Graham Perkin
Encyclopedia
Edwin Graham Perkin was an Australia
n journalist and newspaper editor.
Perkin was born at Hopetoun, Victoria
, elder son of Herbert Edwin Perkin, baker, and his wife Iris Lily, née Graham, both Victorian born. Graham grew up at Warracknabeal
and was educated at the local high school. In 1948 he began to study law at the University of Melbourne
, but abandoned his course in the following year when he obtained a cadetship with The Age
. At the Methodist Church, St Kilda
, on 6 September 1952 he married Peggy Lorraine Corrie.
As a young reporter, Perkin rapidly acquired a reputation for enthusiasm and restless energy. In 1955 he won a Kemsley scholarship in journalism which took him to London
. Returning to Australia as a feature writer, he shared the Walkley award for journalism in 1959 for an article on pioneering heart surgery. His rise in the newspaper hierarchy was rapid: he became deputy news editor in 1959, news editor in 1963, assistant-editor in 1964 and editor (at the age of 36) in 1966. He was appointed to the additional post of editor-in-chief in 1973.
Under Perkin's editorship, and with the encouragement of his young managing director Ranald Macdonald
, The Age again set itself to influence the agenda of governments, as it had under David Syme
. Perkin aimed to establish the paper's credibility as a purveyor of reliable information, authoritative analysis and entertaining writing that would be read by the young and the middle class, and that would make politicians sensitive to the needs of their constituency. He succeeded in part by raising the Ages journalistic standards. He recruited ambitious young reporters, a stable of talented cartoonists and photographers, and a group of senior writers to contribute news analysis and comment. He redesigned the typography and layout of the paper, expanded its foreign coverage, appointed a team of investigative reporters and an environmental writer, doubled the space for readers' letters, and began an occasional feature ('We Were Wrong') which explained and apologized for the paper's mistakes.
Despite his gruff, sometimes unforgiving, insistence on accuracy and ethics, and his earlier stint (1961–63) as lecturer in journalism at the University of Melbourne, Perkin did not believe that training alone produced good journalists: intuitive ability runs first for me, intellectual capacity second, training third. He believed in 'creative subjectivity' and said that contemporary newspapers should concern themselves more with 'analysis and interpretation' than with reportage.
Perkin turned the Age into a more interventionist and campaigning newspaper. It exposed financial scandals in State governments and corruption in the police force, and attacked Federal governments for suppressing information. In the process, it attracted critics who thought it too 'leftist'. In 1972 the Age, which had traditionally supported Coalition governments, advocated the election of Gough Whitlam
's Australian Labor Party
. When that government was forced to an early election in 1974
, Perkin wanted to support Whitlam again. His stand led to a conflict with the board of David Syme & Co. Ltd, owner and publisher of the Age. A compromise, supported by Macdonald, narrowly averted Perkin's resignation. It also reinforced his insistence on editorial independence
, subject to the management's right to dismiss an editor in whom it had lost confidence.
Perkin wrote the elemental editorial "Go now, go decently" for The Age in 1975. It began with the words 'We will say it straight, and clear, and at once. The Whitlam Government has run its course.' Perkin died of a heart attack soon after at the age of 45.
The Age became a more substantial, wider ranging, better written and significantly more influential newspaper. Perkin's reforms and his willingness to speak out strongly in defence of the paper's policies boosted circulation from a stagnant 180,000 in 1965 to a solid 222,000 ten years later. The company's revenues rose correspondingly.
Graham Perkin was a large man with a large appetite for life. His success as editor owed much to his ebullience, to his infectious enthusiasm for journalism, to his dominant—sometimes domineering—personality, and to his willingness to bear the heat of criticism. That success won recognition for the Age as one of the ten great newspapers of the world and for Perkin as one of the most distinguished editors of his time. It also led him into senior roles in the newspaper industry, as a director (from 1966) of Australian Associated Press
, its chairman in 1970-72, and a director of Reuters
Ltd, London, in 1971-74. Away from his desk, he supported the Melbourne Football Club]], and belonged to the Savage, Victoria Golf and Melbourne Cricket clubs. He died of myocardial infarction
on 16 October 1975 at his Sandringham
home and was cremated with Presbyterian forms; his wife, son, Steve, and daughter, Corrie - both Melbourne-based journalists, survived him. An award for the journalist of the year was named (1976) after him.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n journalist and newspaper editor.
Perkin was born at Hopetoun, Victoria
Hopetoun, Victoria
Hopetoun is a town which serves as the major service centre for the Southern Mallee area of Victoria, Australia. Hopetoun is situated 400 kilometres north-west of Melbourne on the Henty Highway in the Shire of Yarriambiack...
, elder son of Herbert Edwin Perkin, baker, and his wife Iris Lily, née Graham, both Victorian born. Graham grew up at Warracknabeal
Warracknabeal, Victoria
Warracknabeal is a wheatbelt town in the Australian state of Victoria. Situated on the banks of the Yarriambiack Creek, 330 km north-west of Melbourne, it is the business and services centre of the northern Wimmera and southern Mallee districts, and hosts local government offices of the Shire...
and was educated at the local high school. In 1948 he began to study law at the University of Melbourne
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
, but abandoned his course in the following year when he obtained a cadetship with The Age
The Age
The Age is a daily broadsheet newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. Owned and published by Fairfax Media, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but is also available for purchase in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and...
