Everyone who appears on the cover of a magazine feels angst about how they look. As the editor of a magazine, I sympathise, I really do. Yet I also have to retain control of the cover, or put another way, the right to edit the magazine because if you show someone an image of themselves, they invariably want a different picture, cover line or, in most cases, more Photoshopping. So I don’t show them the cover until it is printed and about to hit the stands — it’s tough love.

Yet I had to laugh when burns victim and the Australian Women’s Weekly’s July cover girl Turia Pitt asked to see her cover before publication because, like every other celebrity, she was anxious about how she looked. I shouldn’t have been surprised because the only person who doesn’t think she is special, brave and inspirational is Turia herself. To her and her partner Michael Hoskin, she is just like anyone else making the most of what life has dealt her.

In just one photograph, Turia Pitt says more about what matters in life than I could ever write in this piece. I have never met a more impressive woman. It is a common observation that many of us (me especially) suffer from ‘First World problems’. So, when you consider what she has been through — more than 18 major operations and dozens of skin grafts after receiving burns to 64 per cent of her body — Turia is exceptional. Add to that her decision to ride a bike to Uluru to raise money for a children’s charity and to walk part of the Great Wall of China to raise funds for other burns victims, and you start to get some understanding of the quality of the person.

I often get asked what makes a cover and the fact is Turia ticks all the boxes. She has an incredible story, she is inspiring, she is admired, she is funny and she has never been on the cover before, so she is surprising. Yes, people have asked if it is ‘brave’, but for all the reasons above the answer is no. The Australian Women’s Weekly is a big magazine and a good-sized business, so there is only so much you can do that is ‘brave’. Turia is there because she deserves to be. I know the readers of the Weekly pretty well and I know they will embrace this cover because they have already embraced this beautiful woman.

The significant structural challenges in the global media landscape are now being felt by everyone in the game almost daily. Digital journalists are no more immune than the ones working in the so-called old media, although there is no such divide any more, as every newspaper, magazine and TV station has a digital presence. Many commentators seem to forget or overlook that. The strain of it all has led to some brutal and highly personal battles being waged in the pages of the Australian and the Financial Review. This week, many keen observers of the media have commented to me privately that they wonder what the readers make of it all. The answer is probably not much. Yet these are tough times and, as the audience and the advertising revenue splinters, everyone is scrambling. This tension is bubbling over into the media, especially in the battle between the two giants of the newspaper industry, and there is a lot at stake. It is a fascinating battle for psychological supremacy— so long as you don’t get caught in the crossfire.

I ran into a happy, healthy-looking Treasurer at the Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery Midwinter Ball earlier this month. The annual love-in for journalists and politicians is a highlight of the parliamentary calendar. The good-natured Treasurer told me that the Australian Women’s Weekly was not exactly ‘political’, to which I reminded him of former Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s knitted kangaroo saga (a year ago this week), which caused such a storm that many people believe it was partially the cause of her downfall. I don’t think for a minute that was the case, but there was certainly that perception.

Yet I did take the chance to remind Mr Hockey that the current PM once told the magazine that ‘virginity was a gift’, which in some quarters seems to be regarded as one of his biggest gaffes. Mr Hockey, who was paying close attention, nodded, smiled and said that it proved politicians should avoid profiles in the Weekly. A few days later, I was offered a profile of the Treasurer to coincide with the release of his upcoming biography Hockey: Not Your Average Joe.

I quite like going to the football, but it always takes me a while to warm up to the AFL season. Now, though, I am officially warmed up. Last week, I watched Hawthorn demolish the Pies and, the week before, Sydney defeat Port Adelaide in the dying moments of the last quarter at the SCG. On the basis of that, I am going to predict the Swans is the team to beat. I feel like I know a bit about the sport (my little brother played for the Hawks from 1992 to 2004), but my knowledge is still largely superficial. So, when discussing the merits of the Swans with none other than Ricky Ponting, while seated at his table during the Swisse-sponsored Celebrate Life charity ball in Melbourne on 13 June, I was not overly confident in my prediction. I was therefore pleased to hear the former captain of the Australian cricket team agree wholeheartedly.

Ricky is, of course, a passionate AFL fan and supporter of North Melbourne. He is also expecting his third child with wife Rianna to add to their family of two daughters.