2012 was a year marked by the exit of many major TV critics and entertainment journalists from print media.
Some of them had been informing us for decades on what to watch, and breaking major news stories we all remember. And a few are resurfacing elsewhere.
In no particular order they include:
FAIRFAX:
Doug Anderson
Greg Hassall
Sasha Molitorisz
Nikki Barrowclough
Fran Atkinson
NEWS LIMITED:
Amanda Meade (since filed for The Age)
Richard Clune (moved to GQ)
Geoff Shearer (moved to Confidential)
Fiona Byrne
Apologies if I have forgotten anybody!
I loved Greg Hassall! He will be missed.
These days most of the journos on TV and radio seem to be about 12.
+1 for Doug on TV Tonight! God how I miss him. In fact the whole loss of entertainment writers talent at Fairfax is depressing. Hassall and Molitorisz too!
As to the rest of the organisation – today I saw a local Australian news story on smh.com.au that had been sourced from The Telegraph in London!
Slightly OT but did anybody notice in the reviews of the hits and misses of 2012, no mention of Nine’s Excess Baggage at all? Especially in ACA’s stories featuring Andrew Mercado there was a lot of talk about The Voice and TEN’s run of flop shows but no mention of Nine’s weight loss disaster which – we were told – would enable Nine to “own” the 7PM timeslot. It’s almost as if Excess Baggage has been completely wiped from TV history, a-la Chinese government revisionism. For all the negativity about TEN’s shows, Nine tried to demolish TEN’s The Biggest Loser with Excess Baggage last year, and this year only The Biggest Loser will be back.
Michelle Gratton from The Age said she was going to retire ages ago, but it doesn’t look like it.
How barren Fairfax’s Guide has become without the wit, knowledge and experience of Doug Anderson.
Miss you, Doug.
Hey! Maybe you could submit the occasional review/preview in this blog..?
It would add credence to an already highly respected on-line journal.