John Hartigan (media executive)

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John Hartigan AO (born 16 November 1947) is a former Australian journalist and media executive, who worked for News Ltd for 41 years, ending his career there as CEO and chair in 2011. [1]

Contents

Career

Hartigan started his career in newspapers at the age of 16 [2] and worked for John Fairfax and Sons from 1964 to 1970. [3]

After joining News Ltd in 1970 as a reporter on The Daily Mirror in 1970, he later worked for The Daily Telegraph , both in Sydney. He then moved to London worked for The Sun , and on to New York City to report for the New York Post . [1]

Upon his return to Australia, Hartigan moved to Brisbane to take up editorship of the Queensland edition of the Sunday Herald Sun , and became inaugural editor of The Daily Sun [lower-alpha 1] there. He was also director of News Ltd subsidiary Queensland Sun Newspapers. [1]

In 1986 Hartigan took up editorship of The Daily Telegraph, being promoted to Editor-in-Chief of both The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph in 1989. In 1997 he was appointed to the most senior editorial position in News Ltd, Group Editorial Director, and was responsible for all of the company's newspapers in that role. [1]

In 2000 he was appointed Chief Executive Officer, adding chairman to his role in 2005. [1] During his time in the roles, he presided over a number of controversies, included Eatock v Bolt , the court case following News Ltd journalist Andrew Bolt breaching the Racial Discrimination Act , and an unfair dismissal case brought by former Herald Sun editor Bruce Guthrie. [5]

On 30 November 2011, Hartigan left News Ltd, and owner Rupert Murdoch took on the role of chairman, while former Foxtel executive Kim Williams took on the role of CEO. Staff were shocked at the decision and there was speculation as to whether he left of his own accord or not. [1] [5]

Other activities

As of 2011 he was director of The Bradman Foundation, the American Australian Association, the NSW Wine Industry Council and the NSW Export and Investment Advisory Board.

Awards and recognition

Personal life

Hartigan was married to journalist Rebecca Wilson, who died of breast cancer in October 2016. They had honeymooned on the Greek island of Santorini just weeks before her diagnosis in 2012, [7] and had been partners for at least two years before that. [8]

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Later, Sun [4]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Crook, Andrew (9 November 2011). "Farewell Big Harto: News Ltd CEO John Hartigan resigns". Crikey . Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  2. 1 2 "Australia Day 2022 honours for media industry figures". AdNews. 25 January 2022. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  3. ↑ "Mr John Kenneth Hartigan". It's an Honour. 26 January 2022. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  4. ↑ "Daily Sun [catalogue entry]". National Library of Australia. 2 August 1982 – 13 February 1988. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  5. 1 2 Hirst, Martin (10 November 2011). "A new broom for News Limited as Hartigan exits, but what now for Murdoch's empire?". The Conversation . Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  6. ↑ "Home". The Kennedy Awards. Archived from the original on 13 August 2022. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  7. ↑ Hartigan, John. "Harto's heartfelt tribute to his wife Rebecca Wilson at her funeral". The Daily Telegraph.
  8. ↑ Baum, Greg (30 April 2010). "Pillow talk has a place, but not in newspapers". The Age . Retrieved 14 August 2022.
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