Michael Julius Schildberger (4 April 1938 – 2 June 2010) was an Australian journalist,

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

and television presenter, and author. He is best known for hosting ''

A Current Affair ''A Current Affair'' may refer to: * ''A Current Affair'' (Australian TV program), 1971–present Australian current affairs program that airs on Nine Network * ''A Current Affair'' (American TV program), a 1986–1998 American television news ...

'' in the 1970s.

Career

Schildberger began his media career in 1955 when he joined ''

The Sun News-Pictorial ''The Sun News-Pictorial'' (known as ''The Sun'') was a morning daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, from 1922 until its merger in 1990 with ''The Herald (Melbourne), The H ...

'' as a copy boy and subsequently became a cadet reporter. In 1958 he moved to

GTV 9 GTV is a commercial television station in Melbourne, Australia, owned by the Nine Network. The station is currently based at studios at 717 Bourke Street, Docklands. History GTV-9 was amongst the first television stations to begin regular ...

where he remained for the next twenty years. During the 1970s he was executive producer and national host of ''

''. For that role, he was awarded a 1976 Logie Award for Best TV Interviewer. While at ''A Current Affair'' he conducted the first full-length television interview with singer-songwriter

Neil Diamond Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold more than 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. He has had ten No. 1 singles on the Hot 100 and Adul ...

, who had only previously done brief group press conferences. The interview was in conjunction with Diamond's 1975-76 "Thank You Australia" tour and nationally broadcast live concert. After leaving Channel 9, Schildberger worked for several years as Director of News for

ATV 10 ATV is a television station in Melbourne, Australia, part of Network 10 – one of the three major Australian free-to-air commercial television networks. The station is owned by Paramount Networks UK & Australia. History In April 1963, t ...

and FOX-FM. He then moved to Melbourne radio station

3LO ABC Radio Melbourne (official callsign: 3LO) is an ABC Local Radio station in Melbourne, Australia. It began transmission on 13 October 1924, and was Melbourne's second licensed radio station after 3AR. Most Local Radio stations in Victoria s ...

where he hosted the morning program, with a short stint at 3DB. In 1984 he founded the media production company Business Essentials. Schildberger was diagnosed with

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancerous tumor worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that sur ...

in 1997. He achieved remission, and became a strong advocate of

positron emission tomography Positron emission tomography (PET) is a functional imaging technique that uses radioactive substances known as radiotracers to visualize and measure changes in Metabolism, metabolic processes, and in other physiological activities including bl ...

. The cancer returned in early 2010. Schildberger died at the Cabrini Hospital in

Prahran Prahran (), also pronounced colloquially as Pran, is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 5 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Stonnington local government area. Prahran recorded a po ...

on 2 June 2010.

Publications

* *

References

External links

''The Age'' obituary1989 profile of Schildberger in ''The Age''
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schildberger, Michael 1938 births 2010 deaths Australian reporters and correspondents Australian television personalities Deaths from cancer in Victoria (Australia) Deaths from prostate cancer German emigrants to Australia Journalists from Melbourne Logie Award winners Radio personalities from Melbourne People educated at Melbourne Grammar School