Paul Murray (journalist)

Paul Murray is a former working journalist and later editor of The West Australian newspaper who resigned and was later retained to write opinion articles for the same newspaper. Murray was the longest serving newspaper editor in Australia when he resigned in February 2000.^[1]

Biography

Early life

Murray was born in Mount Lawley in 1950, and grew up in the eastern Perth suburb of Guildford in the Swan Valley. His father, Keith Murray, was a journalist at The West Australian for a decade from 1948^[2] and his older brother Kim was a reporter at the Daily News. He attended Guildford Primary School and then Guildford Grammar School.^[3] He initially studied geology at the University of Western Australia, then worked as a mine geologist in Kalgoorlie before changing career.^[3]^[4]

Career

He took a cadetship at The West Australian in 1970 and through the 1970s worked variously from its Fremantle, Kalgoorlie, Perth, Sydney and Melbourne offices. He worked at the Western Mail from 1981, before returning to The West Australian as chief of staff in 1987. In March 1990 he was appointed editor of the newspaper where he began his career in 1970. He quit The West ten years later to become a morning talk-back announcer on Perth commercial radio station, 6PR, before leaving in 2006 over a contract-renewal disagreement (he rejoined in 2011).^[5] In 2006 he returned to The West Australian as a columnist and feature writer.^[3]

During his tenure as editor of The West Australian he took the circulation of the newspaper to over 400,000 for the first time (1997) and, in 1998, to over one million readers for the newspaper's Saturday edition.^[3] He introduced "Asia Desk", which involved the assignment of a journalist to cover events mainly in Southeast Asia.

Murray won WA's top journalism award, the University of Western Australia's Lovekin Prize in 1985, and the Daily News Centenary Prize in 1986, as well as the Beck Prize for political journalism in 1986.^[3]

References

^ "Paul Murray". 720 ABC Perth. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 30 September 2009. Retrieved 16 April 2012.
^ "Australia's many media dynasties". Crikey. Private Media Pty Ltd. 21 March 2005. Retrieved 16 April 2012.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Paul Murray". Celebrity Speakers Bureau. Retrieved 16 April 2012.
^ Barnes, Candice (11 December 2014). "Radio host Paul Murray farewells 6PR after 14 years". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
^ Guest, Debbie; Barrass, Tony (6 December 2010). "Paul Murray the new morning host at 6PR". PerthNow. Sunday Times. Retrieved 16 April 2012.