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

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

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 highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

and lawyer. Adrian Milford Deamer began his journalistic career in 1946 at ''

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

'' in Sydney, Australia. Son of noted newspaper editor Sydney Harold Deamer, Adrian became highly regarded throughout his career for his integrity, humour, courage and mentorship. 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 capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

, Deamer worked in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

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, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory ...

'', before heading for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

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 ...

'' and for

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

before returning to Melbourne in 1953 as Chief of Staff on ''

The Melbourne Herald ''The Herald'' was a morning and, later, evening broadsheet newspaper published in Melbourne, Australia, from 3 January 1840 to 5 October 1990, which is when it merged with its sister morning newspaper ''The Sun News-Pictorial'' to form the ''H ...

''. In 1960, Deamer returned to London to take up the post of Editor for '' 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 and joined

Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...

's fledgling paper ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...

'' 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 South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

's regime of

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

. Murdoch was later to describe Deamer in glowing terms but the die was cast. Deamer retrained as a lawyer and joined ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'' 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 and media law and, amongst his other achievements, presented an A.N. Smith Memorial Lecture in 1971 on running a national newspaper, was a Walkley Advisory Board Member and an Australian Press Council judge. Deamer died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

on 16 January 2000. In 2017 he was inducted 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