Australia. Now his experience is finding a new audience thanks to the younger pitch of 7pm Project.
"Maybe we've got a chance to indicate to younger people that experience doesn't only mean just having one experience and repeating it for 30 years. One of the things that people of our generation have got to offer is our experience, because it might help the younger people who will be taking our jobs and accelerate the maturation process," he says.
He was also given the OK by SBS to become a regular on TEN's show, which is viewed as a "win-win" by both parties.
"I've been around long enough now for people to know I'm not trying to take anybody's job. I'm trying to fill holes and play a role. If my experience is broad enough to be able to do that across several networks, why not? And if it doesn't scare the shit out of management and the audience has got something to enjoy and think about, and the people involved think I can value-add to what they're doing, then I'm happy."
Negus is also writing a new book but remains tight-lipped on its content but hints that it could involve some of the many interviews he has conducted over his career.
"I'm sworn to discretion," he laughs.
"But I've worked out a way to plagiarise myself."
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