Gerald Stone
{{short description|Australian news producer}}
{{about||the British linguist|Gerald Stone (literary scholar)}}
{{EngvarB|date=October 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2017}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Gerald Stone
| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=AUS|size=100|AM}}
| image =
| caption =
| birth_name = Gerald Louis Stone
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=y|1933|8|18}}
| birth_place = Columbus, Ohio, United States
| death_date = {{death date and age|2020|11|6|1933|8|18|df=y}}
| death_place =
| other_names =
| citizenship = United States (birthplace), Australia{{explain citnat}}
| occupation = Television and radio journalist, television executive, author
| years_active = 1957−2010
| spouse =
| partner =
| children =
| website =
}}
Gerald Louis Stone {{post-nominals|country=AUS|AM}} (18 August 1933 – 6 November 2020) was an American-born Australian television and radio journalist, television executive and author.
Early years and career
Born in 1933 and raised in Columbus, Ohio,{{cite web|url=https://www.smh.com.au/culture/tv-and-radio/60-minutes-trailblazer-and-legendary-tv-producer-gerald-stone-dead-20201106-p56c1m.html|title=60 minutes trailblazer and legendary TV producer Gerald Stone dead|date=5 November 2020|accessdate=6 November 2020}} Stone graduated in political science from Cornell University and in 1957 started work as a copy boy for The New York Times. In 1962, he emigrated to Australia and commenced as a journalist for News Limited, working as a foreign correspondent in Vietnam in the late 1960s, and also covered the Australian Moree "Freedom Rides" for the Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror. Between 1995 and 1998, Stone was editor-in-chief of The Bulletin.{{cite web |url=http://www.saxton.com.au/gerald-stone/ |title=Gerald Stone |work=Speaker profile |publisher=Saxton |accessdate=25 January 2012 }}
Moving into television in 1967, he first appeared on ABC TV's This Day Tonight as a reporter before being appointed a news director for the Nine Network in 1975. While at the Nine Network, he was in East Timor in August 1975 when the Balibo Five were shot. According to The Daily Telegraph,{{cite news |url=http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,21701039-5001021,00.html |title=Balibo deaths 'a cover-up' |date=10 May 2007 |author=Fife-Yeomans, Janet |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=Australia }} "... [Stone] went to Dili with Kerry Packer and cameraman Brian Peters, one of those later killed." Further, it was reported that "Mr Stone said he and Mr Peters came under fire and Nine boss Mr Packer's voice could be heard on tape shouting: 'Come back.{{'"}}
Stone was the inaugural executive producer of the Australian version of the newsmagazine 60 Minutes, first aired in 1979.{{cite news |url=http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/about60minutes/264119/about-60-minutes |title=About 60 Minutes |work=60 Minutes |year=2012 |accessdate=25 January 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119150606/http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/about60minutes/264119/about-60-minutes |archivedate=19 January 2012 }} Given the job by Packer, he was told: "I don't give a f... what it takes. Just do it and get it right."{{cite news |url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/just-do-it-and-get-it-right/story-e6frg8h6-1226104105406 |author=Stone, Gerald |work=The Australian |title=Just do it and get it right! |date=30 July 2011 |accessdate=25 January 2012 }} Packer was less than impressed with the opening show, telling Stone: "You've blown it, son. You better fix it fast." Over the years, Stone's award-winning 60 Minutes revolutionized Australian current affairs reporting and enhanced the careers of Ian Leslie, Ray Martin, George Negus, and, later, Jana Wendt.
Stone also served as head of current affairs for Rupert Murdoch's Fox Network in New York and returned to Australia to take up the position of network head of current affairs for Channel 7. Stone was appointed as a director of SBS on 1 December 2000 and reappointed for a further five years in 2005,{{cite web |url=http://media.sbs.com.au/sbscorporate/documents/4958sbs_annualreport_boardofdirectors.pdf |title=Board of Directors |work=SBS Annual Report 2007-2008 |publisher=Special Broadcasting Corporation |year=2008 |accessdate=25 January 2012 }} serving in the role as deputy chairman{{cite news |url=http://www.crikey.com.au/2007/08/22/gerald-stone-and-the-death-of-mary-kostakidis/ |author=Dyer, Glenn |work=Crikey |date=22 August 2007 |title=Gerald Stone and the death of Mary Kostakidis |accessdate=25 January 2012 }} until December 2010.
