Peter Thompson (born 1952) is an Australian broadcast journalist and educator. He is a Fellow of the Australia and New Zealand School of Government and an adjunct professor at

Macquarie University Macquarie University ( ) is a public research university based in Sydney, Australia, in the suburb of Macquarie Park. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the metropolitan area of ...

. He is director of the Centre for Leadership, a private consultancy on communication. Thompson was the presenter of 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-owne ...

's ''

Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American rock band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991.Talki ...

'', a weekly biographical television program about the lives of prominent Australians, which began on

ABC1 ABC TV, formerly known as ABC1, is an Australian national public television network. It is owned and operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and is the flagship ABC Television network. The headquarters of the ABC TV channel an ...

in 2005 and ended in 2010 after 238 episodes.

Life and career

Peter Thompson was born in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...

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 ...

, and was educated at

St. Joseph's College, Hunters Hill , motto_translation = Strive Strive for better things , established = , type = Independent single-sex secondary day and boarding school , educational_authority = New South Wales Department of Educatio ...

and St Pius X College, Chatswood. He graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree from the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies an ...

in 1977, a Masters of Business Administration from the Australian Graduate School of Management in 1984 and a Masters of Public Administration from the

Harvard Kennedy School The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, publi ...

in 1987. Thompson began his career as a sports broadcaster on radio at 2LF in Young in 1970. He moved to

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

in 1972 and worked as a presenter on various commercial stations, including 7EX,

7LA 89.3 LAFM (callsign: 7LAA) is an Australian radio station in Tasmania. Owned and operated by ARN, it broadcasts an adult contemporary format to Launceston and surrounding areas. First broadcast on 14 December 1930 as 7LA, the station currently ...

and TNT9. He also presented the ABC TV current affairs program '' This Day Tonight'' in 1978. From 1979 to 1982, as project officer for the

Australian Conservation Foundation The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) is Australia's national environmental organisation, launched in 1965 in response to a proposal by the World Wide Fund for Nature for a more co-ordinated approach to sustainability. One high-profil ...

, he was a leader of the effort to protect the world heritage values of Tasmania's Franklin and

Gordon River The Gordon River is a major perennial river located in the central highlands, south-west, and western regions of Tasmania, Australia. Course and features The Gordon River rises below Mount Hobhouse in the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers Nationa ...

s from hydro-electric development. He wrote two books on the campaign. In 1985 he was presented with the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensiv ...

Alumni Award for his role in conservation. Thompson presented 702 ABC radio's ''Drivetime'' in 1987 and then the ABC morning current affairs program ''AM'' from 1988 to 1993. He was presenter of '' Radio National Breakfast'' from 1994 to 1999 and again from 2003 to 2004. He also hosted a series of 35 "Wisdom Interviews" for

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 a ...

from 2002 to 2004. Thompson was appointed a fellow of the Australia and New Zealand School of Government in 2007 and teaches executive programs in public policy with a focus on communication concepts. His interests include political and social change,

risk communication Risk communication is a complex cross-disciplinary academic field that is part of risk management and related to fields like crisis communication. The goal is to make sure that targeted audiences understand how risks effect to them or their commun ...

and behavioural change. He became an adjunct professor at

's Department of International Communication in 2006. The Centre for Leadership creates educational workshops for the public, private and not-for-profit sectors on public interest issues such as ethics and communicating with integrity, according to

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ...

's principles of

ethos, pathos and logos The modes of persuasion, modes of appeal or rhetorical appeals (Greek: ''pisteis'') are strategies of rhetoric that classify a speaker's or writer's appeal to their audience. These include ethos, pathos, and logos, all three of which appear in Ar ...

Publications

*''Power in Tasmania'', Australian Conservation Foundation, 1982. *''

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 ...

of the

Franklin River The Franklin River is a major perennial river located in the Central Highlands and western regions of Tasmania, Australia. The river is located in the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park at the mid northern area of the Tasmanian Wilder ...

'', Allen and Unwin, 1985. *''The Secrets of the Great Communicators'', ABC, 1992. *''Persuading Aristotle'', Allen and Unwin, 2001. *''Wisdom: The Hard Won Gift, Interviews'', ABC, 2003. *''Talking Heads, Interviews'', ABC Books, 2008. *''More Talking Heads, Interviews'', ABC Books, 2009.

References

External links

Academic profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Peter 1952 births Living people ABC radio (Australia) journalists and presenters People educated at St Pius X College, Sydney People educated at St Joseph's College, Hunters Hill Harvard Kennedy School alumni