Liz Jackson (1951 – 27 June 2018) 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 journalism ...

and

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

noted for her work on the ''

Four Corners The Four Corners is a region of the Southwestern United States consisting of the southwestern corner of Colorado, southeastern corner of Utah, northeastern corner of Arizona, and northwestern corner of New Mexico. The Four Corners area ...

'' and '' Media Watch'' television programs. She received nine

Walkley Award The annual Walkley Awards are presented in Australia to recognise and reward excellence in journalism. They cover all media including print, television, documentary, radio, photographic and online media. The Gold Walkley is the highest prize and ...

s for excellence in journalism.

Career

Jackson grew up 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 ...

, Australia and commenced work with 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) in 1986. Prior to her career with the ABC, Jackson also worked in a community legal centre in Australia and practised law in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

as a barrister at

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

. Jackson returned to Australia and worked for the NSW Premier's Department, in the Women's Coordination Unit, dealing with laws to protect women from violence. After joining ''Four Corners'' as an investigative reporter in 1994, Jackson was awarded

s, Australia's awards for journalism, on five occasions for her work on the following: *The situation in

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

(1993); *The suicide of Aboriginal activist Rob Riley; *"Fixing Cricket", a report about cricket match-fixing (2000); *"Go to jail", regarding the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

's mandatory sentencing laws (2000); and, *"Putting the Children at Risk", an investigation into the

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Government Department of Community Services (2002).Biography of Liz Jackson
''Four Corners'' website,

, accessed 11 July 2007. Jackson received three

Logie Award The Logie Awards (officially the TV Week Logie Awards; colloquially known as The Logies) is an annual gathering to celebrate Australian television, sponsored and organised by the magazine ''TV Week''. The first ceremony was held in 1959 as the ...

s for "Fixing Cricket" and stories related to the Blackhawk disaster and

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

transmission from a

doctor's surgery A doctor's office in American English, a doctor's surgery in British English, or a doctor's practice, is a medical facility in which one or more medical doctors, usually general practitioners (GP), receive and treat patients. Description Doc ...

. At the start of 2005, Jackson hosted the media-criticism program ''Media Watch'', before stepping down in December 2005 and returning to ''Four Corners''.

Personal life

In November 2016, Jackson revealed she had been diagnosed with

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

in 2014, with the release of a documentary called "A Sense of Self" broadcast as an episode of ''Four Corners''. She died in her sleep while on holiday in Greece on 27 June 2018, at the age of 67.ABC News,
Liz Jackson, former ABC journalist, dies aged 67'
28 June 2018. Her daughter,

Rose Jackson Rose Butler Jackson is an Australian Labor Party politician serving as a Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council since 8 May 2019. She is a former Secretary of the New South Wales Labor Left faction and the former Assistant General Sec ...

, is a

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

member of the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in th ...

References

1951 births 2018 deaths Australian television journalists Australian television presenters Australian women television presenters Australian women journalists Walkley Award winners Journalists from Melbourne Australian barristers Members of Gray's Inn People with Parkinson's disease {{Australia-tv-bio-stub