David Marr (journalist)

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Template:Short description Template:Use Australian English Template:Use dmy dates Script error: No such module "infobox".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Script error: No such module "Check for clobbered parameters".Template:Wikidata image David Ewan Marr FAHA (born 13 July 1947) is an Australian journalist, author, and political and social commentator. He writes about the law, Australian politics, censorship, the media, and the arts. He has written for The Monthly and Guardian Australia. Marr hosts Late Night Live on ABC's Radio National.

Early life and education

David Ewan Marr[1] was born on 13 July 1947.[2] He attended Sydney Church of England Grammar School in Sydney's Lower North Shore[2] and subsequently graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Arts in 1968 and a Bachelor of Laws in 1971.[3][4][1] While at university he was a resident of St Paul's College.[5]

Career

Marr worked for a time as an articled clerk at the law firm Allen, Allen and Hemsley, and was admitted as a barrister and solicitor before turning to journalism.[6]

He began as a journalist working for The Bulletin magazine and The National Times newspaper in 1972 before being appointed editor in 1980.[3] During this period, he oversaw publication of the articles by Sydney journalist and author David Hickie, which detailed long-suppressed allegations of corruption against former New South Wales premier Robert Askin. The first article, headlined "Askin: friend of organised crime", was famously published on the day of Askin's funeral in 1981.[7] In 1980 Marr published his first book, Barwick, a biography of Chief Justice Sir Garfield Barwick. It won the NSW Premier's Literary Award for Non-Fiction,[8] but was received poorly by its subject, who accused the author of fabricating quotes.[9] This was followed in 1991 by his biography of Nobel Laureate Patrick White.[10]

Marr was a reporter on the ABC TV program Four Corners (1985, 1990–91), a role in which he won a Walkley Award, and presenter of Radio National's Arts Today program (1994–1996). From 2002 to 2004, he hosted the ABC TV program Media Watch.[3] He was a frequent guest on ABC TV's Insiders program. During his term as presenter of Media Watch he played a key role in exposing the ongoing cash for comment affair, which Media Watch had first raised in 1999, concerning radio commentators Alan Jones and John Laws. In 2004 the program's exposé of Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA) head David Flint – who had written letters of support to Jones at a time when Jones was being investigated by the ABA – played a significant role in forcing Flint's resignation.[11]

In 2002 Marr stated on Media Watch that conservative newspaper columnist Janet Albrechtsen had misquoted a French psychiatrist, Template:Ill, and claimed that she had done this deliberately to make it look as though violence and gang rape were institutionalised elements of the culture of Muslim youths.[12] Albrechtsen did not deny the misquote, but responded by accusing Media Watch of inherent left-wing bias and of deliberately leading a witch-hunt against contrary views. When the Minister for Communications, Senator Helen Coonan, appointed Albrechtsen to the board of the ABC in February 2005, Marr publicly questioned whether she was qualified for such a position in light of what he described as "breaches of proper conduct as a commentator and as a journalist".[13]

In 2008 Marr was named by Same Same as one of the 25 most influential gay and lesbian Australians for his coverage of the Bill Henson case.[14][15]

Marr has advocated drug-law reform and has written candidly about his life experiences: "I've had a lot of fun on drugs ... I've had a lot of marvellous experiences. I've danced a lot. I've had a great time. I'm not ashamed of it. And I don't see what's wrong with it."[16]

Marr resigned from The Sydney Morning Herald on 13 July 2012, saying "People underestimate what a deeply conventional person I am. I'm turning 65 and that feels like the right time to go."[17] However, in April 2013, Marr joined Guardian Australia.[18][19]

In 2013 Marr penned the essay (later expanded to a book) The Prince: Faith, Abuse and George Pell about Cardinal Pell's dealing with sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.[20]

In 2020 he appeared in episode 3 of ABC's series Revelation.[21]

He appeared as a semi-regular panellist on the ABC television programs Q&A and Insiders until 2020.[22]

In May 2024 it was announced that Marr would replace Phillip Adams as host of ABC Radio National's Late Night Live after Adams’ last show on 27 June 2024.[23]

Awards and honours

Literary

Honours

Personal life

Marr lives with his partner Sebastian Tesoriero.[31]

Selected works

Biographies and nonfiction

Essay collections

Contributions

References

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  1. ↑ a b c d e f Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  2. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  3. ↑ a b c Who's Who in Australia – entry on David Marr
  4. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  5. ↑ "Who's running the elite scandal-plagued St Paul's college?", Triple J, 2 June 2017
  6. ↑ NLA Guide to the Papers of David Marr Retrieved 5 March 2025.
  7. ↑ Q&A David Marr Retrieved 5 March 2025.
  8. ↑ Barwick book wins NSW award, The Canberra Times, 23 September 1980.
  9. ↑ Tom Frame (2005), The Life and Death of Harold Holt, Allen & Unwin, p. 125.
  10. ↑ https://anzlitlovers.com/2020/12/11/patrick-white-a-life-1991-by-david-marr/
  11. ↑ A queer crusade to smear a rival Retrieved 5 March 2025.
  12. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  13. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  14. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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  17. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  18. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  19. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  20. ↑ Quarterly Essay, Issue 51.
  21. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  22. ↑ David Marr and Gerard Henderson get heated on Insiders Retrieved 5 March 2025.
  23. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  24. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  25. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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  31. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  32. ↑ Power Trip: The Political Journey of Kevin Rudd Template:Webarchive, Quarterly Essay 38, Black Inc. Books, 7 June 2010
  33. ↑ "We need to talk about Kevin ... Rudd, that is", extract of Power Trip: The Political Journey of Kevin Rudd, The Sydney Morning Herald, 7 June 2010
  34. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

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External links

Media offices
Preceded byTemplate:S-bef/check Presenter of Media Watch
2001–2005 Template:S-ttl/check 		Template:S-aft/check Succeeded by

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