Extract from The Guardian
The highly-acclaimed
and Walkley award-winning journalist says ‘this is not retirement’
as he has plans for future projects including writing more books
Kerry
O’Brien – then and now. The host of the ABC’s Four Corners
plans to leave. Photograph: ABC
Friday
6 November 2015 17.43 AEDT
Kerry
O’Brien has resigned from the ABC after a distinguished 32-year
career hosting the broadcaster’s top news programs Lateline, the
7.30 Report and Four Corners.
Arguably
the broadcast journalist of his generation, O’Brien has also been a
foreign and a political correspondent and a veteran anchor of the
ABC’s election night telecasts.
Having
spent five years in the part-time role of Four Corners presenter,
O’Brien says he has decided to concentrate on books, after writing
his first book on Paul Keating based on an ABC TV series of
interviews.
“This
is not retirement for me,” O’Brien said. “I have more than
enough to get on with. It’s taken me this long to write my first
book so I figure I’d better start now if I want to complete a
second. I also have other ideas, which may offer the opportunity to
work again with the ABC.”
“I
have been extremely proud to be associated with Four Corners for the
past five years,” O’Brien said. “No other brand has been as
enduring or as respected in Australian television and I have felt
enormously privileged to be a part of it all again, albeit in a
part-time capacity.”
O’Brien,
who started in television 50 years ago on Channel Nine in Brisbane,
has picked up six Walkley awards for excellence in journalism,
including the Gold Walkley and the Walkley for outstanding
leadership.
He
joined the ABC in 1972 as a reporter on the groundbreaking current
affairs show This Day Tonight, leaving only briefly to join Ten for
its Page One program.
For
the last 26 years he has been a constant presence on the ABC’s news
and current affairs shows, establishing Lateline from Canberra as a
major force in national and international affairs.
Kerry O’Brien interviewing President Barack
Obama on the ABC television’s 730 Report. Photograph: AAP
In
2001 O’Brien won a public vote to be named most preferred and most
credible journalist in Australia, across all media.
ABC
managing director Mark Scott said the ABC audience had known, trusted
and respected Kerry O’Brien for decades.
“In
recent years at Four Corners he was able to synthesise important and
often complex stories in a way that helped audiences stay and
appreciate the very best in Australian journalism,” Scott said.
“It
has been a golden era at Four Corners, and Kerry has been a vital
part of the team.”
The
newly-appointed director of news, Gaven Morris, described him as “a
giant of Australian journalism”.
“He
has set the agenda and broken stories for decades with integrity and
passion,” Morris said. “Above all else, he’s held the powerful
to account and let no office or authority deter his aim of getting
answers to questions that mattered to Australians.
“I
am sure he will continue to play a significant role in Australian
journalism. I thank Kerry for his enormous contribution and wish him
all the best in his future endeavours, including with us at ABC
News.”
Four
Corners executive producer Sally Neighbour said: “Kerry is an
iconic journalist and formidable role model who has inspired and
mentored generations of reporters.
“For
his colleagues and viewers, Kerry personifies the dedication to
fearless, groundbreaking journalism that is the hallmark of Four
Corners.”
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