Creighton Lee Burns, AO (19 March 1925 – 19 January 2008) was an Australian journalist and academic, who was editor-in-chief of ''

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 ...

'' newspaper 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 ...

from 1981 to 1989.

Early life and naval career

Born in Melbourne, Burns attended Scotch College, and at the age of 15 became a cadet journalist at ''

The Sun News-Pictorial ''The Sun News-Pictorial'' (known as ''The Sun'') was a morning daily tabloid newspaper published in Melbourne, Victoria, from 1922 until its merger in 1990 with '' The Herald'' to form the ''Herald-Sun''. ''The Sun News-Pictorial'' was part ...

''. In 1942, he joined the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...

, where he served as a sailor on board the cruiser HMAS ''Australia'', the corvette HMAS ''Warrnambool'' and the destroyer HMAS ''Nepal''.Man of letters, man of words
''

'', 20 January 2008.

Academia

After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Burns returned to Australia where he attended the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb no ...

on a government grant, and achieved first-class honours in history. In 1941, Burns was named the Rhodes Scholar for

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. Prior to attending

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, Burns returned once again to journalism, briefly working for the news agency AAP-

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was esta ...

. At Oxford, Burns was granted scholarships to study at Nuffield and Balliol Colleges, where he gained first-class honours in philosophy, politics and economics, and a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...

. Returning to Australia in 1952, Burns took up a teaching position as a lecturer at

Canberra University College Canberra University College was a tertiary education institution established in Canberra by the Australian government and the University of Melbourne in 1930. At first it operated in the Telopea Park School premises after hours. Most of the initi ...

. In 1953, he returned to the University of Melbourne as a senior lecturer and later

reader A reader is a person who reads. It may also refer to: Computing and technology * Adobe Reader (now Adobe Acrobat), a PDF reader * Bible Reader for Palm, a discontinued PDA application * A card reader, for extracting data from various forms of ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

. He published ''Parties and People: A Survey Based on the La Trobe Electorate'' in 1961. In 1964, ''

'' newspaper offered him a position as their

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...

foreign

correspondent A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is usually a journalist or commentator for a magazine, or an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, locati ...

.Kerbaj, Richard
Academic with a flair for journalism
, ''

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 ...

'', 21 January 2008.

''The Age''

For most of his tenure in Southeast Asia from 1964 to 1967, Burns was stationed in Saigon and

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

, covering the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

. He was one of the first journalists to be taken out on patrol with the

1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (1 RAR) is a regular motorised infantry battalion of the Australian Army. 1 RAR was first formed as the 65th Australian Infantry Battalion of the 34th Brigade (Australia) on Balikpapan in 1945 and sinc ...

. He returned to Melbourne in 1967, as diplomatic and defence correspondent for ''The Age'', later becoming the paper's assistant editor, then associate editor. In 1975, he was appointed U.S. correspondent at ''The Ages

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

bureau, where he worked until 1981. In 1981, Burns was appointed editor-in-chief at ''The Age''. His appointment was controversial amongst the media community, as the appointment of an editor from an academic background was unusual. Despite his reluctance to take the post, Burns went on to become one of the paper's longest serving editors. One of the biggest stories overseen by Burns was " ''The Age'' tapes" affair, a landmark in Australian judicial-political history. In February 1984, ''The Age'' obtained a series of recordings made by the

New South Wales Police Force The New South Wales Police Force (NSW Police Force; previously the New South Wales Police Service and New South Wales Police) is the primary law enforcement agency of the state of New South Wales, Australia. Divided into Police Area Commands (P ...

and the Australian Federal Police, which Burns published as a three-part series entitled 'Network of Influence'. The transcripts revealed conversations between High Court Judge

Lionel Murphy Lionel Keith Murphy QC (30 August 1922 – 21 October 1986) was an Australian politician, barrister, and judge. He was a Senator for New South Wales from 1962 to 1975, serving as Attorney-General in the Whitlam Government, and then sat on the ...

and a magistrate, which led to a Royal Commission and the conviction of Justice Murphy on a charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice. The publication of the tapes also prompted the

New South Wales government The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of New South Wales. It is currently held by a coalition of the Liberal Party and the National Party. The Governme ...

to pass the Listening Devices Act 1984, which tightened up the provisions of the 1969 Act under which the illegal police buggings and tapings had taken place. Burns retired from ''The Age'' in 1989, but remained in public life as the chancellor of the Victoria University of Technology and president of the Melbourne

Savage Club The Savage Club, founded in 1857, is a gentlemen's club in London, named after the poet, Richard Savage. Members are drawn from the fields of art, drama, law, literature, music or science. History The founding meeting of the Savage Club took ...

. He was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in the 1991

Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove and raising of the Union Flag by Arthur Phillip following days of exploration of Port ...

honours, in recognition of service to the media and to international relations.

Death

Creighton Burns died at Cabrini Hospital in Malvern on 19 January 2008, after a long battle with

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 ...

. He was 82 years old. He was lauded by

Premier of Victoria The premier of Victoria is the head of government in the Australian state of Victoria. The premier is appointed by the governor of Victoria, and is the leader of the political party able to secure a majority in the Victorian Legislative Assemb ...

John Brumby John Mansfield Brumby (born 21 April 1953) is the current Chancellor of La Trobe University and former Victorian Labor Party politician who was Premier of Victoria from 2007 to 2010. He became leader of the Victorian Labor Party and premier ...

as an "outstanding editor", a sentiment echoed by Brumby's predecessors, Jeff Kennett and

Joan Kirner Joan Elizabeth Kirner (née Hood; 20 June 1938 – 1 June 2015) was an Australian politician who was the 42nd Premier of Victoria, serving from 1990 to 1992. A Labor Party member of the Parliament of Victoria from 1982 to 1994, she was a mem ...

.Rood, David
State leaders pay tribute to 'outstanding' Age editor
''

'', 21 January 2008.

References

External links

Obituary in ''The Times'', 10 March 2008
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burns, Creighton 1925 births 2008 deaths Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Alumni of Nuffield College, Oxford Royal Australian Navy personnel of World War II Royal Australian Navy sailors Australian newspaper editors The Age (Melbourne) people Australian Rhodes Scholars Officers of the Order of Australia Journalists from Melbourne University of Melbourne alumni Academic staff of the University of Melbourne Deaths from cancer in Victoria (state) People educated at Scotch College, Melbourne Victoria University, Melbourne