Sunday, March 12, 2000

Lily white hacks who never sold out

Crikey has listed the journalists that have sold out to work for pollies, companies and PR firms, but we also like to pay tribute to those in the industry with more than 15 years of service who have never sold out to the dark side. Here we present the “lily whites” of Australian media.

The so-called lily whites list is the one that everyone wants to get on. And rightly so. Given that there are now twice as many public relations professionals in Australia than journalists these days, something should be made of those who stayed loyal to a profession devoted to working in the public interest.

We take our Crikey hats off to the lily whites. They have never been lured into the big dollars of PR – a profession that often attempts to manipulate the truth regardless of the public interest.

There are a few interesting definitional issues regarding qualifications for the list.

We have excluded long term sub-editors, sports journalists and those working in regional media just to try and keep it to a manageable size. Besides, those journalists tend to be less likely to be lured into politics and corporate PR.

Some journalists have been left off the list for dabbling with other professions such as stockbroking. Whilst this is certainly nothing like PR, we would be interested in your feedback about this. For instance, should Ian McIlwraith’s one year at stockbroker AC Goode, Alan Kohler’s brief stint at James Capel and Bryan Frith’s early 80s experiment with Macquarie Bank be considered big enough sins to keep them off the list.

And should being paid to train people how to handle the media disqualify the likes Richard Moorcroft and Jill Singer from being on the lily-white list? We think so.

Obviously, being on this list is not the be all and end all. Some time-servers are on it because they could not get a job elsewhere. And many people have left the profession to pursue bigger and better things than journalism. Look at Bob Carr and former Optus chief executive Chris Anderson.

However, many of the legends of the industry are on the list. The likes of Laurie Oakes, Trevor Sykes, Paul Kelly, Terry McCrann and Jim Waley – all of whom have notched up more than 30 years uninterrupted.

The Lily White Journalists Who Never Sold Out:

  • Sue Ahearn – NZBC, ABC, 3AW, Nine Network, TVNZ, Radio Australia, SIBC
  • Piers Akerman – Daily Telegraph
  • Col Allan – Dubbo, Daily Telegraph, Brisbane Sun, Daily Telegraph, New York Post
  • Tony Allan – ABC Radio
  • David Armstrong – Bulletin, The Australian, South China Morning Post, Australian, SCMP
  • Paul Austin – Melbourne Herald, The Australian, The Age
  • Mark Baker – The Age, Melbourne Herald, The Sunday Herald, The Age
  • Steve Barratt – Daily Telegraph, Nine, The Australian, Nine
  • Paul Barry – ABC TV, Seven, SMH, ABC TV, Nine
  • Stephen Bartholomeusz – The Sun, The Age
  • Michael Beach – Daily Telegraph (inc stint in New York)
  • John Beveridge – Herald Sun (including stint in LA)
  • Peter Blunden – The Australian, The Advertiser, Herald Sun
  • Pamela Bone – The Age
  • Paul Bongiorno – Channel 10
  • David Bray – Courier-Mail, Herald and Weekly Times in London, Freelance.
  • Malcolm Brown – SMH
  • Glenn Burge – Daily Telegraph, SMH, Fin Review
  • Shane Burke – Herald Sun (including stint in LA)
  • Rowan Callick – Fin Review
  • Suzanne Carbone – Leader Newspapers and The Age
  • Richard Carleton – ABC, Nine
  • Mike Carlton – 2GB, ABC radio, 2UE
  • Vic Caruso – Leader Newspapers, The Australian, Channel 10, Channel 7, SBS
  • Nick Cater – Advertiser, News Ltd Hong Kong correspondent, Daily Telegraph
  • Michael Cave – Geelong Advertiser, Fin Review
  • Peter Cave – ABC Radio
  • Peter Charlton – Brisbane Telegraph, The Australian, ABC, Courier-Mail
  • Neil Chenoweth – The Bulletin, Fin Review
  • Pilita Clark – West Australian, SMH, The Eye, SMH
  • Peter Cole-Adams – The Age, Canberra Times, The Reader
  • Mark Colvin – ABC Radio
  • Lyall Corless – Sunday Herald Sun
  • Ross Coulthart – Nine
  • David Dale – SMH, The Bulletin, SMH
  • Ken Davidson – The Age, Dissent Magazine
  • Mark Day – The News, Sunday Mail, The News, NY correspondent News Ltd Aust, Sunday Mail, Daily Mirror, Truth, Daily Mirror, The Australian, Playboy, Australian Penthouse, Truth, 3AW, regional radio, Seven, 2UE, Daily Telegraph, 2GB, The Australian.
  • Quentin Dempster – ABC TV
  • Frank Devine – Marlborough Express (NZ), The West Australian, Herald and Weekly Times (foreign correspondent), Readers Digest, Chicago Sun Times, New York Post, The Australian.
  • Miranda Devine – Boston Herald, Daily Telegraph, SMH
  • Tim Dodd – Fin Review
  • Brendan Donohoe – Melbourne Herald, The Age, Seven
  • Glenn Dyer – Max Newton, Fin Review, Nine, Crikey
  • Julie Earle – AAP, The Australian, Financial Times
  • Geoff Easdown – Herald Sun
  • Margaret Easterbrook – Leader Newspapers, Melbourne Herald, The Age
  • David Fagan – Courier Mail, The Australian, Courier Mail
  • Shaun Fewings – 5DN, 3AW, 3AK, 2GB, 2UE, Ten
  • Barry Fitzgerald – The Australian, The Age
  • David Fitzsimmons – Daily Telegraph
  • Peter Flaherty – Herald & Weekly Times
  • Phil Gardner – Herald Sun, Sunday Mail
  • Shelley Gare – The Australian, Fairfax magazines
  • John Gatfield – Nine, Seven, Ten, Sky News
  • Mike Gibson – Nine, Daily Telegraph, 2GB
  • Stephen Gibbs – Daily Telegraph, SMH
  • Ross Gittins – SMH
  • Robert Gottliebsen – Financial Review, BRW, The Australian
  • Michelle Grattan – Age, Canberra Times, Financial Review, SMH, The Age
  • Shane Green – The Australian, The Age
  • Bruce Guthrie – Melbourne Herald, The Sunday Age, Who Weekly, The Australian Magazine
  • Gideon Haigh – The Age, The Australian, The Eye, freelance
  • Peter Harvey – Nine
  • Leigh Hatcher – 2GB, Seven, Sky News
  • Rex Haw – Seven, Sunday Times, Sunday Independent, Win-TV, 3AW, Seven, Ten, Nine, Ten
  • Derryn Hinch – Sydney Sun, Ten, Nine, 3AW, Seven, Adelaide radio, 3AK, 3AW
  • Peter Hiscock – ABC, Nine, ABC Television
  • Judith Hoare – Fin Review
  • Michael Holmes – Daily News, Nine, Britain, CNN
  • Malcolm Holland – Daily Telegraph
  • Steve Howard – Daily Telegraph, The Advertiser, Daily Telegraph
  • Ian Howarth – The Australian, Fin Review
  • John Hurst – Fin Review
  • Damon Johnston – Daily News, News Ltd bureau, Herald Sun
  • Leo Johnston – Sunday Times (Perth)
  • Roger Johnston – SMH, Australian Business, Fin Review
  • Tony Jones – ABC TV
  • Paul Kelly – The Australian
  • Margo Kingston – SMH, Canberra Times, SMH
  • Geoff Kitney – Fin Review, SMH, Fin Review
  • Tony Koch – Courier Mail, The Australian
  • Christopher Kremmer – ABC radio, SMH/Age
  • Bernard Lagan: The Dominion, Sydney Morning Herald (sacked for hacking CEO’s email), The Bulletin, freelance
  • Anne Lampe – Fin Review, SMH