. At the Methodist Church, St Kilda
St Kilda, Victoria
St Kilda is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km south from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Port Phillip...
, on 6 September 1952 he married Peggy Lorraine Corrie.
As a young reporter, Perkin rapidly acquired a reputation for enthusiasm and restless energy. In 1955 he won a Kemsley scholarship in journalism which took him to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Returning to Australia as a feature writer, he shared the Walkley award for journalism in 1959 for an article on pioneering heart surgery. His rise in the newspaper hierarchy was rapid: he became deputy news editor in 1959, news editor in 1963, assistant-editor in 1964 and editor (at the age of 36) in 1966. He was appointed to the additional post of editor-in-chief in 1973.
Under Perkin's editorship, and with the encouragement of his young managing director Ranald Macdonald
Ranald MacDonald
Ranald MacDonald was the first man to teach the English language in Japan, including educating Einosuke Moriyama, one of the chief interpreters to handle the negotiations between Commodore Perry and the Tokugawa Shogunate.-Early life:MacDonald was born at Fort Astoria, in the Pacific Northwest of...
, The Age again set itself to influence the agenda of governments, as it had under David Syme
David Syme
David Syme was a Scottish-Australian newspaper proprietor of The Age and regarded as "the father of protection in Australia" who had immense influence in the Government of Victoria.-Early life and family:...
. Perkin aimed to establish the paper's credibility as a purveyor of reliable information, authoritative analysis and entertaining writing that would be read by the young and the middle class, and that would make politicians sensitive to the needs of their constituency. He succeeded in part by raising the Ages journalistic standards. He recruited ambitious young reporters, a stable of talented cartoonists and photographers, and a group of senior writers to contribute news analysis and comment. He redesigned the typography and layout of the paper, expanded its foreign coverage, appointed a team of investigative reporters and an environmental writer, doubled the space for readers' letters, and began an occasional feature ('We Were Wrong') which explained and apologized for the paper's mistakes.
Despite his gruff, sometimes unforgiving, insistence on accuracy and ethics, and his earlier stint (1961–63) as lecturer in journalism at the University of Melbourne, Perkin did not believe that training alone produced good journalists: intuitive ability runs first for me, intellectual capacity second, training third. He believed in 'creative subjectivity' and said that contemporary newspapers should concern themselves more with 'analysis and interpretation' than with reportage.
Perkin turned the Age into a more interventionist and campaigning newspaper. It exposed financial scandals in State governments and corruption in the police force, and attacked Federal governments for suppressing information. In the process, it attracted critics who thought it too 'leftist'. In 1972 the Age, which had traditionally supported Coalition governments, advocated the election of Gough Whitlam
Gough Whitlam
Edward Gough Whitlam, AC, QC , known as Gough Whitlam , served as the 21st Prime Minister of Australia. Whitlam led the Australian Labor Party to power at the 1972 election and retained government at the 1974 election, before being dismissed by Governor-General Sir John Kerr at the climax of the...
's Australian Labor Party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
. When that government was forced to an early election in 1974
Australian federal election, 1974
Federal elections were held in Australia on 18 May 1974. All 127 seats in the House of Representatives, and all 60 seats in the Senate were up for election, due to a double dissolution...
, Perkin wanted to support Whitlam again. His stand led to a conflict with the board of David Syme & Co. Ltd, owner and publisher of the Age. A compromise, supported by Macdonald, narrowly averted Perkin's resignation. It also reinforced his insistence on editorial independence
Editorial independence
Editorial independence is the freedom of editors to make decisions without interference from the owners of a publication. Editorial independence is tested, for instance, if a newspaper runs articles that may be unpopular with its advertising clientele....
, subject to the management's right to dismiss an editor in whom it had lost confidence.
Perkin wrote the elemental editorial "Go now, go decently" for The Age in 1975. It began with the words 'We will say it straight, and clear, and at once. The Whitlam Government has run its course.' Perkin died of a heart attack soon after at the age of 45.
The Age became a more substantial, wider ranging, better written and significantly more influential newspaper. Perkin's reforms and his willingness to speak out strongly in defence of the paper's policies boosted circulation from a stagnant 180,000 in 1965 to a solid 222,000 ten years later. The company's revenues rose correspondingly.
Graham Perkin was a large man with a large appetite for life. His success as editor owed much to his ebullience, to his infectious enthusiasm for journalism, to his dominant—sometimes domineering—personality, and to his willingness to bear the heat of criticism. That success won recognition for the Age as one of the ten great newspapers of the world and for Perkin as one of the most distinguished editors of his time. It also led him into senior roles in the newspaper industry, as a director (from 1966) of Australian Associated Press
Australian Associated Press
Australian Associated Press is Australia's national news agency. The organisation was established in 1935 by Fairfax and The Herald and Weekly Times.AAP employs more than 175 journalists who work in bureaux in all Australian states and territories...
, its chairman in 1970-72, and a director of Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
Ltd, London, in 1971-74. Away from his desk, he supported the Melbourne Football Club]], and belonged to the Savage, Victoria Golf and Melbourne Cricket clubs. He died of myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
on 16 October 1975 at his Sandringham
Sandringham, Victoria
Sandringham is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 16 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Bayside. At the 2006 Census, Sandringham had a population of 8693.-History:...
home and was cremated with Presbyterian forms; his wife, son, Steve, and daughter, Corrie - both Melbourne-based journalists, survived him. An award for the journalist of the year was named (1976) after him.