George Negus

George Edward Negus AM (born 13 March 1942) is an Australian journalist, author, television and radio presenter specialising in international affairs. He was a pioneer of Australian TV journalism, first appearing on the ABC’s groundbreaking This Day Tonight and later on Sixty 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 remains a director of his own media consulting company, Negus Media International. Education Negus attended Inala State High School and 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. 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. 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.