George Edward Negus AM (13 March 1942 – 15 October 2024) was an Australian journalist, author, television and radio presenter specialising in international affairs. He was a pioneer of Australian broadcast journalism, first appearing on the ABC's This Day Tonight and later on 60 Minutes. Negus was known for making complex international and political issues accessible to a broad audience through his down-to-earth, colloquial presentation style. His very direct interviewing technique occasionally caused confrontation, famously with Margaret Thatcher, but also led to some interviewees giving more information than they had given in other interviews. Recognition of his unique skills led to him hosting a new ABC show, Foreign Correspondent, and Dateline on SBS. He often reported from the frontline of dangerous conflicts and described himself as an "anti-war correspondent" who wanted people to understand the reasons behind why wars were senseless. He was awarded a Walkley Award for Outstanding Contribution to Journalism. He presented 6.30 with George Negus on Network Ten. He remained a director of his own media consulting company, Negus Media International, until his death in 2024.[1]

George Negus
Negus in 2011
Born(1942-03-13)13 March 1942
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Died15 October 2024(2024-10-15) (aged 82)
Sydney, Australia
Alma materUniversity of Queensland
Occupations
  • Journalist
  • author
  • television presenter
  • radio presenter
Years active1967–2021
Known for60 Minutes (1979–1986)
Today Australia (1986–1990)
Dateline (2005–2010)
The Project (2009–2011)
6.30 with George Negus (2011)
PartnerKirsty Cockburn
Children2
Websitenegusmedia.com.au

Early life and education

edit

Negus was born in Brisbane, Queensland, on 13 March 1942.[2] He attended Inala State High School and Indooroopilly State High School,[2] located in the Brisbane suburb of Indooroopilly in Queensland. After briefly working as a secondary school teacher, he obtained a diploma of journalism at the University of Queensland.[3]

Career

edit

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][4][5][6] 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.[7]

Television journalism

edit

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 from 1979 until 1986 and then co-hosted Today Australia until 1990. In 1981, he gained some notoriety for a confrontational interview with British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, suggesting that British people thought of her as "pig-headed".[2][8][9]

From 1992 until 1999, Negus was founding host of the ABC's foreign-themed current affairs Foreign Correspondent.[10][4] From 1999 to 2001, Negus took a professional sabbatical and lived in Italy, writing a book, The World from Italy: Football, Food and Politics.[11]

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.[12]

In 2005, Negus went on to host Dateline on the SBS network.[13] In 2011, after becoming a regular on Ten's evening news program The 7PM Project, produced by Roving Enterprises, he began hosting 6.30 with George Negus on Network Ten. When the show was cancelled after 200 episodes, he playfully and bluntly told his audience that the show had been cancelled because "not enough of you buggers watched us often enough."[14]

Books

edit

Negus wrote several books, including one based on his time in Italy,[11] and co-wrote a six-part series of children's books about Australian wildlife and geography with Kirsty Cockburn, his partner, in the early 1990s.[15] His last book, The World from Down Under: A Chat with Recent History, was published 2010.[16] His bestselling[17] book The World from Islam, first published in 2003, is an investigation of the Islamic world as seen from Negus's travels in the Middle East. In The World from Islam, Negus defended Islam from claims of extremism, citing Islam's diversity.[16][18]

Personal life

edit

Negus lived on a farm near Bellingen, on the New South Wales northern coast, until he was moved into a Sydney nursing home in late 2021 after being diagnosed with dementia.[19] His partner, Kirsty Cockburn, was also a journalist and a collaborator on many of Negus's projects. They had two children, including a son, Serge, who appeared alongside Paul Hogan in Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles (2001).[2][4][20] Negus was a fan of soccer and a former board member of the national governing body Soccer Australia (as it was known at the time).[21]

Negus died in Sydney on 15 October 2024, at the age of 82, following a battle with Alzheimer's disease.[4][22]

Honours

edit

In the 2015 Australia Day Honours, Negus was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) "for significant service to the media as a journalist and television presenter, and to conservation and the environment."[23][24]

Bibliography

edit
  • Negus, George (2001). The World from Italy: Football, Food and Politics. Pymble, NSW: HarperCollins. ISBN 0732264472.
  • —— (2003). The World from Islam: A Journey of Discovery Through the Muslim Heartland. Pymble, NSW: HarperCollins. ISBN 0732276233.
  • —— (2010). The World from Down Under. Sydney: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0730493914.

References

edit
  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. ^ a b c d e Leslie, Ian (15 October 2024). "Vale George Negus, a man with an opinion on everything". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
  3. ^ "On the Couch with George Negus". World Expeditions Blog. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d Hilton, Aoife (15 October 2024). "George Negus, founding host of Foreign Correspondent, dies aged 82". ABC News (Australia).
  5. ^ McKnight, David (1994). Australia's Spies and Their Secrets. St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1743432291.
  6. ^ Negus, George (13 November 1990). Fourth Annual Lionel Murphy Memorial Lecture (PDF) (Speech). Lionel Murphy Foundation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 March 2014.
  7. ^ Coventry, Cameron (2018). Origins of the Royal Commission on Intelligence and Security (MA thesis). University of New South Wales. p. 133. doi:10.26190/unsworks/20909. hdl:1959.4/61207.
  8. ^ Meade, Amanda (15 October 2024). "George Negus, veteran Australian journalist and TV presenter, dies aged 82". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
  9. ^ "Transcript of MT's interview with George Negus of Australian TV, "60 Minutes" (Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, Melbourne)". Margaret Thatcher Prime Ministerial Private Office files, ID: PREM19/682. Margaret Thatcher Foundation.
  10. ^ Walter, Riley (15 October 2024). "Tributes flow for journalism 'titan' George Negus". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
  11. ^ a b Negus 2001.
  12. ^ Miller, Kylie (8 September 2005). "Hits and misses". The Age. Melbourne. Retrieved 8 September 2005.
  13. ^ "Negus joins Dateline". The Sydney Morning Herald. 20 January 2005. Retrieved 20 January 2005.
  14. ^ The Project (15 October 2024). The Unforgettable Legacy of George Negus. Retrieved 15 October 2024 – via YouTube.
  15. ^ Negus, George (12 March 2013). "Books by George Negus". negusmedia.com. Negus Media International. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
  16. ^ a b Negus 2003.
  17. ^ Muller, Denis. "Fair-minded, down to earth and unusually gifted: George Negus dies at 82". The Melbourne University. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
  18. ^ "The World from Islam: A Journey of Discovery through the Muslim Heartland". Writer on Writer. Archived from the original on 27 May 2012. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
  19. ^ "TV news legend George Negus diagnosed with dementia". news.com.au. News Corp Australia. 16 February 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  20. ^ "Serge Negus". IMDb. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
  21. ^ "Soccer match generates excitement in Melbourne". The World Today. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
  22. ^ "'What You Saw, Is What You Got' with Larger-Than-Life Presenter Negus". The Australian. Sydney. 15 October 2024. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
  23. ^ "Member of the Order of Australia (AM) entry for Negus, George Edward". Australian Honours Database. Canberra, Australia: Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 26 January 2015. Retrieved 15 October 2024. For significant service to the media as a journalist and television presenter, and to conservation and the environment.
  24. ^ Ford, Mazoe (26 January 2015). "Australia Day honours: NSW residents recognised with Orders of Australia". ABC News (Australia). Retrieved 15 October 2024.
edit