Stone was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2015 Australia Day Honours "For significant service to print and broadcast media as a journalist, editor, television producer and author."{{cite web|title=STONE, Gerald Louis|url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/1150916|website=Australian Honours Search Facility, Dept of Prime Minister & Cabinet|accessdate=1 March 2018}}
Stone died on 6 November 2020, aged 87.{{cite news |last1=Idato |first1=Michael |title=60 minutes trailblazer and legendary TV producer Gerald Stone dead |url=https://www.theage.com.au/culture/tv-and-radio/60-minutes-trailblazer-and-legendary-tv-producer-gerald-stone-dead-20201106-p56c1m.html |accessdate=6 November 2020 |work=The Age |date=6 November 2020}}{{cite news |last1=Barlass |first1=Tim |title=Original 60 Minutes crew reunite to farewell television great Gerald Stone |url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/original-60-minutes-crew-reunite-to-farewell-television-great-gerald-stone-20201117-p56fe4.html |accessdate=17 November 2020 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=17 November 2020 |language=en}}
Published works
- {{cite book |title=War Without Honour |publisher=Jacaranda Press |location=Brisbane |year=1966 |pages=154 }}
- {{cite book |title=Compulsive viewing: the inside story of Packer's Nine Network |publisher=Viking |location=Ringwood, Victoria |year=2000 |isbn=0-670-88690-4 |pages=536 }}
- {{cite book |year=2002 |title=Singo : mates, wives, triumphs, disasters |publisher=Harper Collins |location=Pymble, NSW |pages=346 |isbn=0-7322-7423-0 }}
- {{cite book |year=2005 |title=1932: A Hell of a Year |location=Sydney |publisher=Pan Macmillan Australia |pages=429 |isbn=1-4050-3677-X }}
- {{cite book |title=Who Killed Channel 9?: the death of Kerry Packer's mighty TV dream machine |publisher=Pan Macmillan Australia |location=Sydney |year=2007 |pages=292 |isbn=978-1-4050-3815-7 |type=hardback }}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20050127012602/http://www.abc.net.au/sydney/stories/s638157.htm Gerald Stone on the launch of "Singo"]
- Opinion piece: {{cite news |url=http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/03/20/1047749876953.html |title=It's time to turn off, tune out and drop President Bush a message |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=21 March 2003 |author=Stone, Gerald }}
- {{cite web |url=http://www.pictureaustralia.org/apps/pictureaustralia?action=PASearch&mode=search&complete1=true&attribute1=subject&term1=Stone%2C+Gerald. |work=Picture Australia |publisher=National Library of Australia |title=Search: Stone, Gerald }}{{dead link|date=March 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
- {{cite news |author=Bridge, Carl |url=http://www.nla.gov.au/openpublish/index.php/ras/article/viewFile/416/448 |title=Review of 1932: A Hell of a Year |format=PDF |publisher=National Library of Australia |year=2005 }}
- {{cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/prolific-writer-and-journalist-gerald-stone/2926278 |format=streaming audio |title=Interview: Prolific writer and journalist, Gerald Stone |date=25 July 2011 |accessdate=25 January 2012 |work=Radio National: Breakfast |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation }}
- {{cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2011/08/02/3283524.htm |format=streaming audio |title=Conversations: Gerald Stone |author=Fidler, Richard |authorlink=Richard Fidler |date=2 August 2011 |accessdate=25 January 2012 |work=ABC Local Radio |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation }}
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Category:Australian television personalities
Category:Australian television producers
Category:Cornell University alumni
Category:Writers from Columbus, Ohio