James Edward Dibble (4 February 1923 – 13 December 2010) was an Australian television presenter, at the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...

's (ABC), where he was the inaugural presenter of the news bulletin ABC News Sydney, a role he held for 27 years, from Monday, 5 November 1956 until his retirement on Friday, 10 June 1983.

Career

Dibble was born in February 1923 in Newtown, New South Wales. He joined the ABC after the end of World War II. He started as a clerk in the accounts department. His voice soon attracted attention, and in

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 ...

he gained his first ABC job in radio doing

voice-overs Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique used in radio, television, filmmaking, theatre, and other media in which a descriptive or expository voice that is not part of the narrative (i.e., non-d ...

. Dibble was best known as the senior newsreader for ABC-TV, beginning with the first televised news bulletin on ABN-2 Sydney on 5 November 1956. He reported the biggest news stories of the period, including the Soviet intervention in the Hungarian Revolution (in his very first bulletin; the events in Hungary caused the scheduled commencement of the ABC-TV news service to be brought forward), the

assassination of John F. Kennedy John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. Kennedy was in the vehicle with his wife Jacqueline Kennedy Onas ...

(1963), the disappearance of

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Harold Holt Harold Edward Holt (5 August 190817 December 1967) was an Australian politician and lawyer who served as the 17th prime minister of Australia from 1966 until Disappearance of Harold Holt, his disappearance and presumed death in 1967. He held o ...

(1967), the

Apollo 11 Apollo 11 was a spaceflight conducted from July 16 to 24, 1969, by the United States and launched by NASA. It marked the first time that humans Moon landing, landed on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and Lunar Module pilot Buzz Aldrin l ...

Moon landing (1969), the destruction of Darwin by

Cyclone Tracy Severe Tropical Cyclone Tracy was a small but destructive tropical cyclone that devastated the city of Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin, in the Northern Territory of Australia, in December 1974. The small but developing easterly storm was or ...

(1974), and the dismissal of the Whitlam government (1975). He appeared as himself in episodes of the ABC-TV comedy series '' Our Man In Canberra'' and '' Our Man In The Company'' episodes, narrated segments of the radiophonic works
What's Rangoon To You Is Grafton To Me
(1978) and
Hot Bananas
, written by Russell Guy and originally broadcast on radio station 2JJ (Double Jay). Dibble also did voice-over work for many

newsreel A newsreel is a form of short documentary film, containing news, news stories and items of topical interest, that was prevalent between the 1910s and the mid 1970s. Typically presented in a Movie theater, cinema, newsreels were a source of cu ...

s, documentariesJensen, Eri
"James Dibble, 'the face and voice of the ABC', dies at 87"

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 ...

, 14 December 2010. p.3 Retrieved 14 December 2010 and educational films. Spanning almost 30 years, his career at the ABC ended with his retirement in 1983. His last broadcast was on 10 June of that year. However, in 1992 he returned to read the 8pm radio news from 1932 during a broadcast marking the 60th anniversary of ABC Radio.

Personal life

Dibble was the son of Roland and Vera Dibble. He attended school in Marrickville at St Brigid's Primary School and then De La Salle College. He served in the Pacific with the

Royal Australian Air Force The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal Air force, aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the Governor-Gener ...

during World War II as a wireless telegraphist. Dibble never married or had children, but was described as a family-orientated man."ABC newsreader Dibble dies"
.

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, 13 December 2010, Retrieved 13 December 2010 He served as a chairman of the Peer Support Foundation, a president of the Rotary Club of Warringah, and a member of Rotary International District 9680 Public Relations Committee.

Awards

Dibble was appointed a Member of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) on 1 January 1972 for services to media, and a Member of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

on 26 January 1989 for community and media services. He was also awarded a

Centenary Medal The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and to recognise "people who made a contribution to Australian society or g ...

in 2001. He was the first winner of the Better Hearing Australia Clear Speech Award in 1967, for his clear

diction Diction ( (nom. ), "a saying, expression, word"), in its original meaning, is a writer's or speaker's distinctive vocabulary choices and style of expression in a piece of writing such as a poem or story.Crannell (1997) ''Glossary'', p. 406 In its c ...

. He also received Clear Speech Awards in 1968 and 1981."Clear Speech Award Winners"
. Better Hearing Australia-Sydney Branch, betterhearingsydney.org.au, Retrieved 14 December 2010

Death

Dibble died of cancer in Sydney on 13 December 2010, aged 87.

References

External links

* ttp://www.abc.net.au/sydney/stories/s739512.htm Mrs Dibble's Christmas Pudding
History of the ABC
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dibble, James 1923 births 2010 deaths Journalists from Sydney Australian television newsreaders and news presenters Members of the Order of Australia Australian Members of the Order of the British Empire Royal Australian Air Force airmen Deaths from cancer in New South Wales Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II