Daniel Piotrowski
Daniel Piotrowski is a columnist and producer for The Punch and a reporter for news.com.au.
After being asked throughout his young life whether he was related to Tom Piotrowski, the Channel 10 CommSec guy (for the record: he’s not), Daniel chose to follow his namesake into the media.
Dan joined The Punch team in August 2011. He graduated from the University of Technology, Sydney, with a degree in journalism and communications.
There, he edited the student magazine, Vertigo. His crowning achievement in this role was the magazine being censored by student politicians over a poor taste headline about fake breasts. A headline he still thinks is very funny.
Before joining The Punch, Dan spent a year-and-a-half working on The Australian’s online desk and working for free for every New South Welsh news outlet under the sun.
Dan is the proud owner of a Barack Obama desktop garden gnome.
Articles by Daniel Piotrowski
The outrageous plot to shrink our ridiculous ballot papers
No wonder so many people scribble penises on their ballots instead of actually voting for someone. They’re too big -…... Read more
Aah! Five unusual ways science fiction is fact
Meteorites blowing up the joint, robots carrying on… The Punch thought it was time to take a look at how…... Read more
Crunch time: Labor MPs to go hard or go home
Two of the big guns of Julia Gillard’s Government confirmed this morning that they will not contest the next election.…... Read more
Is violence against women our Sandy Hook?
A balding, middle-aged man said something dumb about breastfeeding on TV last week. Furious mums turned out in the force…... Read more
It wasn’t about the bike
“I view this situation as one big lie.” “It’s just this mythic perfect story and that just wasn’t true.” It…... Read more
Stop the fattism! The prejudice we never talk about
Racism, sexism, ageism, disability-ism, sexual orientation-ism… None of these are really socially acceptable. But what about fattism? Like all prejudices,…... Read more
Fifty shades of crap clichés we should leave in 2012
It’s a New Year - time for a fresh start. In everyday life and in the news in 2012, a…... Read more
A guide to summer festivals especially if you wouldn’t go
The sniffer dogs are out, the shirts are off, the skirts are short… and the media is using the phrase…... Read more
Punch on: Open thread 30/11/2012
The Advertising Standards Board is the arbiter of all things proper in advertising. But they’re not the nanny-statists some might…... Read more
Big Tobacco’s packaging fight goes up in smoke
We’re nearly at the day where we (officially) won’t be able to tell the difference between packets of Winnie Blues,…... Read more
Once, only elite athletes took “performance enhancers”...
Plenty of us need that large cappuccino to get us through the day at work. But if you’re a uni…... Read more
Boofhead brutality super-charged by a Taser
The verdict was scathing. We knew it would be. The NSW State Coroner, Mary Jerram, handed down her report this…... Read more
Barack to the future, that place where leaders live
There was plenty for Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott to reflect on yesterday, as US President Barack Obama dramatically clinched…... Read more
OBAMA RE-ELECTED FOR SECOND TERM
President Obama has dramatically clinched a second term in the White House. FOX News and CNN called the result for…... Read more
Darth Mickey stabs Star Wars with a lightsaber
Every Star Wars fan felt it this morning. A disturbance in The Force. Probably the biggest since Darth Vader blew…... Read more
All billionaires are crazy, but this guy Trumps them all
“I want to be a billionaire, so freakin’ bad” That’s the chorus of a well known Gen Y song. Donald…... Read more
Your electricity company, telling you who to vote for
I was standing in my significant other’s kitchen, doing what I usually do: eating her food, creating a mess and…... Read more
You don’t expect to die when you take a painkiller
“Goodness!” says a bloke named Tony Trimingham. He’s taken aback. The Punch spoke to Tony last week to hear his…... Read more
We’ve got binders full of issues with these candidates
Israel, Egypt, Syria, Russia. That was what President Obama and rival Mitt Romney talked about today at the last presidential…... Read more
A primer on “yolo”: Are young people crazier now?
Yolo. Hashtag, yeah. No, this column isn’t about Yogo, the delicious chocolate yoghurt substance of yore. It’s (kinda) about a…... Read more
Barack wakes up but it’s all about Bush and Libya
So the sleepyhead woke up. Whassup, Barack? Lefties in the US were about to jump a fortnight ago, when the…... Read more
Will pokie laws be revived? Might just be hokey
Peter Slipper is soon to be painted in an official portrait to commemorate being Speaker of the House. It’ll cost…... Read more
The Government knows how to stop the sucker punches
We know how to stop this country’s binge on alcohol-fuelled violence. The answers have been sitting in some bureaucrat’s drawer…... Read more
Where was the passion? Obama falls flat at debate
The US election is going to be a squeaker. An absolute squeaker, if the presidential debate today (mostly about the…... Read more
Lawsy, what a man. You know what I mean.
Like tens of thousands of mothers across the country, my mum constantly had the John Laws Morning Show on every…... Read more
Pepper spray: A means of self-defence?
Katherine, a 22-year-old Sydney law student, has to walk 150 metres from her bus stop to her house every night,…... Read more
Memes: The next big thing have finally gone BIG
When actor Clint Eastwood spent a crucial prime-time slot at Republican National Convention berating a wooden chair he pretended Barack…... Read more
Blokes are hooked on porn. What’s the answer?
