Roy Lancaster Curthoys (4 October 1892 – 24 September 1971) was an Australian journalist and newspaper editor. Curthoys was born in

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) () is a city in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Ballarat had a population of 111,973, making it the third-largest urban inland city in Australia and the third-largest city in Victoria. Within mo ...

and educated in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

. He began his journalistic career on the '' Daily News'' in 1910, later transferring to the '' West Australian'' (1916), '' The Herald'' (1919), and '' The Argus'' (1920). He was a "leading member" of the

Australian Journalists Association The Australian Journalists Association (AJA) was an Australian trade union for journalists from 1910–1992. In 1913 the Australian Journalists' Association merged with the Australian Writers' and Artists' Union. This union had been formed in 19 ...

(AJA) and helped establish journalism courses at the

University of Western Australia University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Crawley, Western Australia, Crawley, a suburb in the City of Perth local government area. UW ...

and the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

. In 1922 he travelled through Europe and North America as a "special representative" of the AJA, learning about journalism education. Curthoys was made assistant editor of ''The Argus'' in 1925 and editor in 1929. He resigned in 1935 due to a disagreement with the paper's management. For decades Curthoys also served as the Australian correspondent for overseas newspapers, including ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' (1927–1958) and ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' (1935–1957). He maintained a good relationship with

Keith Murdoch Sir Keith Arthur Murdoch (12 August 1885 – 4 October 1952) was an Australian journalist and media proprietor who was the founder of the Murdoch media empire. He amassed significant media holdings in Australia which after his death were expan ...

, who gave him a free office and occasionally employed him as a leader writer. Curthoys was appointed CMG in 1958, after declining an

Officer 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 ...

in 1951. He died in Melbourne in 1971, aged 78.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Curthoys, Roy 1892 births 1971 deaths People from Ballarat Australian newspaper editors The New York Times journalists The Times journalists Australian Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George 20th-century Australian journalists The Herald (Melbourne) people The Argus (Melbourne) people