User: John Collis
Hello. I am a journalist, recently retired after 50 years in newspapers and television; a career begun as a "printer's devil" on a bush bi-weekly and ending as senior reporter for a national television network's flagship public affairs program. In the between years I worked as reporter and in various roles up to editor on several country and city newspapers before swapping mediums for broadcast. This meant starting (almost) from scratch again with TVW7 in Perth. Eventually, the "Big Smoke" beckoned again and I returned to Sydney, spending the next 25 years on the road for the Nine and Seven networks on assignments that had me criss-crossing Australia, and occasionally, the globe. A fantastic ride it was; and all thanks to a certain skill with little words and an understanding of how to string them together to communicate big things: but, to the best of my ability, always ethically, honestly, truthfully, accurately and (on occasions) without fear or favor. Communication in all its forms remains my passion and that's what finds me here. And retirement? It's just another word. It means, to me, trying not to get twitchy in the run up to news hour.