Norman Swan (born Norman Swirsky in 1953) is a Scottish-born Australian physician, journalist and broadcaster.

Life and career

Swan was born in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

as Norman Swirsky. ; 1953)Datelines: Norman Swan, ''Sydney Morning Herald'', 7 November 1998, Spectrum, p. 2s As a young man he had a near death experience when climbing in the Scottish mountains with friends. He wanted to be an actor, but instead went to medical school at the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen ( sco, University o' 'Aiberdeen; abbreviated as ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; gd, Oilthigh Obar Dheathain) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Sc ...

graduating in 1976. He later tried unsuccessfully to attend the

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Sen ...

. He then continued his postgraduate studies by specialising in

paediatrics Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until the ...

. Swan moved to Australia to continue his training but moved away from medicine when he started 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 ...

in 1982. He was the general manager of ABC

Radio National Radio National, known on-air as RN, is an Australia-wide public service broadcasting radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2. History 1937: Predecessors an ...

for three years from 1990 and in that time increased the audience by 30%. He overhauled the schedule, created the RN current affairs breakfast program and recruited

Phillip Adams Phillip Adams, Philip Adams, or Phil Adams may refer to: Sports * Phillip Adams (American football) (1988–2021), American football cornerback * Phillip Adams (sport shooter) (born 1945), Australian pistol shooter * Phil Adams (cricketer) (born 1 ...

Geraldine Doogue Geraldine Frances Doogue (born 29 April 1952) is an Australian journalist and radio and television presenter. Career After graduating from the University of Western Australia with a Bachelor of Arts degree, Doogue intended to train as a scho ...

and

Wendy Harmer Wendy is a given name now generally given to girls in English-speaking countries. In Britain, Wendy appeared as a masculine name in a parish record in 1615. It was also used as a surname in Britain from at least the 17th century. Its popularity ...

as program presenters. Swan co-hosted the Radio National program ''

Life Matters ''Life Matters'' is a radio program that has been broadcast on Radio National by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation since 1992. The first presenter was Geraldine Doogue, and Hilary Harper and Michael MacKenzie present the program. Histor ...

'' between 1996 and 2001, and has produced and presented ABC radio program ''The Health Report'' from its inception in 1985. On ABC TV, Swan has presented both ''

Catalyst Catalysis () is the process of increasing the rate of a chemical reaction by adding a substance known as a catalyst (). Catalysts are not consumed in the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the catalyst recyc ...

'' and ''Quantum, is'' an occasional reporter on ''

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 ...

'', including an exposé of egregious doctors' fees. He is currently a regular reporter and commentator on ''

7.30 ''7.30'' is an Australian nightly television current affairs program which broadcasts on ABC and ABC News at on Monday to Thursday nights. The program is currently hosted by Sarah Ferguson. History The program first aired on 7 March 2011, re ...

''. On commercial television, he has appeared on the Australian version of ''

The Biggest Loser ''The Biggest Loser'' is a reality television format which started with the American TV show ''The Biggest Loser'' in 2004. The show centers on overweight and obese contestants attempting to lose the most weight; the winner receives a cash prize. ...

'' as the resident health expert. Swan was awarded the

Gold Walkley The Gold Walkley is the major award of the Walkley Awards 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 ...

in 1988 for revealing scientific fraud conducted by gynaecologist William McBride. Swan's investigation sent "shock waves throughout the medical world" and led to McBride's deregistration as a medical practitioner. Swan has won four

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, (the latest in 2020 for Coronacast), the 2020 Australian Skeptics Award, a Media Peace Award from the

United Nations Association of Australia The United Nations Association of Australia (UNAA) is the official non-profit, non-government, membership-based, organisation in Australia working on behalf of the United Nations core body to promote its overall aims and ideals, and equally s ...

and the highest honour in Australian science journalism, the

Michael Daley Award The Eureka Prizes are awarded annually by the Australian Museum, Sydney, to recognise individuals and organizations who have contributed to science and the understanding of science in Australia. They were founded in 1990 following a suggestion ...

. Swan was also awarded the Medal of The Australian Academy Science in 2004. He was elected a Fellow of the

Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences The Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences is an academy to promote health and medical sciences in Australia. It was established in June 2014. It cites "The Academy will serve the three purposes identified as of high priority in the 20 ...

in 2022. In November 2022, Swan faced criticism for speculating about the causes of the deaths of politician

Kimberley Kitching Kimberley Jane Elizabeth Kitching (16 February 1970 – 10 March 2022) was an Australian politician, lawyer, and trade unionist. A member of the Australian Labor Party, Labor Party, she was a Australian Senate, Senator for Victoria (Australia), ...

and cricketer

Shane Warne Shane Keith Warne (13 September 1969 – 4 March 2022) was an Australian international cricketer, whose career ran from 1991 to 2007. Warne played as a right-arm leg spin bowler and a right-handed batsman for Victoria, Hampshire and Australia ...

during an appearance on ''

News Breakfast ''News Breakfast'' is an Australian news breakfast television program. It is broadcast on ABC TV and ABC News channel from 6:00 am to 9:00 am AEST/AEDT on weekdays and is hosted by Michael Rowland and Lisa Millar. The program is also streamed ...

''. Swan implied that both deaths were linked to COVID-19 despite having no evidence to back up the claim, or access to their medical history. In an interview with ''

Daily Mail Australia MailOnline (also known as ''dailymail.co.uk'') is the website of the ''Daily Mail'', a newspaper in the United Kingdom, and of its sister paper ''The Mail on Sunday''. MailOnline is a division of dmg media, which is owned by Daily Mail and Gene ...

'' following his ''News Breakfast'' appearance, Swan persisted with the claim that COVID-19 had played a role in the deaths of Kitching and Warne. However, the following day Swan said he had issued an apology to Kitching's husband Andrew for his comments after it was revealed Kitching had never contracted COVID-19. Swan said that he accepted "100%" that he had "got it wrong".

Personal life

Swan's son Jonathan is a political correspondent, firstly for ''

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 ...

'' and ''

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 (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'', then '' The Hill'', ''

Axios Axios commonly refers to: * Axios (river), a river that runs through Greece and North Macedonia * ''Axios'' (website), an American news and information website Axios may also refer to: Brands and enterprises * Axios, a brand of suspension produ ...

,'' and currently the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

.'' Swan's daughter Anna was seriously injured in an

electric bike An electric bicycle (e-bike, eBike, etc.) is a motorized bicycle with an integrated electric motor used to assist propulsion. Many kinds of e-bikes are available worldwide, but they generally fall into two broad categories: bikes that assist ...

accident on a 2016 trip to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. Swan has experienced

PTSD Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental and behavioral disorder that can develop because of exposure to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence, or other threats on a ...

, blaming himself for not hiring helmets for the bikes, and also as a result of being injured in a bus explosion at age 14.

Bibliography

* * *

References

External links

Swan's biography
at ICMI {{DEFAULTSORT:Swan, Norman Walkley Award winners Australian paediatricians Medical journalists Scottish emigrants to Australia ABC radio (Australia) journalists and presenters Australian radio producers Cosmos (Australian magazine) people Living people 1953 births Australian people of Scottish-Jewish descent Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians Fellows of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences