He was the 1990 co-editor of On Dit, the newspaper of the University's Student Association and was also President of CISCAC, the Committee in Solidarity with Central America and the Caribbean, a Marxist political club.
[6] One of Penberthy's more famous moments as a reporter with the Daily Telegraph came with his "Five Star Asylum" piece, an article headlined "The truth about how inmates are treated inside Australia's detention centres.
[1] As editor, Penberthy came under intense pressure over the publication of stories focusing on then NSW Liberal Party leader John Brogden, who was accused of making inappropriate comments to the journalist Justine Ferrari while drunk.
[8] Penberthy resigned as editor of the Daily Telegraph in November 2008 during the newspaper's campaign for the New South Wales state government to "sack itself".
[9] In October 2010 it was reported that Penberthy had recently separated from his wife and he was romantically linked to federal MP Kate Ellis.