Adrian Milford Deamer (25 July 1922 – 16 January 2000) was an Australian

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

newspaper editor An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held account ...

and

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

Early life

Deamer began his journalistic career in 1946 at ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, Australia. Son of noted newspaper editor Sydney Harold Deamer, Adrian became highly regarded throughout his career for his integrity, humour, courage and mentorship.

Career

As a journalism

After a stint at ''

The Courier Mail ''The Courier-Mail'' is an Australian newspaper published in Brisbane. Owned by News Corp Australia, it is published daily from Monday to Saturday in tabloid format. Its editorial offices are located at Bowen Hills, in Brisbane's inner northern ...

'' in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, Deamer worked in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

as a general reporter at ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'', before heading for England in 1950. He married Gweneth Margaret Tanner on 19 October 1950 at St Marylebone in London and worked at ''

The Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...

'' and for

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

before returning to Melbourne in 1953 as Chief of Staff on '' The Melbourne Herald''. In 1960, Deamer returned to London to serve as editor of '' The Herald and Weekly Times Group'', returning to

in 1962 where he was Associate Editor on '' The Sun News Pictorial''. In 1966, he moved to

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

and joined

Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian - American retired business magnate, investor, and media mogul. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of List of assets owned by News Corp, local, national, a ...

's fledgling paper ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet daily newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964. As the only Australian daily newspaper distributed nationally, its readership of b ...

'' and became its third editor. In 1971, Murdoch sacked Deamer for writing an editorial which criticised the Springbok Tour of Australia at a time when public opinion was quite heated about South Africa's regime of

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

. Murdoch was later to describe Deamer in glowing terms but the die was cast.

As a lawyer

Deamer retrained as a lawyer and joined ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

'' as their legal advisor. In 1991, with colleagues George Richards and Peter Wilson, he wrote the Fairfax Legal Guide. He became an advocate of

defamation Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...

and media law and presented an A.N. Smith Memorial Lecture in 1971 on running a national newspaper. He was a Walkley Advisory Board Member and an

Australian Press Council The Australian Press Council (APC) was established in 1976 with the goal of promoting high standards of media practice, community access to information of public interest, and freedom of expression through the media. The Council is the leading in ...

judge.

Death

Deamer died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

on 16 January 2000, aged 77. In 2017, he was inducted, posthumously, into the Melbourne Press Club's Hall of Fame.

References

External links

Australian Press CouncilAustralian Public Intellectual NetworkShort video covering Deamer's career from the Melbourne Press Club
1922 births 2000 deaths Australian newspaper editors Journalists from Sydney Associated Press reporters The Australian journalists The Herald (Melbourne) people {{Australia-journalist-stub