  • Sandra Lee – Melbourne Herald, Daily Telegraph, freelance, Marie Claire, Sunday Telegraph
  • Deborah Light – Fin Review, Bulletin
  • Sally Loane – SMH, ABC Radio
  • John Lyons – Melbourne Herald, SMH, The Bulletin, Nine
  • Malcolm Maiden – Fin Review, The Age
  • Richard Macey – SMH
  • Mark Maley – ABC TV, Investorweb, ABC
  • Mel Mansell – Daily Telegraph, Adelaide Advertiser
  • David Marr – The National Times, Sydney Morning Herald, ABC, SMH
  • Ray Martin – ABC Television, Nine Network
  • Brett McCarthy – Brisbane Sun, Daily Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph, Sunday Times
  • Terry McCrann – Melbourne Sun, National Times, The Age, Herald Sun
  • James McCullough – The Australian, Courier Mail
  • Bruce McDougall – Daily Telegraph
  • Richard McGregor – SMH, ABC Radio, The Australian, Financial Times
  • Phil McLean – Daily Telegraph, Sun Herald
  • Geoff McMullan – Nine, freelance
  • Peter Meakin – Nine, Seven
  • Michael Millett – SMH
  • Glenn Milne – Brisbane Sun, The Australian, Seven, Sunday Telegraph
  • Chris Mitchell – The Australian, Courier Mail, The Australian
  • Neil Mitchell – The Age, Melbourne Herald, 3AW
  • Ian Moore – Daily Telegraph, Sunday Herald Sun, Daily Telegraph
  • Mark Morri – Daily Telegraph
  • Linda Morris – SMH
  • Paul Mullins – Ten
  • Mike Munro – Nine
  • Lindsay Murdoch – The Age (since 1977)
  • Paul Murray – West Australian, 6PR
  • Sally Neighbour – 3DB, ABC Television
  • Laurie Nowell – West Australian, London Daily Star, Herald Sun, Sunday Herald Sun
  • Laurie Oakes – Sydney Mirror, Melbourne Sun, Ten, Nine, Melbourne Sun, Nine
  • Tom Ormonde – The Age
  • Richard Owen – The Australian, Courier Mail
  • Giles Parkinson – AAP, Fin Review, freelance
  • Tony Parkinson – Melbourne Herald, The Australian, The Age
  • Michael Pascoe – Nine, Seven and Sky
  • Janine Perrett – Nine, Fairfax
  • Matthew Pinkney – Herald Sun (including London stint)
  • Ben Potter – Fin Review, The Age, London Daily Telegraph, The Eye, Fin Review
  • Steve Price – The News, Melbourne Herald, 3AW, 2UE
  • Campbell Reid – Daily Telegraph, The Australian, Daily Telegraph
  • Ros Reines – Sun Herald, Sunday Telegraph
  • Julian Ricci – Daily Telegraph, Northern Territory News
  • Deborah Richards – ABC TV, SBS
  • Stephen Rice – Nine
  • Mark Riley – Newcastle Herald, Sydney Morning Herald, Seven
  • Hugh Riminton – Nine, CNN
  • Brian Robbins – SMH
  • Steve Romei – Daily Telegraph, The Australian
  • John Rudd – West Australian, Seven, internet start-up, Seven
  • Allan Russell – Leader Newspapers, ABC, Channel 10
  • Colleen Ryan – National Times, SMH, Fin Review
  • Brad Schmidt – Nine
  • Mal Schmidtke – The Age, The Australian, Fin Review, The Age
  • Liz Sexton – Fin Review, Bulletin, SMH
  • Errol Simper – The Australian
  • Neil Shoebridge – BRW, Fin Review
  • Russell Skelton – Melbourne Herald, ABC TV, The Age
  • Vickie Smiles – Nine
  • Paul Smith – Ten
  • Geoff Stead – Courier Mail, Daily Telegraph
  • Tony Stephens – SMH
  • Matthew Stevens – The Age, BRW, The Australian
  • Michael Stutchbury – Fin Review, The Australian
  • Candace Sutton – Sun Herald
  • Trevor Sykes – The Advertiser, SMH, Reuters (London), SMH, Melbourne Sun, Fin Review, Bulletin, Australian Business, Fin Review
  • Eliot Taylor – The Australian
  • Brian Toohey – National Times, Fin Review
  • John Trevorrow – Herald Sun
  • David Uren – BRW, The Australian
  • Ian Verrender – SMH
  • Jim Waley – 2TM, Nine, UPITN London, Nine
  • Frank Walker – SMH, News Ltd New York, National Times, Sun-Herald
  • Max Walsh – ABC TV, SMH, The Bulletin
  • Nicholas Way – BRW, The Australian, BRW
  • Chris Webb – Fin Review, Melbourne Herald, The Age, the Eye, The Age
  • Di Webster – Time magazine, Seven, SE Asia freelance, Nine, Who magazine
  • Jana Wendt – Ten, Nine, Seven, SBS, Nine
  • John Westacott – Nine
  • Greg Wilesmith – ABC
  • Marian Wilkinson – National Times, ABC TV, The Australian, SMH
  • Pam Williams – ABC TV, Fin Review
  • Bruce Wilson – News Ltd foreign correspondent since early 70s
  • John Wilson – various
  • Peter Wilson – The Sun, News Ltd Tokyo, Herald Sun, The Australian
  • Warren Wilton – ABC, Nine, Ten, Seven, SBS
  • Charles Wooley – Nine
  • Tony Wright – Canberra Times, Age, Bulletin

Those included on the list have more than 15 years experience, are not subs or sports journalists and have never done spin doctoring, media training and political work. All corrections and additions to boss@crikey.com.au