The internet took away the obvious creepiness. Once, people had to visit places signposted with fluoroscent lights and dank stairwells…... Read more
Cory’s going to be a loud voice on the backbench
It was his time to shine. Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi has always been outspoken on the issues of gay marriage…... Read more
Hate not on the menu at the Ramadan dinner I attended
“We were not raised on hate.” Speaking about his family and community, that’s what one Sydney Muslim, Ozan Amir, told…... Read more
Alarming new evidence of Dubya terror negligence
Eleven years yesterday since the murder of thousands of innocents in New York and Washington. Eleven years and 36 days…... Read more
More dog poo. Just what the community will want!
Dogs belong in backyards digging up bones. Cats, curled up on couches and starring in viral internet videos. That’s their…... Read more
Smackdowns and silly ideas: Fewer local pollies please
This Punch post isn’t about WWE wrestling. Nothing to do with star John Cena delivering an elevated chokeslam to Kane.…... Read more
I’m so awesome, sucks no one believes me
Oh man, my train was delayed for a WHOLE hour this morning. No one told us what was going on.…... Read more
Two types of workers: The paid and the unpaid?
It’s never a good thing for interns to be in the headlines. The situation Monica Lewinsky fell into when former…... Read more
You’ll be seeing a lot more of this card. But not just yet
It was the controversial program at the heart of the Northern Territory intervention. Many Indigenous people had their welfare money…... Read more
Magpies. Just a flock of stressed out folks
You know the moment. The sun’s briefly eclipsed by a dark object. Then a shadow flits across the ground in…... Read more
Punch on: Open thread 24/08/2012
Lusting for luscious locks? Well, endless advertisements have said: Look no further than Ashley & Martin for your hair needs.…... Read more
How do you say that? Oh, doesn’t really matter, mate
Australia, we suck at pronunciation. After all, we’re the country that can barely pronounce its own name. Aus-tray-lia? It’s Straya,…... Read more
Assange says it’s about you. He owes you some answers
Condemning Barack Obama from the balcony of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London last night (Australian time), Julian Assange found himself…... Read more
Punch on: Open thread 17/08/2012
News broke yesterday that motorbike riders might be required to wear hi-vis fluoro clothing on the roads. But we were…... Read more
What really drives whether we care about the climate
Australians believe climate change is happening. Overwhelmingly. Only 6.5 per cent of us won’t have a bar of it, according…... Read more
Edging ever closer to a State of blissful matrimony
Fed up with the chances of Federal Parliament passing a gay marriage bill this year, marriage equality campaigners have turned…... Read more
Punch on: Open thread 13/08/2012
Little Athletics has shepherded many young Australians onto the track leading to eventual Olympic stardom. Sally Pearson, for one. Pole-vaulter…... Read more
Men are the new sluts
Soft, supple, fake-tanned skin. Brown and honeyed. Clothes tight in all the right places. And lacking in the right places…... Read more
How a city infected by violence took back the streets
People from Glasgow, the largest city in Scotland, are often typecast by the British media as violent drunks. The stereotype…... Read more
Bringing our Olympic expectations down to Earth
“TOUCHDOWN CONFIRMED!” Trust the Yanks to use a gridiron term to describe the landing of the one-tonne plutonium-powered rover, Curiosity,…... Read more
The internet empowered the trolls… and the complainers
Facebook pages of celebrities are being trolled by a particularly ‘Strayan identity of late. Potentially the only person in the…... Read more
Now, this is crazy
Hey! I just met you, And this is craz—- um, unadvisable, But here’s my number, So call me maybe. They’re…... Read more
Real heroes walk away
David Mitchell. Matthew Stanley. If those names don’t mean anything to you, they belong to two people - a then…... Read more
Facebook Recommendations
Read all about it
Punch live
Up to the minute Twitter chatter
RT @CrawfordFund: @farrm51 u may like 2 help spread word of our #foodsecurity journo award http://t.co/FwbMWwJmLf
RT @adamroy37: Just received a phone call from a young girl apologizing for her actions. Lets support her please #racismitstopswithme#Indi…
RT @adamroy37: Just received a phone call from a young girl apologizing for her actions. Lets support her please #racismitstopswithme#Indi…
Australia. Where you die for your country and get a rest area named after you http://t.co/hO6LpfwDvI
Recent posts
The latest and greatest
The Punch is moving house
Good morning Punchers. After four years of excellent fun and great conversation, this is the final post…
Will Pope Francis have the vision to tackle this?
I have had some close calls, one that involved what looked to me like an AK47 pointed my way, followed…
Advocating risk management is not “victim blaming”
In a world in which there are still people who subscribe to the vile notion that certain victims of sexual…
Nosebleed Section
choice ringside rantings
From: Hasbro, go straight to gaol, do not pass go
Tim says:
They should update other things in the game too. Instead of a get out of jail free card, they should have a Dodgy Lawyer card that not only gets you out of jail straight away but also gives you a fat payout in compensation for daring to arrest you in the first place. Instead of getting a hotel when you… [read more]From: A guide to summer festivals especially if you wouldn’t go
Kel says:
If you want a festival for older people or for families alike, get amongst the respectable punters at Bluesfest. A truly amazing festival experience to be had of ALL AGES. And all the young "festivalgoers" usually write themselves off on the first night, only to never hear from them again the rest of… [read more]Gentle jabs to the ribs
Superman needs saving
Can somebody please save Superman? He seems to be going through a bit of a crisis. Eighteen months ago,… Read more
