Jo Pearson

Jo Pearson
Alma mater	University of Queensland
Occupation(s)	journalist and television presenter
Known for	reading television news
Television	Ten Eyewitness News, Live at Five, Body and Soul

Jo Pearson is an Australian television presenter and journalist.

Career

Pearson is perhaps best known for her association with Network Ten throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. After working at TVQ-0 in Brisbane, she transferred to ATV-0 in Melbourne where she co-presented Ten Eyewitness News with David Johnston from 1982 to 1987 and again from 1991 to 1993. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

In 1988, Pearson was crowned as a Moomba monarch during Melbourne's annual Moomba Festival. ^[4]

Pearson was poached by the Nine Network in 1988 who reportedly lured her across from Ten with a contract worth approximately one million dollars. ^[5] This was reportedly in an attempt by Nine to "warehouse" Pearson just to break up the successful pairing of Pearson and Johnston. ^[6] While at Nine in 1988, she co-hosted a national news magazine program Live at Five with Terry Willesee before also hosting a Saturday afternoon lifestyle program Body and Soul. ^[5] Both programs struggled and were ultimately axed in 1989. ^[7] This was after Live at Five was renamed to Eye on Australia in early 1989 with Willesee hosting the show solo. ^[8] Pearson and Willesse's Live at 5 was remembered in 2009 when Nine again attempted an afternoon news magazine program when they launched This Afternoon . ^[9]

Pearson returned to Ten in 1991 where she resumed her on-air partnership on Ten Eyewitness News with Johnston. ^[10] Speaking to TV Week about her time at Nine, Pearson said: "In hindsight you could say it was a mistake for me to go, but at the time I went with promise and expectation of a new career... I think I had a lot of bad luck. There were political and geographical differences that made it extremely difficult for me and the shows.” ^[10]

In 1991, she co-hosted Ten's Young Achiever Awards telecast with Tim Webster. ^[11]

In 1992, Pearson was the centre of controversy when she changed her hair colour from blonde to auburn. This annoyed executives at Ten who ordered her to immediately change her hair colour back to the way it was. ^{[12] [13] [14]} In 2012, commenting on Tracey Spicer's article in The Sydney Morning Herald detailing the misogyny Spicer had encountered during her television career, Pearson observed that "some things never change, sadly". ^[14]

In 1993, she left Ten and was replaced by Marie-Louise Theile. ^[15] Pearson then went on to be a panelist on TVTV on ABC TV. ^[16]

Pearson later established Media Strategies, a media training organisation specialising in disaster management and public speaking. ^[5] In 2010, Pearson was dividing her time between Melbourne and Ealing in London and by 2012, she was living in Hertfordshire in the UK and working as a producer, director and voiceover artist. ^{[5] [14]}

Personal life

Pearson was previously married to weather presenter Rob Gell who she worked with on Ten Eyewitness News. In 2012, their son Nicholas Gell graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art. ^[14]

Legacy

Pearson is among a group of prolific female news presenters of the 1980s who are said to have inspired the acclaimed ABC TV drama The Newsreader . ^{[17] [18]}

References

1. "0, those were the days". The Age . 19 August 2004. Retrieved 1 January 2023. Johnston's double-header with Jo Pearson was a dream formula for Ten, convincingly out-rating Nine in a timeslot where Nine now holds sway
2. Walden, Mal (25 July 2014). "Looking back at Ten". The Age. Retrieved 1 January 2023. ...David Johnston and Jo Pearson established a winning combination through the '80s.
3. Bayley, Andrew (30 July 2014). "ATV10… A new decade, a new channel". Television.AU. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
4. "For the record: events that shaped our lives in 1988". Herald Sun . 15 June 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2023. TV newsreader Jo Pearson was Moomba Monarch (March 14)
5. "That was then, this is now". The Sydney Morning Herald . 28 February 2010. Retrieved 1 January 2023. In 1988 she was poached by Nine for a rumoured million-dollar figure along with her then-husband, weatherman Rob Gell... Stints on Live at Five with Terry Willesee and, later, a Saturday afternoon lifestyle offering, Body and Soul, followed
6. Vickery, Colin (11 June 2015). "There are certain stars TV networks can't afford to lose, but that doesn't stop their rivals trying". news.com.au . Warehousing is another big poaching tactic. Jo Pearson and Rob Gell were part of an unbeatable Channel 10 Eyewitness news/weather combo in Melbourne in the 1980s. Nine targeted the couple with a big money offer. Pearson, especially, pretty much disappeared from sight after the move. Mission accomplished.
7. "Programs go in Nine Network cuts". The Canberra Times. 5 October 1989. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
8. "Aggregation: The battle of the network stars". The Canberra Times. 27 March 1989. Retrieved 1 January 2023. Eye on Australia, a revamped Live at Five minus Melbourne's Jo Pearson and 50 per cent of its running time. Jo got chopped early this year after the show's teething problems became virtually insurmountable last year.
9. Idato, Michael (29 June 2009). "Nine's strategic shift". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 1 January 2023. It is Nine's third attempt at an afternoon news magazine in two decades: 1988's Live At Five, hosted by Terry Willesee and Jo Pearson...
10. Bayley, Andrew (20 June 2011). "1991: June 15-21". Television.AU. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
11. Bayley, Andrew (14 September 2011). "1991: September 14-20". Television.AU. Retrieved 1 January 2023. Tim Webster and Jo Pearson host the 1991 Young Achiever Awards (Ten)
12. Kent, Melissa (9 May 2010). "Crowning glory". The Age. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
13. Money, Lawrence (25 September 2010). "Forget the news, check out the cleavage". The Age. Retrieved 1 January 2023. There was a time in the 1990s when the colour of newsreader Jo Pearson's hair was the hot topic of the Victorian TV world. Blonde Jo briefly became auburn Jo, and Ten management, demonstrating the solid values of the industry, ordered a re-rinse.
14. Carbonne, Suzanne (30 October 2012). "Seeing red over sexism". The Age. Retrieved 1 January 2023. When reading the news at Channel Ten in 1992, she incurred the wrath of the boys' club when dying her blonde hair red, eventually re-emerging blond to keep her job.
15. Bayley, Andrew (20 October 2007). "No news is good news for Thiele". Television.AU. Retrieved 1 January 2023. In 1994, Thiele relocated to Melbourne to replace Jo Pearson at the Melbourne ATV10 newsdesk alongside David Johnston
16. Bayley, Andrew (11 September 2016). "TV At 60: The Top 60 begins…". Television.AU. Retrieved 1 January 2023. 52. TVTV (ABC, 1993-1995). Hosted initially by Simon Townsend with panelists including James Valentine, Edith Bliss, Jo Pearson and Caroline Baum.
17. Gorr, Libbi (5 September 2021). "Ashtrays, coffee and typewriters: Meet the real-life journalists that inspired The Newsreader". This Weekend Life . Retrieved 1 January 2023.
18. Knox, David (12 August 2021). ""I know that people are going to compare her character to Jana"". TV Tonight . Retrieved 1 January 2023. ...we probably have hit closer to the TEN Eyewitness News in the 80s in terms of the set and the look. I think of 10 as the David Johnston / Jo Pearson era

Media offices
Preceded by Jana Wendt	Ten Eyewitness News Weeknight co-presenter with David Johnston 1982 – 1987	Succeeded by Tracey Curro
Preceded by Tracey Curro	Ten Eyewitness News Weeknight co-presenter with David Johnston 1991 – 1993	Succeeded by Marie-Louise Theile