Shirley Stott Despoja

Last updated

Shirley Stott Despoja

OAM
Born
Shirley Margaret Stott

1936 (age 85–86)
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
NationalityAustralian
OccupationJournalist
Employer The Advertiser
Spouse Mario Despoja
Children Natasha Stott Despoja

Shirley Margaret Stott Despoja OAM (born 1936) is an Australian journalist. She was the first female journalist in the general newsroom of The Advertiser newspaper in Adelaide, and was the paper's first arts editor. [1]

Contents

Biography

Born Shirley Margaret Stott to a working-class family in Sydney, she studied at St George Girls High School before commencing, but not completing, an arts degree. Stott left university without a degree after offered a journalism role at The Anglican, a newspaper published by the Anglican Church of Australia, working for editor Francis James. [2]

With limited career prospects in Sydney, Stott moved to The Canberra Times , and then later was offered a position at The Advertiser in Adelaide—she was the first woman to work on general news for the paper, instead of the "women's pages". She returned to Canberra when she married, but when her marriage ended, she was asked back to The Advertiser by editor Don Riddell as the paper's first arts editor, at a time when the arts were flourishing in South Australia under the premiership of Don Dunstan. [2]

In 1988, Stott Despoja took sick leave, and in January 1989 filed a claim for worker's compensation for work-related stress. The Australian Journalists Association took the case to the Industrial Relations Commission seeking her return to work for five days a week on full pay. The AJA's South Australian secretary told an IRC hearing that Stott Despoja's stress was caused by an incident arising over a disagreement with the editor of The Advertiser, Piers Akerman, over the placement of a column, and which the AJA alleged resulted in Akerman threatening Stott Despoja with violence. [3] The dispute went to the Supreme Court of South Australia, where the Advertiser's appeal against the claim was dismissed. Stott Despoja retired from the paper in 1992. [2]

In 2008, Stott Despoja returned to the media, writing a column titled "The Third Age" for the Adelaide Review . [2]

Awards and honours

Stott Despoja was inducted into the South Australian Media Awards Hall of Fame in 2013. [2]

In the 2017 Australia Day Honours, she was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM), for service to the print media as a journalist. [4]

In November 2018, she was inducted into the Australian Media Hall of Fame. [5]

Personal life

In 1963, Stott interviewed Croatian migrant Mario Despoja for The Advertiser about his success on the quiz show Coles £3000 Question. They married ten months later, but divorced after twelve years. [6]

Their daughter, Natasha Stott Despoja, was a Senator for South Australia from 1995 to 2008, and leader of the Australian Democrats from 2001 to 2002. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Natasha Stott Despoja</span> Australian politician

Natasha Jessica Stott Despoja AO is an Australian politician, diplomat, advocate and author. She is the founding Chair of the Board of Our Watch, the national foundation to prevent violence against women and their children, and was previously the Australian Ambassador for Women and Girls at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade from 2013 to 2016. She was also a Member of the World Bank Gender Advisory Council from 2015 to 2017 and a Member of the United Nations High Level Working Group on the Health and Human Rights of Women, Children and Adolescents in 2017. She is a member of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.

Meg Heather Lees is a former member of the Australian Senate from 1990 to 2005, representing the state of South Australia. She represented the Australian Democrats from 1990 to 2002, and was her party's leader from 1997 – 2001. After being deposed by Natasha Stott Despoja, she quit the party to sit as an independent senator in 2002, adopting the party designation Australian Progressive Alliance from 2003 until her electoral defeat in 2005. As party leader, she controversially facilitated passage of the Howard Government's Goods and Services Tax (GST).

Lindsay John Casson Gaze is an Australian former basketball player and coach.

Piers Akerman is an Australian columnist and conservative commentator for the Sydney newspaper The Daily Telegraph.

Rechelle Margaret Hawkes, is the former captain of the Australian Women's Hockey Team, best known as the Hockeyroos,she was captain for eight years and became the second Australian woman after swimmer Dawn Fraser to win three Olympic gold medals at three separate Olympic Games: Seoul 1988, Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000.

