Brian Francis Johns (6 May 1936 – 1 January 2016) was an Australian company director and journalist, who was managing director of the

Special Broadcasting Service The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is an Australian hybrid-funded public service broadcaster. About 80 percent of funding for the company is derived from the Australian Government. SBS operates six TV channels ( SBS, SBS Viceland, SBS World ...

(SBS) from 1987 to 1992, and the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

(ABC) from 1995 to 2000.

Early life

Johns was born in 1936 in

Gordonvale, Queensland Gordonvale is a rural sugar-growing town and locality situated on the southern side of Cairns in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Gordonvale had a population of 6,944 people. Geography Gordonvale lies approx ...

, to Frank Johns, a waterside worker and barber, and his Irish-born wife Lenora. The family moved to Sydney in 1947, where Frank ran a barber shop in Kings Cross. The young Brian worked as a paper boy and factory hand, before entering St Columba's Seminary at the age of 16. Three years later, he left the seminary and moved to Canberra.Brian Johns
''AustLit''.

Journalism career

Johns began his journalism career at ''

The Queanbeyan Age ''The Queanbeyan Age'' is a weekly newspaper based in Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia. It has had a number of title changes throughout its publication history. First published on 15 September 1860 by John Gale and his brother, Peter F ...

'', and as a feature writer specialising in the arts at the

Australian News and Information Bureau The Australian Information Service (AIS) was one of a series of federal government organisations created to promote the image of Australia, in existence between 1940 and 1996. First created in 1940, the Australian News and Information Bureau (AN ...

, a government promotion body. In 1964, he was the first chief political correspondent for ''

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 ...

'' newspaper, and in the next year, a special writer for '' The Bulletin''. In 1966, he 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 a leader writer, becoming the paper's chief of staff in 1969, and returning to Canberra as the ''Heralds chief political correspondent in 1972.''Who's Who in Australia 2015'', ConnectWeb (2015).

Media managerial career

In 1974, Johns returned to government as a consultant and advisor for the First Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. In 1979, Johns joined

Penguin Books Penguin Books is a British publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.Special Broadcasting Service The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is an Australian hybrid-funded public service broadcaster. About 80 percent of funding for the company is derived from the Australian Government. SBS operates six TV channels ( SBS, SBS Viceland, SBS World ...

(SBS). In 1992, he became chairman of the

Australian Broadcasting Authority The Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA) was an Australian government agency whose main roles were to regulate broadcasting, radiocommunications and telecommunications. The Authority took over the functions of the Australian Broadcasting Trib ...

. From 1995 to 2000, he was managing director of the

(ABC). Initiatives and programs introduced at the ABC during his tenure include ABC Online, the national edition of '' The 7.30 Report'', ''

Australian Story ''Australian Story'' is a national weekly current affairs and documentary style television series which is broadcast on ABC Television. It is produced specifically by the ABC News and Current Affairs Department. The program first aired on 29 ...

'', and the drama series ''

SeaChange ''SeaChange'' is an Australian television program that ran from 1998 to 2000 on the ABC and in 2019 on the Nine Network. It was created by Andrew Knight and Deborah Cox and starred Sigrid Thornton, David Wenham, William McInnes, John Howar ...

''. From 2000 to 2003, Johns worked for

Queensland University of Technology Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public research university located in the urban coastal city of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. QUT is located on two campuses in the Brisbane area viz. Gardens Point and Kelvin Grove. The univ ...

as an adjunct professor in the creative industries faculty and as chairman of the board of the university's cultural precinct. In 2000, he also served as a director on the board of the Copyright Agency Ltd, and was chairman from 2004 to 2009. From 2011, he was a director on the board of

Melbourne University Publishing Melbourne University Publishing (MUP) is the book publishing arm of the University of Melbourne. History MUP was founded in 1922 as Melbourne University Press to sell text books and stationery to students, and soon began publishing books itself. ...

Death

Johns died on New Year's Day 2016 in a Sydney hospital, after battling cancer.

Honours

In the 1988 Australia Day Honours, Johns was made an Officer of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gov ...

(AO) for service to publishing and to the media. Johns was awarded the Centenary Medal in 2001 for service to the media and broadcasting industry, particularly public broadcasting. Johns received honorary doctorates from RMIT University and the

, where he worked as an adjunct professor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johns, Brian (businessman) 1936 births 2016 deaths Managing directors of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Australian chief executives Australian journalists Officers of the Order of Australia Recipients of the Centenary Medal Queensland University of Technology faculty Australian people of Irish descent People from Cairns Deaths from cancer in New South Wales The Sydney Morning Herald people