HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Jana Bohumila Wendt ( ; born 9 May 1956) is an Australian Gold Logie award-winning television journalist, reporter and writer.


Early life

Wendt was born in Melbourne to Czech parents who emigrated to Australia in 1949, as political refugees on account of her father's work as a journalist for a Czech dissident newspaper. Wendt attended Presentation College, Windsor before graduating at the
University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...
with a
Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
(French, Honours) in 1979.


Career

Starting as a researcher for the ABC, Wendt's television career began as a journalist for ATV-10 evening news, before sharing presenting duties with David Johnston. In 1982, Wendt then went on to be one of the first reporters on the Australian
Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and 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 the five main free-to-air television ...
's version of ''
60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who distinguished it from other news programs by using a unique style o ...
'', as well as filing stories for the American CBS ''
60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who distinguished it from other news programs by using a unique style o ...
''. ''60 Minutes'' producer Gerald Stone described her as "more like a Hollywood film star than anyone else in Australian TV". Wendt hosted '' A Current Affair'', also on Nine, from 1987 until November 1992, and was host of Australian '' Dateline'' on SBS and ''Witness'' on Seven. She also did a number of specials for the ABC. She returned to Channel Nine in 2003 to host ''
Sunday Sunday (Latin: ''dies solis'' meaning "day of the sun") is the day of the week between Saturday and Monday. Sunday is a Christian sabbath, day of rest in most Western countries and a part of the Workweek and weekend, weekend. In some Middle Ea ...
''.


Departure from Nine Network

Rumours of Wendt's departure from Nine began in June 2006, when the network announced it would merge its ''Sunday'' and ''Business Sunday'' programs. Leaks to the print media, reportedly from high levels within Nine and described by journalists as "ham-fisted", revealed that the network wanted to replace Wendt with Ellen Fanning. Then CEO Eddie McGuire in particular was accused of trying to " white-ant" Wendt. On 1 September 2006, it was announced that Wendt would leave the Nine Network. News reports suggested she would receive a payout of more than A$2 million in lieu of the remaining two and a half years of her contract. The absence of Wendt on the ''Sunday'' program's relaunch on 3 September 2006 was met with an unprecedented number of complaints that flooded the Nine Network's switchboard. Wendt was then sacked from her regular "Lunch" column for '' The Bulletin'' magazine, due to the association the magazine has with the Nine Network; both had the same parent company, PBL. On 12 September 2006, just ten days after she left the Nine Network, Wendt agreed to appear on stage at the Seven Network's ''50 Years of Television'' presentation, where she co-presented the News and Current Affairs section with Sydney news presenter Ian Ross, another former Nine Network employee. Delivering the second Andrew Olle Media Lecture in 1997, Wendt said of the profession: Wendt presented the Logies Hall of Fame award to the program ''60 Minutes'' at the 2018 Logies.


Personal life

Wendt married producer Brendan Ward in 1984 and they have one son, Daniel. In
2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...
, a painting of Wendt by artist Evert Ploeg won the Packing Room Prize at the
Archibald Prize The Archibald Prize is an Australian portraiture art prize for painting, generally seen as the most prestigious portrait prize in Australia. It was first awarded in 1921 after the receipt of a bequest from J. F. Archibald, J. F. Archib ...
.


Awards

Wendt won the 1992 Gold Logie Award for her role as host of ''A Current Affair''. She was not at the presentation to accept her award, citing commitments to ''A Current Affair'', based in Sydney, while the awards were being presented in Melbourne. Wendt won a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2018 Kennedy Awards.


Books published

* ''A Matter of Principle – New Meetings with the Good, the Great and the Formidable'', Melbourne University Press, 2007. . * ''Nice Work'', Melbourne University Press, 2010. * ''The Search for MH370 Deepest Dive'' (2022), eight-part podcast presented by Jana Wendt and Peter Waring"''The Search for MH370 Deepest Dive''"
Audible Audible may refer to: * Audible (service), an online audiobook store * Audible (American football), a tactic used by quarterbacks * ''Audible'' (film), a short documentary film featuring a deaf high school football player * Audible finish or ru ...


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wendt, Jana 1956 births Australian television newsreaders and news presenters Australian people of Czech descent Gold Logie winners Living people Journalists from Melbourne Australian broadcast news analysts University of Melbourne alumni Australian women television journalists