Gerald Louis Stone (18 August 1933 – 6 November 2020) was an American-born Australian television and radio journalist, television executive and author.

Early years and career

Born in 1933 and raised in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, an ...

, Stone graduated in

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 ...

from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

and in 1957 started work as a copy boy for ''

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 ...

''. In 1962, he emigrated to Australia and commenced as a journalist for

News Limited News Corp Australia is an Australian media conglomerate and wholly owned subsidiary of the American News Corp. One of Australia's largest media conglomerates, News Corp Australia employs more than 8,000 staff nationwide and approximately 3,00 ...

, working as a

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, locat ...

in Vietnam in the late 1960s, and also covered the Australian Moree "Freedom Rides" for the ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its Masthead (British publishing), masthead was simpl ...

'' and ''Sunday Mirror''. Between 1995 and 1998, Stone was editor-in-chief of '' The Bulletin''. Moving into television in 1967, he first appeared on the ABCTV's '' This Day Tonight'' as a reporter before being appointed a news director for the

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...

in 1975. While at the Nine Network, he was in

East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-w ...

in August 1975 when the Balibo Five were shot. According to ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'', "... tonewent to Dili with

Kerry Packer Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer (17 December 1937 – 26 December 2005) was an Australian media tycoon, and was considered one of Australia's most powerful media proprietors of the twentieth century. The Packer family company owned a controlling ...

and cameraman Brian Peters, one of those later killed." Further, it was reported that "Mr Stone said he and Mr Peters came under fire and Nine boss Mr Packer's voice could be heard on tape shouting: 'Come back. Stone was the inaugural executive producer of the Australian version of the

newsmagazine A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published magazine, radio or television program, usually published weekly, consisting of articles about current events. News magazines generally discuss stories, in greater depth than do newspapers or n ...

'' 60 Minutes'', first aired in 1979. Given the job by Packer, he was told: "I don't give a f... what it takes. Just do it and get it right." Packer was less than impressed with the opening show, telling Stone: "You've blown it, son. You better fix it fast." Over the years, Stone's award-winning ''60 Minutes'' revolutionised Australian current affairs reporting and enhanced the careers of Ray Martin, Ian Leslie, George Negus and, later, Jana Wendt. Stone also served as head of current affairs for

Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...

's Fox Network in New York and returned to Australia to take up the position of network head of current affairs for Channel 7. Stone was appointed as a director of SBS on 1 December 2000 and reappointed for a further five years in 2005, serving in the role as deputy chairman until December 2010. Stone was made a Member 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 Go ...

(AM) in the

2015 Australia Day Honours The 2015 Australia Day Honours were announced on 26 January 2015 by the Governor General of Australia, Sir Peter Cosgrove. The Australia Day Honours are the first of the two major annual honours lists, announced on Australia Day (26 January), with ...

"For significant service to print and broadcast media as a journalist, editor, television producer and author." Stone died on 6 November 2020, aged 87.

Published works

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References

External links

Gerald Stone on the launch of "Singo"
*Opinion piece: * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stone, Gerald 1933 births 2020 deaths Australian television personalities Australian television producers Cornell University alumni Writers from Columbus, Ohio American emigrants to Australia Members of the Order of Australia