On Dit is a student newspaper funded by the Adelaide University Union and advertising revenue which is published fortnightly during semester time. Founded in 1932, it is the third oldest student newspaper in Australia along with Semper Floreat. The paper replaced its precursor the Varsity Ragge which ran from 1928 to 1931 when it ended because of what On Dit described in its first edition as 'student apathy'. The Varsity Ragge returned in 1934 for a single edition as a rival to On Dit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hugh Riminton</span>

Hugh Riminton is an Australian foreign correspondent, journalist and television news presenter. He is currently national affairs editor and occasional presenter of 10 News First. He previously co-anchored Ten Eyewitness News with Sandra Sully until February 2017.

Janice Patricia "Jan" Lehane O'Neill OAM is a former Australian female tennis player. She was the first leading female player with a double-handed backhand.

Robyn Archer, AO, CdOAL is an Australian singer, writer, stage director, artistic director, and public advocate of the arts, in Australia and internationally.

William Rex Jory is a retired Australian journalist. He was an associate editor of The Advertiser, regular columnist for both The Advertiser and the Sunday Mail and leader writer for The Advertiser.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Priya Cooper</span> Australian Paralympic swimmer

Priya Naree Cooper, is an Australian world champion disabled swimmer, winning nine Paralympic gold medals as well as world records and world championships. She competed in the Australian swimming team at the 1992, 1996 and 2000 Summer Paralympics with an S8 classification. She was twice the co-captain of the Australian Paralympic team, including at the 2000 Paralympic Games in Sydney, and carried the Australian flag at the closing ceremonies for the 1992 and 1996 Summer Paralympics. Cooper has cerebral palsy and spends much of her time in a wheelchair. She attended university, working on a course in health management. After she ended her competitive Paralympic career, she became a commentator, and covered the swimming events at the 2002 Commonwealth Games.

Elizabeth Cameron Dalman is an Australian choreographer, teacher, and performer. She founded Australian Dance Theatre and was its artistic director from 1965 to 1975. She is also the founding director of Mirramu Dance Company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anne Summers</span> Australian writer and journalist

Anne Summers AO is an Australian writer and columnist, best known as a leading feminist, editor and publisher. She was formerly First Assistant Secretary of the Office of the Status of Women in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

Michelle den Dekker, also known as Michelle Fielke, is an Australian netballer from South Australia. den Dekker represented Australia in 84 tests between 1988 and 1995, including a record 71 as captain. She received the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 1992.

Mario Dešpoja is a Croatian Australian who opened an unofficial Croatian embassy in Australia's capital city, Canberra in 1977. The embassy was on a main road and attracted much publicity until it was closed down two years later.

Mervyn Stanley Agars was an Australian rules footballer and journalist. He played with West Adelaide in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). An eight-time state representative, he went on to have a significant career in sports journalism and in 2002 was inducted into the South Australian Football Hall of Fame. In 2018, Merv Agars was inducted into the SA Media Awards Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bec Goddard</span> Australian rules football coach

Rebecca 'Bec' Goddard is an Australian rules football coach currently serving as the head coach of the Hawthorn Football Club in the AFL Women's competition (AFLW). Goddard also previously coached Adelaide Football Club in the AFL Women's competition (AFLW) between 2017 and 2018, winning the 2017 AFL Women's Grand Final. She was assistant coach of the University of Canberra Capitals in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) in 2018/19, when it won the league championship.

Nancy Nugent Dexter was an Australian journalist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samela Harris</span> Australian journalist

Samela Scott Harris is an Australian journalist, critic, columnist, author, and blogger. Her nearly fifty year career as an arts journalist and cultural commentator spans a variety of print media. In 2017, for these and other contributions to South Australian cultural and public life, she was awarded the SA Media Lifetime Achievement award and inducted into the SA Journalists’ Hall of Fame.

References

  1. ↑ Henningham, Nikki. "Stott Despoja, Shirley (1936 - )". The Australian Women's Register. Australian Women's Archives Project. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Harris, Samela. "SHIRLEY STOTT DESPOJA". The Australian Media Hall of Fame. The Melbourne Press Club. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  3. ↑ "Editor did not threaten violence, says counsel". The Age. 11 May 1989. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  4. ↑ "STOTT DESPOJA, Shirley Margaret". It's an Honour. Australian Government. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  5. ↑ "More media greats inducted into Australian Media Hall of Fame". MediaWeek. 19 November 2018. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  6. ↑ Doherty, Megan (14 September 2013). "Quiz put migrant on a winning path". Canberra Times. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  7. ↑ "Celebrating International Women's Day". The Australian Women's Weekly. 22 February 2018. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.