Tribute
John Doherty 7/4/47 - 29/12/04
An
admired leader and innovator in the Australasian media, UniSA graduate John
Doherty died on December 29 aged 57.
Growing up in Sydney's west, John got his first break as a copyboy at the Sydney Morning Herald. A cadetship at that newspaper followed, and he joined The Advertiser in 1969 as a police reporter.
John – or JD as he was known by colleagues – was at The Advertiser for 19 years, as a reporter, chief of staff and features editor. In 1988 he took on the role of chief of staff at Channel Nine in Adelaide, and was promoted to news director in 1995.
John graduated with his MBA from the University of South Australia in 2000, and shortly after was appointed state director of the ABC.
In 2001 he became the UniSA MBA alumni chapter president, and in that same year his career entered a new phase, when he was brought in to develop and launch ABC Asia Pacific - now considered one of the ABC's big success stories, watched in 38 countries and retransmitted by more than 150 pay TV operators.
Described by those who knew him as a faithful friend, a generous mentor and someone who never forgot his working class roots, John is survived by his wife Jan, and two children from a previous marriage, Elissa and Nathan.
In a testament to John's great contribution, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer recently announced the establishment of the John Doherty Asia Pacific Journalism Internship. Each year the scheme will bring two broadcast journalists from Asia to Australia for an intensive two week internship at the ABC.