Gerard McManus (born 28 June 1960) is an Australian journalist, magazine columnist, and media consultant.

Education

McManus was educated at the University of New England and his newspaper cadetship was with the Centralian Advocate in Alice Springs.

Career

He has worked as business editor of the

Sunday Herald Sun The ''Herald Sun'' is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia, published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of the Murdoch owned News Corp. The ''Herald Sun ...

, political editor of the

, and political correspondent for the Herald Sun in the Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery. He left the Press Gallery in 2009.

''R v McManus and Harvey''

In June 2007, in '' R v McManus and Harvey'', McManus and fellow Herald Sun journalist Michael Harvey were convicted of contempt of court for refusing to disclose a source used in a story they wrote on entitlements for war veterans and widows. The ensuing controversy resulted in pressure on both Federal and state governments to introduce "shield laws" to protect journalists.

Awards

McManus is a Melbourne Quill winner, a recipient of

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 3,0 ...

’s Chairman’s Award and a

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 ...

judge. In 2007 Brisbane’s Jschool awarded Michael Harvey and McManus honorary doctorates in honour of the courage shown in their upholding of the journalist code of ethics .

Controversy

In the lead-up to the 2004 Federal election, McManus wrote an inflammatory article in the Herald Sun on the Australian Greens policies that was strongly criticized by Greens leader,

Bob Brown Robert James Brown (born 27 December 1944) is a former Australian politician, medical doctor and environmentalist. He was a senator and the parliamentary leader of the Australian Greens. Brown was elected to the Australian Senate on the Tasma ...

, and other prominent Greens politicians. The article claimed that the Greens had a policy to introduce over-the-counter heroin at pharmacies. Senator Brown made an official complaint to the Australian Press Council (Adjudication 1270), which handed down a highly critical finding against the Herald Sun, describing McManus’ article as "irresponsible journalism". "In the context of an approaching election, the potential damage was considerable," the APC Adjudication found. McManus was awarded the 2004 "

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of the year" mock award by Hack Watch, an independent blogging site, for the article.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mcmanus, Gerard 1960 births Living people Australian journalists