George Negus

George Edward Negus AM (born 13 March 1942) is an Australian journalist, author, television and radio presenter specialising in international affairs. He presented 6.30 with George Negus on Network Ten. He remains a director of his own media consulting company, Negus Media International.[1]

George Negus
Negus in October 2011
Born (1942-03-13) 13 March 1942
Brisbane, Queensland
Alma materUniversity of Queensland
Occupation
  • Journalist
  • author
  • television presenter
  • radio presenter
Years active1967–present
Known for 60 Minutes (1979–1986)
Today Australia (1986–1990)
Dateline (2005–2010)
The Project (2009–2011)
6.30 with George Negus (2011)
Websitenegusmedia.com.au

Education

Negus attended Indooroopilly State High School located in the Brisbane suburb of Indooroopilly in Queensland. He studied arts and journalism at the University of Queensland.

Career

Negus was a high school teacher before writing for The Australian and The Australian Financial Review. He served as press secretary for Attorney-General Lionel Murphy during the Whitlam government.[2][3] During his time as a political staffer he was most famous for having leaked to the press the imminent investigation of ASIO's headquarters by Murphy. The event became known as the 1973 Murphy raids.[4]

TV journalism

Negus became most prominent as a reporter for This Day Tonight, a pioneering current affairs show on the ABC which began in 1967 and continued through the late 1960s and into the 1970s. Later, he was a founding correspondent for the Australian 60 Minutes program in from 1979 until 1986 and then co-hosted Today Australia until 1990.

From 1992 until 1999, Negus was founding host of the ABC's foreign-themed current affairs Foreign Correspondent. He then went to live in Italy for 15 months on a professional sabbatical but produced a book entitled "The World From Italy – Football, Food and Politics" which was published in 2001.

In 2002, Negus returned to the ABC to facilitate a pre-election panel and audience discussion program "Australia Talks" before commencing 3 years as host of the early evening timeslot George Negus Tonight covering "trends and issues with an Australia-wide team of reporters and producers". The show was cancelled in November 2004, due to changes in regional funding to the broadcaster.[5]

In 2005, Negus went on to host Dateline on the SBS network.[6] In this role he became known as one of Australia's most respected journalists.

After becoming a regular on Ten's evening news program The Project, produced by Roving Enterprises In 2011, he began hosting 6.30 with George Negus on Network Ten, however this venture only lasted for nine months.

Books

Negus has written several books, including one based on his time in Italy, and co-wrote a six-part series of children's books with Kirsty Cockburn, his partner, in the early 1990s. His latest book is "The World from DownUnder – A Chat with Recent History" and published by Harper Collins Australia. His best selling The World from Islam, published in 2004, an investigation of the Islamic world as seen from Negus's travels in the Middle East. In The World from Islam, Negus defends Islam from claims of extremism, citing Islam's diversity.[7][8]

Personal life

Negus lives in Bellingen. His children were raised on a farm near Bellingen on the New South Wales northern coast, where he lived for 15 years with his wife, Kirsty Cockburn, herself a journalist and a collaborator on many of Negus's projects. Negus' son, Serge Cockburn was the child actor who played Mikey Dundee alongside Paul Hogan in Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles.[9] Negus is a fan of association football and a former board member of the national governing body Soccer Australia, as it was known at the time.[10]

Honours

Negus became a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2015 Australia Day honours.[11]

Controversies

On 28 February 2012 episode of The Circle, Negus along with Yumi Stynes, made comments about a photo of Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith, a Victoria Cross and Medal for Gallantry recipient, coming out of a swimming pool.[12] After tabloid criticism,[13] they personally contacted Roberts-Smith who accepted their apology and agreed there was no malicious intent.[14] Negus said his comments were taken out of context and he was not referring personally to Corporal Roberts-Smith.[15]

On 13 September 2014, Fairfax newspapers issued an apology to Ms Stynes and Mr Negus, stating "Our interpretation was wrong and we accept that both Mr Negus and Ms Stynes were not referring to Cpl Roberts-Smith personally."[16] News Limited publications, The Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun and news.com.au also retracted the incorrect allegations.[17]

References
  1. "Negus confirms he will take 6pm job at Ten". The Spy Report. Media Spy. 9 October 2010. Archived from the original on 12 October 2010. Retrieved 9 October 2010.
  2. David McKnight. Australia's Spies and Their Secrets. Allen & Unwin. St Leonards, N.S.W. 1994.
  3. "Negus speaking at Fourth Annual Lionel Murphy Memorial Lecture at the National Library Canberra" (PDF). 13 November 1990: 6. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. Coventry, CJ. Origins of the Royal Commission on Intelligence and Security (2018: MA thesis submitted at UNSW), 133.
  5. Miller, Kylie (8 September 2005). "Hits and misses". The Age. Melbourne. Retrieved 8 September 2005.
  6. "Negus joins Dateline". The Sydney Morning Herald. 20 January 2005. Retrieved 20 January 2005.
  7. Negus, George (2003). The World from Islam: A Journey of Discovery through the Muslim Heartland. ISBN 0732276233.
  8. "The World from Islam: A Journey of Discovery through the Muslim Heartland". Writer on Writer. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
  9. "Serge Cockburn". IMDb. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
  10. "Soccer match generates excitement in Melbourne". ABC World Today. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
  11. Australia Day honours: NSW residents recognised with Orders of Australia
  12. "Hate campaign continues". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  13. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 19 October 2013. Retrieved 1 September 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  14. "VC recipient accepts apology for insults". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  15. "'I feel sick': Circle host shocked at backlash over soldier's 'dud root' slur". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  16. http://mumbrella.com.au/fairfax-apologises-stynes-negus-stories-linked-comments-soldiers-sexual-prowess-use-ivf-251512
  17. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 December 2014. Retrieved 8 January 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
Preceded by
Steve Liebmann		 Today
Co-host
1987–1990		 Succeeded by
Steve Liebmann
Preceded by
New Dimensions		 George Negus Tonight
Host
2001–2004		 Succeeded by
program axed
Preceded by
Mark Davis		 Dateline
Host
2005–2010		 Succeeded by
Mark Davis and Yalda Hakim
Preceded by
originator		 6.30 with George Negus
Presenter
January 2011 – October 2011		 Succeeded by
program axed
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